2 weeks and change

On Friday it was 2 weeks since I got here. I am kind of in limbo as far as settling in goes, because my stuff is still in transit. Apparently it left Halifax on Thursday though so it should arrive here midweek next week, which is *awesome*. I get to take a day off when it gets here to deal with the unpacking process, which will be fun. Or possibly Fun, depending on how smoothly everything goes. But the movers will be unpacking as well, so I hope that will make everything go faster - it only took about3.5h to pack everything up and I can't imagine it will take that much longer to unpack.

Those may be famous last words, heh.

I found a bread machine last weekend! I went out to the yard sales again last Saturday and scored myself a really nice Black and Decker bread machine for $20, which is an awesome deal. It works really well - it's very particular about measurements and the first loaf I made resembled a brick more than anything else, but the one I made tonight came out very well and tastes delicious. Yay! So far I've tried the white bread and the lemon poppyseed bread. It's awesome to have fresh bread around, plus it's so much cheaper than buying it at the store (where it averages $5/loaf).

Work is fine, we're all fine here, how are you?

apartment things

I saw my new apartment today. It's significantly smaller than my current place (the bedroom is smaller, and there's no more walk-in closet, sadface!) but the kitchen and living room are the same, and the view is better, so I'm calling it a win. There's still lots of storage space and the other advantage of being on the other side of the building is sun in the winter because it faces south. So, I think that will be great. It might be better for satellite internet reception, too.

The downside of all of this is that a) I still don't have my stuff, or any idea when it's going to leave Halifax, and b) apparently I have to be out of this flat on the 27th because there's someone else who needs the staff housing. I have no idea what's going to happen but I'm surprisingly not stressed about it. There isn't anything I can do about it myself, so, I will just keep waiting.

Work is still going well, I have been working on reviewing a couple of reports, and my boss gave me another project today that should be an informative exercise. Monday we're all having a meeting to talk about site visit travel plans for the summer, so I'm looking forward to finding out more about that.

I'm roasting a chicken for dinner tonight. It will be delicious.

Things I didn't expect to find in Iqaluit

• a co-op greenhouse
• a delicious shwarma/donair place
• a 24h snack bar/convenience store
• reasonably-priced produce
• an active composting co-op program (including worm composting)
• the awesome yard sales!

I'm sure I will have stuff to add to this list as I explore some more. My plans for this weekend involve more yard sales (yay) and checking out the library and the visitor's centre.

Also, I picked up my first rock this afternoon on my way home from the grocery store. That means I made it five whole days without collecting a rock. -_- In my defence it's awesome and is full of garnets (one is the size of my thumbnail!).

Iqaluit!

Here I am! it's pretty awesome!

In my first 24 hours here, I have:

• been to a work BBQ where I won a lawn chair
• had dinner with my new coworker and his wife
• used an ulu
• gone to 4 yard sales
• seen a snow bunting and a Canada goose and LOTS of ravens
• gone grocery shopping (which wasn't as scary as I'd feared!)
• walked A LOT, it's really hilly here!

Everyone here has been really friendly so far, both the people I'm working with and the folks in town - people just say hi to you all over. It's so nice. :)

Tomorrow is my first day at work and I am beyond excited! There will be a lot of paperwork and meeting coworkers and that kind of thing. Also I have to talk to the movers, my stuff didn't leave Hfx this weekend because I didn't get the money from Brookfield in time. But it sounds like my move has been pretty painless compared to some other people's experiences up here, one of my coworkers waited for his stuff for like 2 months. So a couple of weeks is not a problem, and my temporary apartment is really nice - I have close to triple the space I had at home. It's awesome. ^_^

Today my plan is for laundry and organizing and some more settling in, I might also go for a walk and get myself out of the house for a bit. There is a museum and a library and a visitor's centre, so I will probably visit them today.

Yay!! :D

it's official!

My official offer has been made and accepted, and I'm off to Iqaluit! In five weeks! Ack!

I've been allotted 900 kg of belongings/furniture/etc. The pare-down process begins when I get home...

hold please

*dusts off the blog* Hooray, I remembered my password!

I know some of you out there were hoping to see some really cool pictures of Mali by now... so was I. Unfortunately the whole project is on hold. My coworker who was over there is now back here and we're waiting to see what is happening with the project. Hopefully I'll have some info about that soon. In the meantime, I've been working on de-cluttering my house, which is about as exciting as it sounds, and trying to keep busy outside my house a little too.

Anyway, you'll know as soon as I do (provided you check back here regularly :).

winding down...

So things are starting to wind down here in camp and I'm thinking about the end of the season... which means that if you would like a postcard from Greenland, now's the time to say so. :D

Send your mailing address me at my gmail (which I think you can get from my profile), and I'll do my best to get you a postcard.

Still not sure when I will be home, but I'll update once I know.