Wow, I do love Quebec. Even with my minimal French-speaking skills it is still a lot of fun to go there. And it's not just the food this time!

Last weekend we went to Quebec City for the Quebec International Air Show. IT was a treat since the Bule Angels and Thunderbirds, not to mention the Snowbirds and Red Arrows, all performed. We got hang out in the VIP tent hosted by the airport and flew on the fight from Chicago that Martin and his group were responsible for creating. It was kind of cool to fly on something that Martin worked so hard to get inot the system! The VIP tent wasn't bad eiterh and we got to chat with several people from the Quebec airport, eat the best salmon I've had hands down, and we even got baseball caps. All the food was delicious and then some of the women were glad to practive their English with us. A brief rain storm almost cancelled the Thunderbirds, but it was fun to watch MArtin be stubborn and sit in the rain! We wandered out of the tent briefly and found two women from the Thunderbirds and got my picture made. This was after I confronted three Blue Angels guys and got my pic made with them also. They were all super friendly but then again, that's their job!

After the air show, we went back to our hotel, the Delta, in downtown just a few blocks from the Old City. We returned to Paillard for sandwiches since we had been eating almost all day. It had been raining off and on all day so the old city was soaked and quite cool. Martin had a pain au chocolat for dessert and I had my new favorite sweet: pistachio macaron.

The next day, Sunday, we took the rental car and drove to the Ile D'Orleans. We drove across the narrow suspension bridge to the island for a 40-mile circle drive around the island. We stoipped at the visitor center and then a local eatery for a warm lunch before driving through the little villages. There were little farms and B&Bs and auberges( small hotels with restaurants) and places that sold art or fudge. It was quite quaint. We would probably eventually like to stay here at some point since it was very rural and friendly. We bought fudge and climbed an observation tower on the east end of the island where we got to see Cap Tourmente. I liked the name but the low rolling clouds made it exceptional.
After the Ile D'Orleans we drove like mad to the Canyon Ste Anne area east of Quebec City. We had 1 1/2 hours of climbing across rope bridge and down stairs. It was a really nice area since nothing was built up around it and it was quiet since no one was around. We got their a little before closing time and we only saw about 5 other people the whole time. The entry was decorated with giant wooden animals like bunnies, foxes and bears. The bridges were all cable suspension and pretty shaky since Martin likes to stomp his feet. The falls that go through the canyon were pretty amazing. They were really strong and it was very humid from all the splashing and mist. It was fun time but ultimately it got really hot.

We drove back to Quebec City when they closed the falls for the evening. We changed and cleaned up and walked to the Old City for a delicious meal at the restaurant Le Cochon Dingue (The Crazy Pig). Martin had a steak and I had sausages - my fave was the lamb with mint.

Due to high demand, I am writing about the fun time I spent with mi madre earlier this month. Cannot believe I forgot fill everyone in on what fun we had!
My mom arrived on Wednesday and took the exciting employee bus to meet Martin at his old office building. That seemed exciting for my mom. She got to talk to flight attendants. On Thursday, she did my laundry and watched some tv while I was at work.

Friday was my day off of work so we decided to have a bit of fun and drive to the Chicago Botanical Garden in Glencoe. It is almost due east of my house, but about 23 miles away. Well worth the trip! We explored almost all the gardens and oohed and aahed over the purple lilies, the Japanese garden, and gorgeous English walled garden. We also discovered the beauty of colombines. (We finally found them in seed form at the Lowe's). We got caught in a rainstorm while admiring the beehive they have installed. We found the Queen and then mom bought a pretty tea towel with a recipe for gazpacho on it. After the walk around all the gardens we headed to Highland Park and the semi-kosher Jewel. I bought meat and other delights including babaganoush, hummus and pita.

Saturday was filled with a lot of bending over in the yard. We transferred my seedlings to the ground but failed to get started on the big dreams I have of building a raised garden bed along the back fence. Martin worked in the pool and mom and I planted and weeded and tried to climb a ladder to trim the high branches away from the house. We succeeded, sort of. We also went to Loew's and bought topsoil to put into the hole in the backyard by the drain thing. We used three bags but it still wasn't quite enough. We cooked kosher steaks on the grill and then enjoyed losing our power for about 9 hours. We also watched the first episode of "Swingtown" before the power went out and mom decided to camp out on the basement stairs for an hour while she just "knew" there was a tornado coming!

On Sunday we took the Metra downtown to the Printer's Row Book Fair. We wandered around,looked at a ton of books and avoided about three-quarters of a downpour by eating a small pizza for lunch. Mom bought some small movie posters for dad and then we headed to the CPL building to hear Mark Kurlansky. He writes about the history of foods: salt, cod, oysters. Really good non-fiction. I am really into that these days for some reason. He was absolutely a wonderful talker and very interesting! We bought two of his books that we had not yet read and got him to sign them for us, but not before mom invited him to come to Pensacola for a visit and write about the fishing inductry in Florida. She even gave him her business card.
We stopped in at a local non-chain bookstore and bought Martin a book on airlines and then we wandered back toward the train station. The train was packed but quiet and we decided to sit up top and enjoy the ride.

On Monday I had to go to work, but mom hung out at the house and did her own laundry, watched some Magnum P.I. and read the Moonspinners. We had yummy pasta with sauce for dinner. Tuesday morning I drove her to the airport for her early flight. Even though she was here for almost 6 days it felt much shorter. Next month she is bringing my Dad for a visit so that should be fun too!

Some people are just sick to use a little hedgie as a weapon.
Why anyone would do that is beyond me. Hedgehogs do not make good helmets or scack for a game of hacky sack.
We returned from Houston this weekend without delay. We got to stay with our friends Jason and Robin and we attended a BBQ for our friends Greg and Samantha who were married earlier this month on a cruise in the Mediterranean. Ooh-la-la indeed! One conclusion I cam to on this trip: Texas is hot in May. Darn hot.

Currently I would like to buy two totally unnecessary items: A taters of the Lost Ark Mr. Potatohead and a Travelocity Gnome.

Why you might ask? because they look kinda fun.

Been a few weeks since I've updated...

Went to Florida to visit my family at this nice beach house they rented. I got some sun, yay! Then we went back to Florida for a memorial service for Martin's cousin who passed away last month.

I planted the seeds I ordered for the Park Seed Co. with Karin. Karin also chopped back a huge shrubbery in our yard. She seemed to enjoy herself. Martin and I saw "Iron Man" but couldn't get past the strange lack of motivation of the evil guy a.k.a. the Big Lebowski. Other people agreed. Have yet to see Indiana Jones and I think Martin is one of a few men in the world that actually wants to see the "Sex & the City" movie. This weekend we are goingto Texas for a BBQ for people who got married on a boat somewhere in the Mediterranean. It's a weird long story.

Another sad note:

Returned from Tucson just to wash clothes in a hurry and get ready for Florida!

So, quick recap of probably the best library conference I have ever been to. Living the Future was sponsored by the University of Arizona in Tucson and there were probably about 180 people there total. So much more intimate than the big ALA annual meetings. We spent two solid days meeting and mingling and listening to presentations. I have never taken more fun notes at a meeting - there is hardly any doodling! Some highlights included:

• Peter Senge talked with us about people being born to learn. One of my fave quotes from this meeting was "I cannot hear your words, your actions speak too loudly."
• Almost all of the participants took part in the coLAB session where we all walked around and read snadwich boards detailing what everyone was involved in at work. It was fun to see what everyone else was doing in their library.
• Most of the speakers talked about the overwhelming amount of data out there in the world. Some spoke about getting rid of print materials, others talked more about collaboration and open resources that will be shared by all libraries in the future.

Overall, the conference taught me some new things and then others made me feel like my library is eons ahead of others. Even if no one knows about what my university does or how we provide research help, most were in total awe that we provide online resources and online resources only.

A cool plug for a journal I don't know HOW I missed: Southern Spaces. This combines two things I love: the South and technology.

I also feel that my attire was very sassy indeed.

As for the rest of the trip, we met up with our friend Alexander and his son, Nicholas for dinner one night at El Charro. Our friends Noah and Catherine came down from Phoenix and we hit the epitome of old-school tiki charm, Kon-Tiki for dinner, checked out the Titan Missile Museum and the Arizona- Sonoran Desrt Museum. We even got Alexander and his son to join us for the desert museum and then we took the backroads to a dive bar for Taco Sunday (Circle S Saloon at16001 W El Tiro Rd, Marana, AZ) and then a driving tour around Pinal Air Park where he works.

We tried really hard to find a historic district in Tucson called the Barrio Historico but with no signs saying that we were there, we just tried a walk around a block in a neighborhood we thought was the right one! There were green and yellow and purple houses so we were probably in the right area. Overall, I thought Tucson was awesome. It is much more funky and laid-back than I felt Phoenix was. It is probably too hot for us to ever live there but it was really a great place to visit!

Thanks for all the suggestions on what I should wear! I think I'll probably have to take pictures of my sassy outfits just to impress all of you and to reassure you all that I am, indeed, sassy.

I'll be in Tucson the rest of the week so expect a full report when I return. None of that fancy schmancy blogging from a conference for me!

On a side fashion note, I got new glasses after wearing the same old prescription for four years. My eyes thank me but the glasses are making me a bit nauseous. I'll see how I like them in the desert...

Next week is my professional development trip (still can't believe it is happening) to Tucson AZ. It's been awhile since I've attended anyhting remotely professional and the style of dress I usually don for ALA has never been too formal (except for my first conference in San Francisco back in aught one). So this brings up the question: what do I wear? I want to be comfortable without being sloppy. In my past experience most librarians are not fashion plates, so maybe I shouldn't worry too much?
What would you wear to a desert conference? I was thinking linen shirts, skirts and sandals. Is this too sassy? I don't think I can be too sassy though!