.jeri.

So, I think I may officially be a nerd. Either that, or I'm just sure of myself in my cultural interests. This past Saturday my sister and I went to Dickensfest, a celebration of all things Charles Dickens. We got there early and plotted out our entire day. We browsed the street shops and listened to street musicians, visited Oliver's alley and watched kids learn to play Victorian games, took in a Victorian fashion show, got soup and bread at Mrs. Cratchit's soup hall, picked through a sad used book sale, watched an amateur play with scenes from Nicholas Nickleby, watched a parody of Nicholas Nickelby, laughed at the crowds during a firearms presentation, caught the Celtic dancing show, shopped some more, and attended an Evensong service. I can't believe we spent eight hours there. My cool purchases of the day were a necklace, a cool hair thing, and a two-octave bow psaltery. The psaltery was a complete impulse buy, but since I'm determined to learn Celtic music, I'm excited.

Sunday we hit up church, then went to a Super Bowl party at Rob and Dee's house. I'm not into football, so I enjoyed some food and company until we had to leave at half-time because we had accidentally double-booked ourselves. We drove down to celebrate young Emily's birthday. I love going to their celebrations because we are always so well-fed, usually with something from the barbecue. It was good to see Colin and Liz again since they haven't been able to make it to church for over a month.

Up this week, we have a movie night on Wednesday and a Movies on the Fox on Thursday. Otherwise, I'm trying to keep the house quiet for Ric, who needs some mental/social rest!

Updates:
I realized this week that I never mentioned the big announcement that was made two weeks ago at work. I got called into a pre-announcement meeting with one of the VPs to be told they have decided to close the school of professional studies, which includes an immediate cease in admissions for the program with which I work. About thirty employees work in the programs that are closing, so it's a big deal for the university. People who work in the admissions side of things are expecting to be laid off soon, since we are no longer admitting new students. We all expected an announcement like this, but for some people it's sooner than they expected, and a little more widespread as well. The school is dedicated to its employees and is trying to encourage transfers within the university when possible.

How does this affect me (and D) in my office? Well, first off, the program is going to be taught out for the next couple of years for all of the students who are currently in the program. These students will need to be registered and evaluated all the way through their time here, so our jobs will probably last through 2013. But on top of that, our new boss has told us that he wants to keep us on if he can, and just shift us to other responsibilities. We definitely have a need for more help in our office, and some of us can already imagine what responsibilities we may be given. As we have seen time and time again in this office and the university as a whole, everything usually works out for the best.

Anyway, that's what's new around here. We had an employee meeting last week that was very hopeful, so I think we're headed for better times all around.