Thursday, October 6, 2011

Autumn is here!

Yes, it's official - our Indian summer is over and fall has set in. It's my favourite season: crisp air, snug (and getting snugger) sweaters, and root vegetables galore! We had an amazing summer. Our travels included Ocean City with my sister, Christa; Winnipeg for our dear friends, Paul and Heidi's wedding (pic of us at the wedding, with the beginnings of a baby bump!), and Paris & The Hague for a mix of business and pleasure. I was presenting a poster at the Human Development and Capabilities Association conference in The Hague. It went really well and the conference as a whole was excellent and challenging. I wrote about one of the keynote lectures in our Chab Dai team's joint blog, Along the Paths of Justice.

This fall is full of new challenges. Backaches and sore hips are among them, but perseverence is the key, because Squeege still needs to cook for about 10 more weeks! We're getting more and more excited, and learning lots about patience, in this last trimester. We want to meet this squirmy, hiccough-y little person!

I am still working in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve at the youth center. Our financial capability project is growing; this year we have twice the number of teens in the project as last year! We're also trying an adapted version of the project with a group of parents that meet at the center. We have found an amazing and talented replacement to take over the project when I go on maternity leave in December. She will work with me this fall to learn the project and facilitate a good transition and then take it on fully when I leave.
I'm so excited to start working with her and, although I am sad to leave the project, I feel completely confident handing over this baby to care for my new baby!