1. Christopher de Hamel is coming to NIU to give a talk for the Art History department. The Friends of the NIU Libraries are co-sponsoring, and he will likely be in RBSC for at least some of his time on campus to talk to students. I’m rather geeked out about this, and will likely sheepishly ask him to sign my copy of A History of Illuminated Manuscripts, which I’ve carried from job to job with me since library school.  Yes, I’m doing the rare book librarian equivalent of swooning. For my SF-nal readers, de Hamel is sort of a medievalist version of  Neil Gaiman–people who don’t know much about medievalists will likely still have heard of de Hamel.

2. I’m putting the finishing touches on my last issue of Apex Magazine. This is decidedly bittersweet. I’m immensely proud of what we’ve done, but hoo boy I’m definitely in need of a break.

3. After WindyCon, I’m headed to Barcelona, Spain for the Aligning National Approaches to Digital Preservation II conference, to give a poster about the Digital POWRR project.  It will be a whirlwind trip, and I’m excited and nervous, as this is my first time on the “international stage” as a librarian. Yikes.

4. Caitlin’s surgery for her neuromuscular scolisis is officially set for January 28 of next year. This was a challenging decision for us, because we had to weigh a decidedly painful surgery against Cait’s continued quality of life. *sigh* She’ll miss most of the second half of her school year, but she seems okay with the decision, if a bit nervous. Michael has spent today battling horrific traffic to get her to Lurie Children’s Hospital downtown in Chicago for a routine specialists appointment, so if you send him good vibes, that would be helpful, as he’s having a no fun day.

5. I hit a milestone in knitting with the Lady Russel Shawl Pattern. It’s starting to make sense on the first time through at last! Yay! There’s always a period where I try to follow along and mutter a lot because I don’t understand what the pattern is trying to DO, and then I get to a point where the math actually works. YAY.

BONUS ITEM: 6. We have begun watching Star Trek: The Next Generation in order, as I’ve never seen it (hey, I’ve been focused on Doctor Who, and I didn’t grow up watching genre TV in general). Wesley’s sweaters make me glee. I will miss them now that he’s an acting ensign. 🙂