Strange thing about smaller cities

Okay, here's some of that Random Rambling that I haven't done enough of lately. :)

Has anyone else noticed this?

In smaller cities, the big chain stores are nice. In bigger cities, the big chain stores aren't.

Now, I live in Canada, so when I say "bigger cities", I mean one, like mine, that has around 400,000 people. When I say smaller cities, I mean one that has around 20,000 people.

I've been to Z------- in a few smaller cities and they have been clean, tidy, well-stocked and friendly. Ours is, well, not dirty, but I just don't go there very often because I can't find what I'm looking for. What I want is either not stocked or all gone already. There are lots of items out of place or on the floor. Not what I would call a good impression.

In our larger centers, we have S----S----, in the smaller centers it's E----F----. Basically the same chain, with the same stock and sales, etc. All the E----F---- I have been to have been nice. Again, clean, tidy, well-stocked and friendly. The S----S----- are chaos.

Even W--M--- shows this disparity.

It is frustrating to go into the 'same' store in another smaller city and find all those things that I've been looking for locally and just can't find. I've said for a few years that "I have to go to small towns to go shopping. They just have better stores and better stuff."

Is it our population demographic? Do all the slobs live here?
Is it an image issue? In larger centers a job at the big chain is looked down at, whereas in the smaller centers, it is considered a good job.
Is it a trickle-down management attitude? Profit, profit, profit vs customer care.
Is it not enough staff to match the number of customers in the bigger centers?
Is it that I have a small-city mentality and I like the stuff stocked in the smaller centers that they never seem to have in the bigger ones?
Or is it that everyone else likes them too and they sell them all before I get there?
Is it just my city? Or, more accurately, the stores' locations in this city. We live in a nice, established neighbourhood that is adjacent to a less nice area. Can the store staff just not keep up?

I will have to make the effort to drive to the farther stores here to see how they are...maybe I'll find a gem or two.

Comic Timing

Monkey-boy is developing quite the sense of humour.

Example #1
There is a scene in Ice Age 2 where the sloth sings, "Hey! Hey! What's that sound, all of the mammoths are in the ground", then Manny tells the sloth he's going to sit on him until he's dead (or something like that). The sloth then says, "Somebody doesn't appreciate the classics." After watching the movie, monkey-girl repeatedly quoted the scene. Repeatedly. Over and over. It was making me crazy. I asked her to stop. She kept going. I asked her again. She kept going. I told her to stop. (I'm very patient.) She tried, but just couldn't. She kept going. I (kind of) lost it. I demanded she stop or suffer some dire consequence. She stopped.
Monkey-boy said in a quiet voice, "Somebody doesn't appreciate the classics."



Example #2
After trying to explain rust to the kids, I asked them "Does that make sense?"
They responded, "No."
Then monkey-boy says, "It doesn't make dollars either."


He's 5.

The days go flying by...

They really do.

Here we are at the end of May, and it seems we just had spring break. The kids will be done school in 4 weeks and then it will be summer. Yikes.

DMIL (dear Mother-in-law) is still in the hospital and has good and bad days. The cancer seems to be receding (Yay!) but she's still very sick. We hope she'll be able to go home in a few weeks (she's been in hospital for almost 2 months now).

I haven't been taking many pictures lately, so here's one from last summer, just for colour. :)

I feel better now

Wow. Writing that last post really made me feel better. :)

I think the word is catharsis.

Anyways, now that I got that out of my system, I am once again functioning normally.

Well, normal for me.

I have so much to post. Really, I do. Lots of craft stuff that I've finished...in the last four months. Ouch. I'd better get going on that. And the monkey-children have been their cute selves throughout: "Mom. Mom. Mom. See my cute look? See? Aren't I cu-u-u-ute?"

I have been 'hermitting' myself

Is that even a word? Hermitting? Making a hermit of oneself? Whatever. When I am stressed, I...well, hide, I guess.

My dear mother-in-law is battling cancer. This struck pretty much out of the blue. A year ago, she was fine. Now...not so much.

I feel very helpless. I do what I can, but I feel I'm failing her somehow. I want to pass on valuable information to the family, but I don't really have anything new to pass on. I want to ask intelligent questions to maybe help us understand what her 'health care team' are doing to help her, but I don't know what to ask.

I want to rant against the health care system. Surely they could be doing better. Surely if only they were doing something better, she would get better. But realistically, they are the trained ones. I am not trained in medicine, or cancer. I have to believe they know at least a little more than I do.

She's very optimistic. Very hopeful. Planning for the summer at home. I don't even know if she'll be going home. I have to believe, to have hope...but I am afraid.

Wonky thing about me

I hate emptying the dishwasher. I put it off longer and longer, and work around it, and avoid unloading the clean dishes into their waiting cupboards.

I LOVE loading the dirty dishes into the dishwasher. Once it's empty I am so happy to get all those messy things off my counter and into the dishwasher!

If only I could transfer just some of those good feelings to the first step...

Teapot Troubles

I am a tea drinker. I don't really drink coffee at all (unless I'm looking for some caffeine). I usually make 2 pots a day; one for breakfast and one for lunch. Each pot gives me 2 large mugs of tea.

Over the last three months I've broken three teapots.

The first was a cute chinese-style pot TKHubband got for me. This was my everyday pot because it was the perfect size, made yummy tea and had a strainer that fit in the top so I could easily use loose tea instead of bags. I think I dropped something on it.

The second was a tall indigo-coloured pot with hand-painted snowflakes on it. I usually used this one when we had company. I could make a BIG pot of chai in it. The handle broke off while I was washing it and it fell into the sink, breaking the spout off and into two pieces.

The third was a very pretty white teapot with blue flowers on it. I got it at our T&T Supermarket. It's shaped like what I consider a traditional victorian teapot. Yesterday, it was sitting on the edge of the sink and I brushed against it and it fell into the sink chipping the top edge and cracking it down the side (I didn't notice the crack until this morning).

I've had all of these for a while, but the rate I'm destroying them has me a little worried. I still have three more, but only one is the right size for everyday. Of course, it's an enamel Corning Ware one, so it shouldn't break as easily as the rest. It's got the blue cornflowers on it. TKHubband's Gramma G bought it for me because I loved hers so much. One of the others is a very cute tea-for-one set (with the cup on the bottom and the pot nesting inside it). It's not really a very practical pot, but it's very pretty and cute. My last one is another BIG pot shaped like a bee hive with little bees attached to it.

I think I'll have to go teapot shopping. I have seen a really nice stainless insulated one which is tempting, but I also really like porcelain ones. Then again, I saw a snazzy glass one. (Yeah, I wonder how long that would last, the rate I'm going!)

Yawn. Stretch.

Hello again!

I know it's been a while...I decided to ease slowly into the new year...yeah, that's right. ;)

Now that I've upgraded my Blogger and settled into the routine of school again, I hope to post regularly. I have lots of stuff to upload and it's going to take me a while, but I'll give it a shot.

Ciao for now.

Twas the day before the day before Christmas...

The living room is a jumble of gifts and wrapping paraphenalia. A few years ago I bought a large amount of Christmas wrapping paper after Christmas when it was marked down. I'm finally coming to the end of it; I think I have enough for this year. It's nice and strong. I love wrapping presents, but I've been so spoiled by this thick paper, that I know I'm going to get frustrated wrapping the last few with the cheaper paper. I'll be tugging on the paper and ri-i-i-ip. I guess I'll be picking up a bunch more next week. :)

The kids are finally out of school, and wham! it suddenly feels like Christmas. How weird is that? I've been decorating, wrapping, playing Christmas music for weeks and wondered why it still didn't feel like Christmas. Half an hour after getting home from school with the kids, and I'm thinking, "Christmas is coming! Christmas is coming!"

My Christmas cards and letters are finally all signed, addressed and stamped and stacked by the door, waiting for me to take them to the post office this morning. Yes, they're late. They're "New Years cards". :)

We've been going through the Brandy Beans. We're not big drinkers, an occasional glass of wine, maybe a Ceasar when we're out for a fancy dinner, but when it's "Brandy Bean Season"....look out. :) They're just so yummy.

We're having Christmas tomorrow with TKHubband's family, and then there's the Christmas Eve service, so I have to get everything that's left done today. Pumpkin Tarts, Candied Yams, wrapping presents, mailing cards and gathering everything together so I don't forget to take something to either my in-laws or the Christmas Eve service. I think I can manage it. I think I might even be ready for Christmas morning already! Well, except for the rest of the presents I need to wrap...

Progress slowing...

...to a halt.

I still haven't sent my Christmas cards. I haven't even finished the newsletter I will put in to let family know what we've been up to. I made 30 beautiful cards and they're still sitting here.

This year, they are New Years cards and letters. That's okay, right?

I love this!

Saw it first at Anywhere But Here.

You may have noticed...

...some old posts popping up like they're new. Well, they've been saved as draft since I wrote them waiting for me to get the pictures off the camera. So, now I've finally uploaded the pictures and those posts are terribly out of date! Since the craft one, I've started several things and finished a couple. Since the snow one, it's all melted away and it snowed again last night! (just an inch, though)

I'm really going to try to update more often, I've just been distracted by Christmas planning, organizing and baking.

Top of my list is getting more pictures up. I do have a few really good pictures that I should share, but I procrastinate too much!

So, we've had some snow...

I love snow. Growing up here in the Pacific Northwest (BC-ers call it the "South Coast"), I was very aware that "we never get enough snow". Most times we have a green Christmas, and some winters we don't get any snow that "sticks".

Common comments about winter weather here:
"It's snowing, but it isn't sticking."
"The snow's sticking! But it'll rain tomorrow."
"Wow! It snowed 4 inches!"
"No, it isn't snowing."
"No, sweetie, it still isn't snowing."
"No, sweetie, it still isn't snowing. Maybe it will snow tonight."
"No, sweetie, it looks like it isn't going to snow this time."

:)


The kids are definitely enjoying the snow, but it's warming up now. In a few days, when the rain comes, our deep snow will slowly, surely melt away.

sigh

So, what have I been doing?

Finishing.




















Finishing.










Finishing.



















(I don't know why the top picture is sideways...Blogger did it.) So, yes, I finished my Ballet Wrap Cardigan from Interweave Knits! I finished it at the Womens Craft Weekend, which was my goal. Yay! I like it very much. The sleeves might be a tiny bit too long (I'm a shorty), but they haven't been annoying me yet, so it should be okay. I also crocheted the ties instead of knitting them. To be honest, I was tired of knitting this yarn. The sleeves just about made me nuts, they seemed to take FOREVER! I couldn't bear the thought of knitting two ribbed 50 inch ties that were only 7 stitches wide. The yarn is textured, so I don't think it's obvious (and especially not to non-knitters).

I also finished Monkey-Boy's Rainbow Blanket. He loves it very much, but still wants his "white blanket", which is rapidly decreasing in size. I decided to make him a new blanket because the blanket I made him as a baby is falling apart. That's what happens when you chew on a crocheted blanket. I'm not heart-broken because to be honest, it hadn't turned out how I wanted. I think the pattern was actually written for bulky-weight, not worsted weight, so it was quite loose and airy - not the best for a toddler who drags it around everywhere. It looks terribly ratty now. Of course, he still loves it, so as it disintigrates, it'll just keep getting smaller until he gives it up. His Rainbow Blanket uses the same stitch, but with a smaller hook, so it's a lot denser and should hold up better.

The booties and hat were way too cute to not make. This is the first time I brought home a knitting magazine, dug out the yarn and cast on the next day! My friend just had a little guy and he's tiny, so I made the 3-month size and I think they'll fit him in the new year.

I've also been making some Christmas gifties, but I've just wrapped them and I forgot to take a picture. Oh well, I'm planning to make some more.

3-day vacation

Well, I'm off to a "Women's Craft Weekend" at Timberline Ranch! For three days, I will be without TKHubband and the monkey-children. I'm not sure what I'm going to do! :D

I'm going with my mother-in-law, my future sister-in-law and her mom. We're all rooming together, which should be a lot of fun. I've packed too many projects because I don't really know what to expect. 4 bags for a 3-day camp...Well, okay, one bag is my sleeping bag and pillow, so that doesn't count. One bag is my clothes (the smallest one). One small suitcase for my card stuff, one large tote for my yarn projects (largest bag) and two small boxes with my scrapbooking stuff (these will fit with my yarn stuff later). That's not that bad...right?

Everyone's meeting here in an hour to load up our van and then it will be maybe an hour's drive to the camp. Unfortunately it's rainy and dark, so the drive won't be great, but I'm sure the company will make it fun.

Time to cook dinner for the monkey-children and TKHubband. Then I have to clean out the van a bit so it'll be ready to load.

Have a great weekend!

Remember our war veterans and soldiers tomorrow on Remembrance Day.
(Really, we take our freedoms too much for granted.)

It's November again...

Fall is the busiest time and is also the time of the year when I have the least amount of energy.

I think the energy thing is because of all the stuff starting to pile up: birthdays, holidays, school stuff, etc. My energy is stretched in more areas. Well, that combined with the tilting of the northern hemisphere away from the sun...
I don't really notice the evenings getting earlier through August or even September, it's when the rains come and the time changes in late October that it surprises me how dark it is so early (and yes, it surprises me every year...talk about short term memory!). :)
So, November is dark. No Christmas lights up yet, and it's dull and gray most of the days because of the rain and it gets dark around 5...maybe 4:30. (Now, I can't really complain about it because in the summer, well, it's sunny until nearly 10.) But I sure notice the lack of sun this time of year on the "wet coast".

I'll have to take the kids outside to splash in the puddles. That'll probably help a bit. :)

We're back from the great white north

:) I had to say it. We did have snow in Saskatoon while we were there and it is north of us (by quite a bit actually).

Now we're back and I have laundry and unpacking and grocery shopping and photo organizing and photo uploading and blog reading and blog posting and meal making and lots of other stuff to do.

Pictures definitely to come!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We're not having our celebration this weekend because we're travelling to Saskatchewan for a family wedding. The in-laws left yesterday by car and we're leaving tomorrow by air. We're going to have a BIG family celebration on Wednesday there. Then, of course, there will be the BIG family celebration at the wedding!

I thought I'd list a few things I'm thankful for. These are in no particular order, really just how they came to mind.

God, Family, wonderful friends, TKHubband, our monkey-children, our (pretty decent) health, our church, the kids' school, their wonderful teachers, TKHubband's job, our climate, our house and big yard, our cats, nice yarn (yes, I know, it's a weakness), flowers, trees, thunderstorms, doing crafts with the monkey-children, my computer (time-waster that it is), home-made cookies.

Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Morning Conversation

"Mom, it's morning-time, but the sun isn't even up yet!"
"I know, isn't that funny?"
"Maybe the sun is really, really, really, really, really, sweepy [sleepy]."
"Oh, maybe."
(yawn) "Me too."

Summer Trip to the Island

So, I've been playing with Flickr a bit more and added a couple more pictures. I've made a set for our summer trip to the island. I will be adding pictures to this set as I upload them.

PS: Eventually I'll update my sidebar...it's very out of date. :)