Here's a long one. Hurray for SANDRA D....winner of Survivor: Pearl Islands tonight. Went out with Mark today for some coffee....they've finally converted me, kids.... I now *like* coffee. Although only the sweet stuff...and of course, with Starbucks' holiday offerings of egg nog and gingerbread lattes as well as the creme frappes withOUT coffee from summer, combined with the fact that I am probably craving both the caffiene pick-up and the correlated "spend time on the weekend with the boyfriend" feeling, I now find myself jonesing for a nice grande Starbucks. YUM. Yes...went out with Mark today after setting up the Christmas tree, combined with lights and tinsel. It looks pretty, even though part of me thinks it does not. We also have our music boxes out and antiqued porcelain figurenes of carollers out. I am debating whether or not I should knit up some felted stockings. Perhaps I will, but to use next year. I'll see how much Lopi I have left after I finish my striped felted bag. Ahem. Women are spaghetti thinkers, while men are pigeon hole thinkers. Anyone ever heard of this analogy? Perhaps it is just me, but when I talk I tend to hop from one idea to another. It flips, it flops, it twists from one topic to another; linked together by simply a word, a sound, an image... while men need to finish one topic straight through before moving on to another. See how I'm trying to tell you about the day with Mark but I haven't at all, really???? Me and Mark went out coffee, me a grande gingerbread latte, he, his usual medium blend in venti cup. It was heavenly. We read about Amanda Zhao, a murdered foreign student whose killer has still not been found, a concert held to raise money for the Lanot trust fund, Calgary school administration rethinking their "brand name" schools, and also about a man who was released of allegations about contaminating his disabled stepson's feed tube with vodka. It was a disturbing read. We finally did a little Christmas shopping and I picked up something for my aunt. I hope she'll like it. Also stopped by to pick up some pet supplies for Summer, the fluffy pussy owned by Mark. By that time we were starving...and dropped by ABC Country Restaurant for some (late) breakfast. ...I think it was around three-thirty by this time? I helped myself to "farmhands favourite".. 2 buttered toasts, 2 eggs, 2 sausages, 2 strips of bacon, and hashbrowns. It was yummy. I always find those breakfast places so comforting. (With the exception of Denny's of course... overpriced and NOT good. Unless of course, it is four in the morning and you are sobering up. That's another entry.) Yep. I'm totally a breakfast person. On the way out of the restaurant (and into the car), I noticed a dollar store. I'd never been there before, but since I was thinking about doing a review of dollar stores and got a little response, I figured I'd might as well drop in. Great Canadian $ Store Kensington Square, 6532 Hastings Street, Burnaby Is it really a dollar store? No. What caught my eye were the Christmas stockings in the window. Bright red, but as I walked in to inspect them, I noticed they were thin thin felt. That's ok. What was the price? $2. Ok. Keep walking. Then Mark saw this star made of twigs with a price tag of $7. Not a dollar store indeed! Offerings? The usual assortment of children's toys, greeting cards, kitchen utensils, hair notions, and candles / soaps. But what interested me is the knitting needles (straight & circs!) for $2 - $4. I picked up a US size 10 / 30" (75cm) for my felted bag and was looking at one of those "circular bobbins" used for knitting, but figured I wouldn't get much use out of it. I remember having one as a child and never *quite* getting the hang of it...ok, so I couldn't cast on and start, but look where I am now. Comments? For some reason, the store owners wanted to skimp on both heating and insulation, and left the doors wide open. The store WAS quite busy, but perhaps it was seasonal shopping. There were some yappy dogs at the door, which became annoying, and they even tacked on tax to the bill... now have I not been shopping *that* long that I didn't notice taxes at the end of the bill? I was wondering how I suddenly had spent ~$6 at a dollar store.. Score: 5/10. This was not a dollar store, and I'm pretty sure their products weren't Canadian. I'm questioning whether the owners are Canadian. heh. So this location did not live up to their "Canadian dollar store" name. They got the five because of the "cheap" needles. Now the needles had better not break or something. Finished the tote bag and childrens' mittens. Am started on striped felted bag and mittens for myself. Some crocheted afghan patterns also are making me want to pick up crochet... I'll see if time allows it. I am LOVING the holidays so far. Got home in time for dinner (Mark had a Christmas party at work...sucky sucky). Remembered halfway through dinner that "HEY. Survivor is on tonight!!!!" So of course I drop everything, run upstairs for din and was pleased to see Sandra and Lill before the jury. Does anyone think Burton and Mark look alike? I should ask him if he gets any comments at work. I'm not used to having all this free time. (Obviously.) It feels strange to be writing such a long entry. (And doing other things online, to boot.) Tomorrow I go to work. I'll probably do some shopping afterwards for presents / trinkets / yarn...there's this yarn store on Como Lake drive that I have been wanting to stop by, since it is the only other LYS that I "kind of" pass by, other than Knitworks on Kingsway. I want to see some variety, baby! (Not to say that Knitworks doesn't have a great selection, I LOVE that store, and the staff know their stuff, and are nice too. BUT. I want to see if anything else is around. Good night, I guess. P.S. Guess who has updated 5 days in a row, and who hasn't.. You could tell us if you're alive or not... :p Pre | ^ | Post