~in memory of grandma~

this morning felt very strange because i did not make my weekly 9 a.m. phone call to grandma. see, a good 8-10 years ago now, i made it my new year’s resolution to phone g’ma every week. in recent years, our chatting time had evolved to sunday a.m. – a convenient time for us both. our phone visits were not lengthy, and esp in the last few months, our topics of q & a were repetitive, but it was nice to touch base with grandma on a regular basis. our pattern was so established that some weeks, grandma would pick up the phone and immediately say, “hello cathy!” -> whenever she answered in this way, it made me laugh which in turn made HER laugh and got our visit off to a cheery start.

on wednesday of this past week, g’ma completed her daily walk to and from the uptown mall with her best friend. thursday morning, g’ma was taken to the hospital, and it was discovered that the situation was terminal. the care team gave grandma no more than a day or two to live. i cannot BELIEVE how things work out (as i have often said before) – on thursday, i was scheduled to work only until 3 pm. i am RARELY done my work day this early! as such, i was able to go to the hospital late thursday aft, spend time with grandma, and say my good-bye. grandma passed away late yesterday afternoon. [i have to smile because grandma could be quite stubborn at times (dad and i share this trait, too) and the fact that she lived more than 24 hours than expected was her way of being stubborn right to the very end].

i am so so happy that dad and i took grandma to her favourite swiss chalet back in august and enjoyed our lunch outing with her, there.

file photo, august 15, 2012; at swiss chalet

and remember the lovely family luncheon we shared in may to celebrate g’ma’s 90th? the smile never left grandma’s face that day.

file photo, may 13th, 2012; great-grandma!

one other blog post featuring g’ma comes to mind: this one where i showed you some of grandma’s needlework creations in her apartment, around the time of her 89th birthday.

file photo, may 4th, 2011; g’ma was a good sport about being photographed!

grandma was knitting right until the very end. this is a snippet of the last blanket that she made, finished just last week:

the fine and even tension of the knitting and intricacy of the crocheted border amaze me!

here are a couple of grandma-anecdotes:

~ brown was grandma’s favourite colour. when we were children, i remember the brother and i being practically aghast – and fascinated! – that anyone would pick BROWN for their favourite colour!

~ g’ma sewed entire wardrobes for me when i was a little girl:

two examples of grandma-creations: my 1st day of grade one, grade one class picture

here’s another example of grandma’s sewing talent: as a teen, i gave her a drawing of an outfit i wanted, and she replicated it even better than i had anticipated! (and you know it is hard to please a picky teen!). i wore that skirt + blouse combo for years.

~ grandma never judged and was pretty unflappable, no matter what news i shared with her.

~ grandma loved florida! i definitely inherited my love of florida + heat + sunshine from her!

~ grandma balanced a diet heavy on fried foods with a ton of walking!

~ a strong faith, a commitment to family, and not shying away from hard work saw grandma through some years of great hardship; i am glad she also experienced years of travel, relaxation, and enjoyment of life.

file photo, april 1975

we are planning on having a service of remembrance and celebration of life on thursday. it will be a day to mourn, but also to be thankful for all the years that grandma was with us.

~grandma, we will miss you~.

six for sunday

1. friday evening was just the best. i was feeling pretty beat after a go-go-go day at theOTHERstore (for whatever reason, i processed about three times the amount of transactions that i normally do during a day shift…which is good! we like high $sales$!) and a night in sounded lovely. mom and dad were away visiting friends and so i crashed at their place (they were aware of this) to watch crap tv (you’ll remember i don’t have a tv). i didn’t even knit – i lay down on the loveseat, head on one arm rest, legs hanging over the other end, and flicked away through the channels, eventually settling on “i found my gown” and then an episode of “friends.” i felt exactly like i was fifteen years old again! sometimes you need to spend time being mindless.

2. three of these statements about friday are true and one is false: stephen hawking was in my ‘hood; the brother was interviewed for npr; i bought my SIXTH pair of nike free’s; it was the last full day of summer 2012.

3. bloggers kath and janae are two classy gals, each in their own way: the packages i mailed arrived super quick via canada post (amazing) and last sunday i received the nicest emails from each new mom – janae emailed the most exuberant note of thanks, and we had a cheery email exchange back and forth; kath sent an e-card with the most sincere, warm and friendly thank you message inside. happy vibes all around! (and the smarties, pc chocolate and apple butter have all made blog appearances this week!).

4. yesterday, the weather forecast called for rain. i set out for my early-a.m. run wearing a ball cap and two layers of long-sleeve shirts (and just about boiled, thank goodness i had shorts on to balance things off), anticipating that a downpour could strike at any moment. well, i enjoyed rain-free conditions the entire time i was out, and in fact, witnessed the most amazing cloud + sun configurations -> it looked just like i could see right up into heaven.

5. knitting seed stitch with cream-coloured yarn is about as boring as knitting can get. i am falling asleep at my needles…but a blanket needs a border. i predict a very small border for this current project…i can’t take much more!!!

6. unless something extraordinary happens, i shall see you again on thanksgiving weekend with a list of 42 things for which i am thankful.

happy sunday!

(i am seeing bff debbie later and we are either going to stalk an interior designer who has appeared on hgtv and lives in our nearby westmount neighbourhood OR go to costco. either option is fine by me!).

(i did not buy a new pair of shoes!).

waiting for the (third) shoe to drop

hey, what do you think the timeframe is for the whole “things happen in threes” concept? i am hoping you are going to say “three days” because then i can breathe a sigh of relief and relax.

since this past weekend, i have been walking around gingerly, warily casting an eye back and forth, on the lookout for a potential bad news situation. here’s why…

saturday, 6 p.m.: i went up to food basics to get my weekly supply of (cheap) grocery necessities. note to self: in future, avoid food basics as 6 p.m. on a saturday, the place is a complete zoo. anyway, as is my tendency (right, mom?!) i grabbed a hand basket, and not a cart, somehow believing that i could fit eighteen items in a space the size of two shoe boxes. so, basket overflowing, and juggling four carbonated waters in my arms, i made my way to the checkouts. as best as i could tell, the shortest line had six carts in it. i took my place, my elbow already aching from the cumbersome and h-e-a-v-y grocery load. as i tried to rearrange the carb water in my arms, one slipped away from me and crashed to the floor. you got it: boom! bottle explosion! suddenly, a nice river of water was flowing back from the magazine and candy bar displays.

now, luckily, the fizzy water was the cheap no-name variety, so it was in a plastic bottle, not glass. but i was so embarrassed! all i can say is thank goodness for the kindness of strangers. another customer FYI’d the checkout girl, and she called for “cleanup at checkout three,” and two very pleasant and easygoing young stock boys arrived with paper towels to handle the puddle. [sidenote: full credit goes to the staff at the food basics at fischer-hallman and university (and fairway rd, also) -> the checkout girls are unfailingly friendly and efficient, no matter when you are there. what excellent customer service for a "no frills" establishment!].

so that was mishap #1.

sunday, 9:00 p.m.: i finished up my relaxing evening shower, and wrapped my freshly-washed hair in a (fluffy, hotel-white, brian gluckstein) towel. the end of the towel slipped haphazardly over my eyes, so i was momentarily blinded as i opened the shower stall door. kind of in la-la land already, i was jarred from my zen-ish state when i slammed my right knee cap into the edge of the shower stall. yeeeooowww!!! i gasped right out loud and was sosoclose to breaking into tears. man alive, did that ever HURT! in that type of situation, it’s hard to tell if it’s the physical pain or the surprise factor that is worse. thankfully, the only harm done was a righteous bruising of the kneecap – bad enough, though, that i felt it all day monday.

two days, two unfortunate incidents…my fingers are crossed that my bad luck is behind me as we are now at thursday, and the last three days have been uneventful! (you can bet i was very careful driving to and fro TO yesterday…and since my latest knitting project involves cream-coloured yarn, coffee drinking + knitting has been approached with extreme caution!).

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i really enjoyed your comments yesterday about fall: yea or nay – thanks for sharing! since you all are such fans…”if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” is my autumn motto, and i will focus on all the good points you listed about this almost-upon-us season!

signs that i concede that fall is here*

1. i wore capris to work yesterday, not shorts, for the first time in months and months. [i am stubbornly going to resist full-length tights as long as possible].

2. oatmeal – so that i can micro hot oats for breakfast – is back on my grocery list [i took a hot cereal hiatus over the summer, i just was not tasting it].

3. the next time i desire a sweet treat, it will be a pumpkin scone from s’bux (they are back!!) and not an ice cream.

4. i caught a snippet of nfl football on mom and dad’s tv on sunday – regular season baseball, you soon will be bygones.

5. thanksgiving is a mere three weekends from now! how’d that happen?!

fall’s arrival: are you happy, sad, or indifferent? i weep.

what are you looking forward to, this autumn season? (because we believe in positive thinking in this corner of the world).

*the asterisk is because today’s title is quite possibly the most awkward one ever to appear on the kikiblog.

five friday the fourteenth fotos

your thought o’ the day:

thanks for the reminder, “death valley’s little brother!” (uptown coffee shop)

mom needs this tshirt:

as seen at “harmony by earthwinds” (in uptown)

that would make me laugh, to see mom in that tee when she is out and about with this guy:

dear dad!

i would enjoy receiving THIS shirt!…

again, at “harmony by earthwinds” -> very soft fabric! xmas list item, fam!

snookie is a mom!!!

what does this mean for the future of “jersey shore??” anyone have any info? is there going to be a new season any time soon?? please advise!

happy weekend, friends! seize the day!

~*~*~*~*~

i firmly believe in the life philosophy that what goes around comes around. as you know, i tried quite hard to be nice this week. well!! wednesday eve, i met sharon at s’bux and i had a gift card to use. there was $2.95 left on the card -> i know this for a fact because i even had the s’bux staff print off my receipt when i used the gc the day before.

our total (two decaf teas!) came to $4.10. i gave the barista my gift card and said i had $2.95 on it. she scanned it, and told us that the gift card had covered the whole total – their system had been acting wonky all day, and if the computer accepted our entire bill onto the gift card…well, so be it!

haha! that was a little bonus joy to my visit with sharon!

hello, and welcome to zellers!

i don’t have too, too much going on this week, so the timing is good for me to be nice!

yesterday, i had much fun completing r.a.o.k.#6…

wayyyy back when i was brainstorming potential possibilities for random acts of kindness, one idea i had was to go outside with a garbage bag (and rubber gloves) and pick up trash. this plan did not hold much appeal, really – it’s kinda gross to walk about and clean up other people’s tossed refuse [i bet you are wrinkling your nose right now at the very thought, too]. plus, i really do have to give credit to the city of waterloo and to the private commercial developments in my ‘hood – everyone keeps the parks and green areas remarkably tidy and litter-free.

the garbage idea morphed into something much better and right up my alley! -> i could go to a store and tidy an area in the women’s clothing department! why not put my professional skillz to use?! oh, now this idea jazzed me!

(source)

all the pieces of r.a.o.k.#6 fell into place perfectly: i needed to go up to conestoga mall (you will see why at the end of this post), so i decided that zellers women’s clothing could probably use a hand. the thought of cleaning up at old navy did cross my mind (have you ever seen their sale racks??) but i thought that i would likely attract more attention from *real staff* in old navy than in zellers – i wanted to fly under the radar as much as possible.

so, yesterday afternoon, i ventured into zellers. the store was very quiet, and there was barely a soul in women’s clothing.

i headed straight for the clearance racks:

oh, alfred sung, you deserve much better treatment!!…

[**please note that all of the following photos are un-retouched. i did not rearrange, stage or recreate any of the scenes, below**].

ohhh, my fingers started itching to get going when i saw this rack!

before…

…and after! i grouped items by colour!

that did not take long! i moved around to the other side of the rack…

before…

..and after! it is a challenge to create clean lines with so many different fabrics and styles!

here was a problem: empty hangers! (i created a neat stack at the end of a row of summer tops, one aisle over)

a haphazard waterfall of pants caught my eye…

before…

and after! hung in size order (4-16), smallest to largest!

i really would have liked to clip the pants like we do at the store (it looks neater to clip the insides of the material and do a bit of a wrap around the clips), but i thought i better keep the hanging system consistent with the rest of the pants section…

my goodness, but i could have spent hours more straightening and re-hanging! and it wasn’t just women’s clothing that was crying for some attention:

girls’ socks and undies – oh my!

i had to stop, though. i was excited to move on to the other purpose of my zellers trip!

somebody has a birthday coming up…

…and aunti needed to take advantage of the barbie sale!

i really can’t blame zellers for the state of disarray of the store: when you offer low prices and large quantities, you have to cut costs somewhere, and obviously organizing clothing is a task that does not get high priority (compared to merchandising new inventory, restocking, putting up sale notices, etc).

i left the store, content with having completed my r.a.o.k., but i could not help thinking, in the words of jerry seinfeld…

“i could have done more!!”

two bloggers, two babies, r.a.o.k.#5!

before i started reading blogs, i used to entirely pooh-pooh the idea that online dating could ever work: how could you possibly get to know someone if your only contact was through messaging and emailing? hrumph, said my inner, cynical self.

well, since entering the world of blogging, i have changed my tune: i now believe that yes, over time, you can get a fairly accurate and true sense of a person’s personality via their online sharings, communications, and writing style.

i really like the blogs that i have in my current rotation! i visit my favourite blogs three times, twice daily -  and after more than two years of this routine, i do feel like i *know* these girls!

back in august, janae had the cutest little girl (baby brooke). janae has the best sense of humour (see yesterday morning’s post as an example), and i appreciate her love of her family and her enjoyment of running. her blog is among my very top picks.

then, just on september 7th, kath gave birth to mazen, a sweet baby boy! what exciting times in the blog world!

for some reason, i got the distinct vibe that i would like to celebrate each of these births with the new parents [i know myself: when i keep getting a recurring thought to do such-and-such, i really should just follow through]. so i decided to put together little gift packs [r.a.o.k.#3 was very similar - i gave my second cousin a "welcome, baby" set of presents. i like to mark happy baby occasions!!]. putting together unexpected surprises is much, much fun.

in terms of getting the packages to kath and janae, i knew i could send kath’s to her husband matt’s bakery in cville, va (the address is on the bakery website). i emailed janae through the “contact” button on her blog, and received the warmest reply back just a couple hours later. cool! time to put my plan into action!

i decided to send both janae/brooke and kath/maze a sweater from my handknit/personal design collection:

unique creations – i didn’t even record a pattern for the colour combos…

for brooke – a variety of bright colours!

for maze: hand print buttons, all different colours!

and i added a little something for the parents:

kath appreciates the “eat local” philosophy: apple butter from our nearby town of wellesley!

janae is a candy connaisseur, so two items that are uniquely canadian (president’s choice brand chocolate and smarties!)

all boxed up…

a little running humour for janae with that running recovery brew box!

…and ready for the post office!

(i added the addresses post-photo!).

safe travels, little boxes!

[sidenote, just to clarify: my motivation in completing this project was purely for the joy of planning out surprises; i am not trying to get exposure for my blog, my knitting or myself! babies + gifting is an act that makes me happy!].

how many blogs would you say you read iin a day? i find i have to put limits on my blog-perusing time or it could be a full-time commitment!

knit two together

if it’s the second saturday in september, that can mean one thing and one thing only:

knitter’s fair!!!

i love how this is the third recap that i have in my blog records of my favourite annual outing with mom. (the 2010 report is here! the 2011 account can be viewed here!).

mom and i figured out that we have been attending the knitter’s fair every year since [we think] 1994. we have only missed ONE year (2002) when i was away on a vacation! we are very proud of our track record. this year was one of the wettest, weather-wise (the rain was BUCKETING down when i got up in the morning; happily, by early aft, the sun was shining!).

9:30 a.m. – we’re ready to go!

9:31 a.m. – we’re ready to go! [i couldn't decide which departure photo to use, we'll just throw both in - haha!]

upon arriving at bingeman’s, we discovered that next year there will be a change in venue:

2013: see you at the aud in kitchener – the knitter’s fair has outgrown bingeman’s!

and something else new this year…

i want to know what happened to prompt this discontinuation! were children poking each other with knitting needles??!

mom and i have a touring method that we use every year: we circle each ballroom to see what’s available – we look only, except if we see a deal of the century, then we purchase immediately. i kid you not, booth number FIVE, and mom found the first deal-i-o of the day!

mom’s first purchase: seventeen balls of astra for $10! now that’s a bargoon!

variegated yarn is my weakness, and these skeins had a silver thread running through – file these under “perhaps!”

koigu yarn remains my favouritest – no purchase made as i can pick it up any time at “shall we knit,” should i so desire.

knitting humour!

only the brother will find this name as funny as i do! cracks me up every year!

i did not have any specific missions in mind, this year. if i happened to find a blanket to make for the mcc relief sale next may, that would be great; if i found sweaters for little e and cutie c, that would be bonus, but i was not searching for anything in particular…

i loved this PATTERN as an option for an mcc donation, but the finished size – about two feet square – was way too small!! too bad…

sadly, e and c are too big for the sweater kits we saw – all geared to the sub-two year old age group.

mom’s second purchase: four skeins of briggs & little for $20!

[mom's intention for the day was to stock up on yarns for project linus blankets and prayer shawls...as you shall see, she should be set for the next twelve months!...]

a now-annual tradition! a photo with brenda (hi, brenda!) -> brenda made her sweater with leftover yarn – awesome creation, eh?!

mom’s third purchase! red heart – the orange (same as my sweater) for $2.50 a ball, the blue for $3.50 a ball – amazing! mom was on a real roll!

two more afghan possibilities???…

unfortunately, this design was for artistic purposes only – no pattern or kit available!…

i love LOVE loved this striking blanket/throw…but it was about 50% crochet…i do not crochet!

mom’s fourth purchase of the day! briggs & little, $4 a skein (NO TAX), any colour, any type!

whew, we needed a break at this point, as you can well imagine. a coffee/tea stop hit the spot! we also made a run back out to the rav to drop off the mega-bags we mom had accumulated. yarn is heavy!

regardless of the weather, i ALWAYS wear a handknit to the fair…my $4 sweater drew quite the compliments this year!

perfect strangers kept stopping me to comment on either the sweater colour or pattern – i proudly shared that the yarn cost me four bucks!

and the yarn of the year award goes to…this silk blend from zen yarn garden. oh my gosh, i have never felt yarn so soft, silky, luxurious…($35 a skein!!):

i wanted to curl up in this yarn and bury myself!

the “if-money-were-no-object” project…

i’d wear this bohemian sweater with my denim cut-off shorts and big loop earrings!

…but at ~$150 for the kit, i passed it by, boo hoo.

it took me a while to decide what i wanted to do…in the end, i concluded that the briggs & little deal was giving me the best vibe:

i will make two blankets! i’m envisioning lace creations…stay tuned!

mom’s fifth purchase! yet more briggs & little!

[the briggs & little vendor was absent last year. when we commented to the guy that we were so happy he was back, he said they will be returning EVERY year from now on as they are moving from quebec to ontario. yippee!].

the day’s celebrity moment: while we were lunching, featured guest speaker, the yarn harlot, passed within six feet of us! i totally chickened out of asking stephanie for a photo. i don’t know why??? i am not shy, but i couldn’t find the gumption to approach her! photo opp failure!

truly, all i want to do with my free time now is knit and read (i’m into jennifer weiner’s fly away home and sue grafton’s r is for ricochet) or knit and watch foodnetwork -> knitter’s fair always fires me up, creatively!

what a great, fun, ♥ happy ♥ saturday. our calendars are marked for next year (september 14th!).

~*~*~*~*~

btw, this is blog post number 700!! so…if i blog three times a day starting now, i could hit one thousand by my birthday!

kikiproject update: eight is great!

here’s our pie chart visual!…

time is flying. as you will find out, some projects are DONE, some are right ON TRACK, some are STAGNATING. see what i mean, below…

1. record at least one positive thing every day in my gratitude journal/excel spreadsheet. this excel spreadsheet is getting long! the funny thing is that NOT ONCE have i gone back to see what i have recorded…it’s the act of acknowledging good things every day that is meaningful to me, obviously [i see a theme, here: i never re-read blog posts, my journal, or my gratitude spreadsheets from other years, either. hmmm, dr phil that, if you will...].

2. babysit little e and cutie c two times so that the brother and sil ana can enjoy a significant date or special event. dance of joy #1!

(source)

i took care of the wee ones on wednesday august 29th. you can read the recap here! so, our tally of extended babysitting days is at three. let’s add more before year’s end!

3. blog three times per week (monday-wednesday-friday). modified on february 13th to: leave a comment on a minimum of three blogs, every day. file this project into the “on track” category. two not-usual blogs that i thoroughly enjoyed reading this past month were my friend sarah’s blog and sil ana’s vacation blog where they each chronicled their summer travel tales (reading of friends’ adventures is the next best thing to voyaging yourself!).

4. run four (point two) km…times ten. i did not accomplish this goal this month – and had no intentions of so doing!

5. eat five wildly decadent and delicious desserts. done! ice cream treats continue to be my favourite!…

6. finish a minimum of six knitting projects. i completed project #6 on saturday, august 18th:

an ORANGE blanket! (sorry lee and jeannie that i did not have this blanket available when baby e was born!)

close-up of the pattern

so, that means that from the three giant balls of cheap orange yarn, i got a sweater for myself, this blanket and there was STILL enough yarn on the ball to give to mom to use up! as was originally my intention, i am donating this blanket to project linus:

mom knits for project linus, too, so mom will include my blanket next time she does a donation drop-off!

[i'll still keep mentioning finished knitting projects in this space as i want to see how many i do this year. next up: christmas knitting for the nieces!].

7. read seven books, and hopefully more. i made it my goal to finish the 50 shades trilogy over the labour day long weekend. i’m counting all three books as one entry, so i have read ten books, now. say what you will, i LOVED the 50 shades novels, and am sorry i am finished! they completely captured my attention, i loved the sexcapades the story, the characters, the writing style…three stars (***).

8. perform eight random acts of kindness. once again, i am sorry to say i did nothing nice this month. i’m really antsy to move this project into high gear as we’ve been stuck at FOUR r.a.o.k.’s for a couple months, now. i have ideas, i just haven’t been in the mood to act on them! [pretty bad if you don't feel like being nice?!]. my excuse is that i was concentrating on goal number nine, here…

9. watch nine different and new-to-me tv shows (either online, on dvd, or on tv). dance of joy #2!

(source)

o happy day, i am DONE with tv! hallelujah, i cannot celebrate enough.

tv show #9 was called “inspector lewis” and it’s a british murder mystery series that i watched over at mom and dad’s on sunday evening, august 19th. the positives: 1) the lavish scenery -> no expense was spared in the filming of the episode i watched. they totally put law and order or csi to shame. 2) the complex storyline -> the plot was more multi-layered than the usual north american one-hour who-dunnit. the negatives: 1) the dialogue was hard to follow at times, due to the actors’ accents and frequently garbled speech patterns. 2) this type of show is just not my cup of tea -> it was kinda boring. i would be willing to watch this show again, but i’ll give it one point five stars (*1/2).

NOW – just because i am SO FREAKIN’ HAPPY that i do not have to log another tv show for this kikiproject EVER AGAIN, i am going to end on a POSITIVE note and tell you about two MORE new-to-me shows that i saw on the foodnetwork that i LOVED and that are VERY entertaining: eat street and ice cold cash.the latter reminded me of jeopardy and i really like playing along!

my take-home lesson: i prefer movies and chatting with friends to tv, tv is wayyy down on my list of priorities, tv is a satisfactory time-waster.

10. refrain from chewing gum for ten months. you realize that in exactly SIXTY-TWO days, i will chomp piece after piece of extra gum from morning til night. i am going to buy two packs, chew the entire 28 sticks in one day, and then give up gum, for good again.

11. abstain from drinking diet pop (any pop) for eleven months. [overall, i hardly have any cravings any more, but it seems like once a month, a situation strikes that almost puts me over the edge]. here is your anecdote of the month: so, i was working at theOTHERstore on a friday and a customer came in to see about some new shoes. she was carrying a 750 ml diet coke, and set it beside her on the bench while trying on various types. i tell you, i practically was drooling, and it was hard to concentrate on finding her optimal shoe choices. that bottle was RIGHT at my finger-tips, directly in front of my nose! i had to laugh in my head, i was picturing her face if i suddenly snatched her pop and guzzled the whole thing, all the while having a crazed look in my eye. boy, that was a tough moment!

12. meet with at least twelve different friends for a social get-together. yippee! dance of joy #3!

(source)

visit #20 was the very fun lunch out with grandma and dad at swiss chalet! find the story here!

g’ma and me at swiss chalet!

next project recap is tuesday october 9th -> thanksgiving will be over, by that date!

:O

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yesterday was KNITTER‘S FAIR SATURDAY!

tomorrow: the report!

it was a happy new year’s day!

hello, friends!

i hope everyone enjoyed our last long weekend of the summer. yesterday was new year’s day, did you know?! yup – seeing as how we are back to school today and entering into the autumn season, this past weekend truly should be recognized as the start of a new year. i celebrated it as such, anyway!

i knew pretty early on yesterday morning that my theme for labour day was going to be BLACK and WHITE with a few fifty shades of grey thrown in for good measure.

to kick-start the holiday monday, i headed out for a funtastic tour:

BLACK shorts and tank, WHITE socks and shoes

to be honest, those white compression socks are my least favourite pair. but i chose not to wear my hot pink CEPs because the very thought of the exertion that would be required to peel them off post-run made me tired. [like how i matched my nail polish to the water bottle holder?! haha! i've pretty much given up on putting on any colour of polish other than black - *obsessed*].

consumed: a chocolate gel on course because it is BLACK(ish)!

[sidenote tangent: those clif shots are the best: first, i love the flavour and consistency; if blindfolded, i would swear i was downing chocolate icing. second, it's the little things that count: these packages are the easiest brand to open mid-run -> there is nothing more frustrating than having to break stride and practically crack a fingernail trying to rip open a gel when you've got a good rhythm going].

runners: what is your favourite mid-run nutrition brand?? i am interested.

on purpose, i chose to wear my old BLACK yoga tank for the rest of the day:

that is the back – had to take off the top for the photo, i have not yet figured out how to do a behind-the-back self-portrait!

on sunday, mom and i went to conestoga mall, and i got a NEW backpack for back to school to celebrate autumn!

on sale, 40% off, so i paid $14 plus tax! note the BLACK and WHITE – with yellow!

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sidenote tangent: i used to be very BLACK AND WHITE in my opinion of singer neil young – ie i hated didn’t like his music at all and mocked his style at every opportunity. well, i like when i can see evolution in myself, and i fully confess that i now stand corrected:

saturday eve entertainment: the neil young doc, “journeys” at the princess, with mom and dad!

i loved this movie, and the songs featured. i now have a newfound appreciation for neil young’s lyrics, song-writing prowess, and unique musical style. my favourite songs as heard in the movie: ohio, and leia. it was a great evening out!

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since it was labour day yesterday, i thought i better do some cleaning. i kept the toiling to a minimum, though – who wants to be cooped up inside on a gorgeous, sunny holiday?! i book-ended my cleaning with reading:

GREY up on the rooftop!

WHITE vinegar is my favourite cleansing agent!

GREY in the BLACK and WHITE great room!

could i get through my last 150 pages of “50 shades freed” by sundown?! i sure could try!

late afternoon, it was time for ice cream…MONDAY!

VANILLA ice cream with mini CHOCO-pb cups from coffee culture! thanks, mom and dad!

last task o’ the day: i started composing my christmas list! family, don’t worry, i am not brainstorming 100 items this year!

my organizational method is very BLACK and WHITE this year: i have repeat items and new requests:

a shot of just the beginning: my list needs to be ready by thanksgiving weekend!

sidenote addition: i finished the last page of the 50 shades trilogy at 6:23 p.m. juanita, now we can meet for s’bux again, and i can give you back your books – many thanks! i LOVED this series!!!

file photo: july 15, 2012

all in all, yesterday was a fun day and a great start to the new year!

what colour was YOUR labour day?! how hippie-dippie does that sound!

[too bad i am clueless about photo-editing, it woulda been fun to post today's pics in BLACK and WHITE!].