Musings on a Small Life

I was out early this morning (as always!), for what turned about to be 6 hours of errands, including my (not so) "favourite" thing to do, boot/shoe shopping. My winter hiking boots died! I'd already been to the bank, Canadian Tire, Costco, Starbucks (thank god for Starbucks' non-fat dirty chai latté), Sports Chek, Dollarama, Jysk, the Shoe Company (I did find two pairs of end-of-season boots, great sale), Home Sense, Pier One, and Bed, Bath and Beyond (got a tension rod there, for my hall closet, see below, plus ANOTHER freakin' bed pillow, because I am the Goldilocks of bed pillows and my guest room is a wasteland of pillows I can't sleep on). Closet organization with the new tension rod, to hang up my tote bags. Anyway. Back to the story. By this time it was noon, I'd already been on the go for 4.5 hours, I was tired and hungry, my feet hurt from clumping around in my snow boots (because my winter hikers died, see above, in case y...

Wow, February 1 already. I hope the Groundhog sees his shadow tomorrow, because more often than not in our area, we get the opposite of the prediction. So if he does see his shadow, rather than a late spring, it would mean an early one. Insofar as any groundhog has the ability to predict, or counter-predict, weather, of course. I took last Friday afternoon off for errands, spent 5 - 6 hours each day of Friday, Saturday and Sunday running all over town via bus for various things. No wonder I'm exhausted. I got a bathroom mirror...then ended up getting a different one entirely, because I couldn't find the kind of vanity light I really wanted, at a price I could afford. So I ended up with a brushed nickel one from Lowe's, which turned out to be on sale (didn't realize that till after I had paid).  BTW, if anyone out there is thinking of buying Lowe's Portfolio brand of vanity lights, check the box. I was going to buy one, then saw a State of Californi...

I went to Walmart yesterday for a couple of items, then walked over to the main shopping centre/bus transfer point. Surprisingly, the mall was open, even though it was before 10AM. I'd thought they would be on Sunday hours, because of the holiday, but nope. On a whim I popped into Sears to look through the women's clothing section, then made my way over to shoes. I never look there for shoes, because my feet are so hard to fit. However, I scored a pair of Clarke's shoes for work, already on sale, then an additional 30% off at the cash register. Good buy! Then it was just a few more errands, including a stop at PetValu for the canned food I'd ordered. One of the store cats checks out my purchases. The for-adoption tortie, with serious tortitude, got snitty with Oliver, the other store cat. They got into it until Oliver managed to break free and run to a safer distance.     She's a lovely cat, but will need a human who appreciates that attitude, bit...

A mere two and a half working days and we'll be off. Yippee! I think there will be only two of us here on the 24th (we close at noon) and while I won't be wearing my jammies, I'll be as close to it as I can get and still be respectably attired (i.e. black stretchy lounge pants--not my old paint-stained sweats). We had our office luncheon today, on campus. The boss paid for a drink for us all to start, which was lovely. Then I had the seared salmon ( love salmon), the pumpkin pie cheesecake for dessert, and a cappuccino. I'd like to say I'll be too full for supper, but portions weren't huge. That'll be my excuse, anyway. Freebie stuff: I love freebie stuff. Don't we all? I actually logged in to my AirMiles account this morning (something I do maybe once every couple of years or so) and redeemed most of my remaining "dream" AirMiles for a convection/toaster oven. There were two or three on their list, but the Cuisinart one had better rev...

Yep, I'm doing the Friday happy dance, because it's been a long week. I had wanted today off, but my "new" boss is on holiday this week and my "old" boss wafflfed so much (uncharacteristically) when I asked that I finally said forget it, I'd take a day another time. It was p*ssy of him, but I wondered after the fact if he just doesn't want to get involved in any "supervisory" issues with me anymore. So I'm at the office, when I really could be taking care of a few things. I will, however, leave about an hour early today (came in for 7AM anyway, instead of 8AM, so I'm not cheating the institution out of my time), so I can get home while it's still light and get into my garage, to see what has to go, what's for donation, etc. Everything's a jumble in there right now. My bad. *** As for other things, I had ordered this blanket from Amazon.ca a few days ago. It was supposed to have taken till November 18th to get he...

Home yesterday, no next door neighbours. Up at 3AM, a peek out the window, no neighbour truck. Woohoo, high-five to Derry, who's sleeping on the bed with me. Up for good at 4:45AM (yes, I lingered), still no neighbour truck. Happy dance! Coffee outside at 5AM, being serenaded by the birds, happy knowing I have the place to myself for the day, if not the entire weekend. (Hence most of the reason today's a good day.) Paycheque in the bank in advance of Monday's payday (standard for my bank, but not others). Yippee! Lots of shopping for cat food, groceries, litter, etc. Sale on a cute new activity centre for the cats (pics below). Except that 15% off does not mean $15 off, Kim. Wake up and do basic math! However, I've already saved half the purchase price with $10 off my groceries (Air Miles) and coming in under budget on the litter for July. I can cover the rest of the cost by skipping two purchased coffees a week for the upcoming month, not a hardship. ...

I went back to Mattress Mart yesterday and bought a head board anyway. Not expensive at all, but the best (for me) of what they sell. I want something that enables me to sit up and read in bed comfortably, so nothing metal, no "rails" or gaps. Photo from their web site In for a penny, in for a pound. Whatever. At this stage of the game, spending a bit more isn't going to make much of a difference in the overall debt load. So, fingers crossed the new bed gets delivered next weekend (oh, please!) and then the head board will come in a week or so after that. I wish they stocked these locally, but at least there will be no delivery charge (for either the bed or head board). I've been keeping my eye out for a new comforter or bed spread or duvet cover, but haven't seen anything that screams "Kim" and is the right colour scheme...and the right price. No rush, and no "need" either. Something new and fresh will come along eventually. ...

At last we have a perfect day, about 23C/73F and low humidity ("low" being 50%). If only all the days of summer could be this glorious. Storm clouds earlier in the week The house went from 85F on the main level, about 90F or so upstairs, to low 70s overnight. Bliss. I'm wrung out from the lack of sleep, but welcome the respite. I took Friday off to run errands, did more shopping yesterday after a routine haircut. Found a pair of dressy jeans at Alia (middle-aged/elderly ladies clothing store) that actually fit my ever-expanding chubby body with its short legs and long rise. I went looking for lightweight slacks, but had no luck there. Everyone has fall stock in now, of course. Pretty plum and navy colours coming in for the autumn season. But it's been decades since I had to care about fashion and seasonal colours (when I worked in retail in my early 20s). The boys are okay, were perkier this morning in the cool. Nicki had a run-in with Carla (the swee...

I didn't get home till 4PM yesterday, and I had left the house at my usual 6:40AM. Honestly, I don't feel like I had a day off! LOL. On the plus side: I wasn't in the office at my somewhat cluttered desk: And I found two rain jackets on sale at WalMart, for $9 each. I couldn't choose between the fuschia or the royal blue, so I got both. I'd pay more than $9 at Value Village for a secondhand one, so thought I got a pretty good deal. My current too-big, too-poofy, lined windbreaker-style jacket, in an ugly green and purple, will return to Value Village in my next donation. I ate too many carbs, but avoided buying any chocolate or cake or eclairs or tarts along the way, no easy feat, believe me. I got three more annuals for small pots for the garden, all pink. Except for potting one, I'm done. I hope they all take, but if not...shrug. I didn't spend much this year, and had a leftover bag of earth from last spring anyway. I had low-lights pu...

If anyone shops at PetSmart, this weekend is a great time to stop in and check things out. I had a 15% off coupon, via email, so stopped in after my hi-lites and cut. I didn't realize they had all sorts of great deals on for Pet Perks members--duh, Kim, it's December, pre-Christmas. Anyway, I snagged the boys a new ESS for Christmas, 3 cases of ProPlan chicken & liver (the stuff I had such a hard time getting back in October, on sale now for 90 cents per can, regularly $1.19), and 2 cases of Fancy Feast (on for 55 cents per can, regularly 73 cents). I would have taken more cases of food, but five (plus the scratcher) was all I could reasonably carry home on the bus. Both brands are on sale till December 30th, so I'll probably go back next weekend and pick up more, if they're still in stock. Between the Pet Perks deals and the 15% off coupon, I saved $53.76 on the ESS and the 120 cans of food. BTW, don't waste your money on the ESS scratchers at WalM...

I took today off work, since the forecast was for sunshine and reasonably warm temps (about 13C/55F). Spent most of the day doing something I normally detest--slacks shopping. It took trying on 22 pairs in 6 different stores to find 2 that actually fit, but that's better than not finding any. (And thank you, Dad and Mom and Harry, for the birthday money -- this time I didn't use it all for bills.) Didn't I just do this, though? Slacks shopping, I mean. Maybe it was over the Christmas break. If I didn't have such a difficult pear shape, it wouldn't be such an ordeal. And it still was an ordeal when I was in my 20s and 30s and 30+ pounds lighter. So I came home with a pair of black slacks, a pair of dark jeans, two short-sleeved blue print tops, a short-sleeved heavy-weight turquoise-ish top I'll wear as a little jacket, and the practical socks. All new and on sale, and at great buys. Oh, and the dark chocolate Lindt Easter bunny, half price of co...

I saw this little angel figurine over the Christmas holidays, at our Hallmark store, but didn't want to pay the $20 for it, partly because of the cost and partly because I'm really not into the Christian representation of "angels." But she's stayed in my mind for almost two full months, so today I stopped in to the store and bought her. Eventually, when I have my memorial for Annie and Chumley set up to my satisfaction, she will go there. That was my only "me" purchase today. I did find a few more things for my shelter donation project, and some soft, chunky wool on sale for more kitty blankets, as well as cat food on sale. (I've got pics to post on one or both of the cat blogs when I do another update.) No slacks--arggh, let's not even go there. Maybe I'll venture to Value Village tomorrow, if I'm in the mood. It's been a lovely day off, though. I'm glad I took the vacation day. I hope everyone's enjoying their Friday! ...

There was a lot of "hurry up and wait" this morning, as I hung around hoping the Salvation Army truck guys would show up before noon. Finally I called around 11AM, to be told that they couldn't tell me when the guys would be here, as they didn't leave the store till 10:30. I wasn't impressed. I snagged a blank piece of copy paper and wrote, in bold marker, that I couldn't wait for them the entire day and that I'd donate to another charity, thanks very much. I fully intended to tape it to my door at 11:40 and head out for a few errands. Of course, about five minutes after I wrote the note and got it all ready to be taped up, the truck arrived--at 11:20AM. They took everything I had put aside for donation (no surprise, as everything was in excellent condition), including a large open shelving unit that had been in my garage since the spring. And I even managed to make my 11:50 bus. I have a long list of errands for the weekend, things that I need to pick ...