Beautiful Sunshine

I just got home a short while ago from picking up the children from school, and I have to say the weather is absolutely glorious today. It felt so good to step outside and not be hit with bone chilling temperatures, and to have the sun shining so brightly. What a blessing that was for us today.

Apparently all the famous groundhogs of the world saw their shadows today. Another 6 weeks of winter. It always makes me laugh when people get cross about that. Hello people... it's the first week of February.. of course there's more winter to come!! One year there was a blizzard on my wedding anniversary and that was April 20th! Lots and lots of winter still to come.

Boo.

I survived my shopping experience on Saturday. I didn't find a purse I liked enough to buy, but the hunt continues. Maybe I'll just hang on to the one I have until the spring and splurge then.

Sam needed new jeans so we headed to Zellers. I hate Zellers because they're always trying to rip the customer off, and Saturday was no different. They had a table of t-shirts and sleeve shirts with a huge sign that said $2.97 each. A shirt for less than $3? Who'd be without?? We picked up two short sleeved shirts and one long sleeved for Sam, and two short sleeved for Jules. When we got to the checkout, our bill was over $70! For a pair of jeans, a hoodie and five shirts at $2.97? I think not! We checked the bill and they charged us $6 and $7 for three of the shirts! We spoke with a woman who worked in that department and it turns out that only the top shelf was on sale, not the bottom one. Why would they be on the same table then? UGH! That really annoyed me, so off to the Customer Service desk we went. I'm not that desperate for cash, but it was the principle of the thing. The girl there credited the difference and we were off.

I'm watching you Zellers....oh yeah...I'm watching you...

Our next stop was Toys R Us. I get that this is one of the happiest places on earth for kids, but like I said in my previous post, I would rather rip out my own eyes than go there. I wanted to look through the baby section but it was full of overly hormonal pregnant women, blocking the aisles. Sweet.

I would just like to remind you all that I was a perfectly sweet and even tempered pregnant woman when I was expecting Jordan. And I very, very, VERY rarely complained. I cannot say this about my other two pregnancies though!

The children found what they wanted to spend their gift cards on and we headed to the checkout to stand behind about 15 people, all waiting for the sole cashier that was open.

!!!

I felt all confused for a moment...was I at Toys R Us or at Walmart??

Once we left there we stopped at McDonald's to get lunch before heading off to Julie's soccer game. I think there was a shortage of hamburger patties or something because there were seven cars parked off to the side, waiting for their orders. It was chaos!

Julie's game went well and she played well as usual. The parents kill me though. They bark orders and instructions at their kids like nobody's business. One mother made her daughter cry a couple of weeks ago. Nice.

We stopped in at Chapters after the game and spent some time browsing the different sections. I bought the latest Mary Higgins Clark book with a gift card from Christmas.

I have so many books on the go right now, I don't know how I am keeping the stories straight! I love reading. You can go anywhere in the world just by opening up a book.

Sunday I went to the Under Your Roof seminar that the Associate Pastor and his wife do every few months. The topic was Family Devotions and they gave us a lot of really great ideas of how to incorporate them into our daily lives. Once we were home, we had a picnic lunch on our living room floor and did our first devotion together. The children really enjoyed it and have been really working hard to remember the memory verse.

After lunch the children headed outside to play in the snow and I opened the blinds, stretched out in my recliner and napped in the sunlight. It was heavenly.

I talked to Mom in the evening and her pain levels have been more manageable these last couple of days. I am so grateful to God for that. I hate seeing her suffer. I know He does too.

Sam had a test today on the provinces and their capitals. This is the second time his teacher is testing them on this. Weird. I've gone through my entire life thinking that Calgary was the capital of Alberta and it's not. It's actually Edmonton!

Since when??

And when did the Northwest Territories break down??

I wish I paid more attention at school because I seem to remember very little and now my children wonder how I managed to make it through school at all. So many times I wondered how a particular lesson would ever matter in my lifetime. Then I had kids. Now I know.

I have an appointment with my doctor tomorrow to get a referral to my urologist's office. I've been going to him every other year for a cystoscopy for the last 10 years, but since I skipped last year I now have to get a referral. Frustrating. Oh well, I'll mention my constant fatigue to him while I'm there. He'll tell me that it's because I have a baby but that's not it, I know it.

"My urologist's office". Doesn't that make me sound old? 10 years ago an ultrasound showed a cyst in my bladder that turned out to be cancer. Everyone I spoke with said they had never seen bladder cancer in someone as young as me. One day I'll tell you about it. A great God Story for sure.

I'm hoping for an early night tonight even though I napped earlier this afternoon. It will mean I'll miss The Bachelor and I bet this is the night Deanna returns, trying to get Jason back. Ha. I hope he sends her home. That show is like a car wreck, you just can't look away.

That's it. Over and out.