today at the Walmart Supercentre

okay, i'm not usually a Walmart shopper (doesn't everyone say that...then secretly go?).

anyway, we are still away on holidays and today decided to head down to Omak, Washington -- about 1 hour south of my parents and brother/SIL's place.
Omak is a small town but it has a Walmart Supercentre. Something I haven't seen in Canada -- atleast anywhere near where I live.

I must say, I was impressed. Clean store, no crowds - friendly staff.

We found this (Dorinda bedding) for Sophie,
some super cute buttons that I hope to use in some sewing, a pattern for a sundress for Sophie, and Kashi products -- which are also sometimes tough to find north of the border.

very much a desintation shopping kind of day.
happy new year!

10 for Thursday

it's been a crazy busy time -- but stopping to say ahh....

1.) went to a perfectly lovely small town Christmas Eve service in my hometown. the Lutheran Church now has a young minister who seems to be bringing some fresh blood into the service

2.) getting some cool gifts

3.) going to the gym today -- first time in a week and it felt good

4.) buying new underwear (Jockey hipsters) and socks at the Bay

5.) reading some super long but interesting Christmas letters that my parents receive from various family members.

6.) spending the week with my brother and his wife Joanne in their super cute house

7.) thankful that my coworkers also have this week off, so no one is left at the office holding down the fort...we can all enjoy some time away

8.) looking forward to getting a haircut next week when the craziness of my hairdreser's schedule dies down and i can actually get in to see him

9.) coming home to my house sans Christmas tree (vic and I took it down the night we left to come and visit our families). so great not to have to go home to dropping pine needles

10.) seeing sophie have some extended play time with her little cousin Travis.

that's it!

bless this chick!

i found this cute little creation via www.blessthischick.com
where you can create your own girlie.

here i am!

celebrate the winter solstice

tomorrow at 10pm is the winter solstice.

celebrate!

next year, i would like to have this book to read

a photo each day before Christmas

these gifts are going to the daycare tomorrow.
they are for 3 amazing women who care for sophie in her second home.
really, i don't know what I would do without them.

each bag contains our homemade salsa, these little silver tins with mini scented wax/wicks in them from Indigo in Montreal and a card.

Tasha Tudor

sophie and i made our weekly trek to the library tonight.
love how they have all the Christmas books on display.

i signed out this one.
it's lovely book (i'd like to watch the video too).

published in 1966. her family traditions are so joyful.
so non-commercialized, non-marketed, non-Walmarted.

i want to try making treats for the birds to hang on trees outside my parent's place on Christmas Eve. (joanne, maybe we can try this).

a photo a day before Christmas

we've been down at my parents' place for the last couple of days celebrating their
40th wedding anniversary.

sophie and my nephew travis tried their hand at decorating gingerbread cookies.
uh, glad they didn't actually eat them.

a new cd

this is a nice CD if you want to totally unwind to Christmas music.
we picked it up last night at Chapters after not being too impressed with the Barenaked Ladies Christmas CD. blah.

stress and a photo a day before Christmas

today was back to back meetings all day.
i had an Indian Head Massage scheduled for 4pm, which i postponed until 4:30pm because my meeting went long, and then i had to cancel entirely because we got a dump of snow that made getting around town difficult.

bummer. then we headed over to Sophie's daycare for her Christmas party.
tricky getting there with the roads, but glad we did. noisy, crazy, kid zone.
i think she had her fill after she got her gift from Santa so we left shortly after.

bath, hairwash (which she hates), stories and bed.
i'm relaxing.....surfing, looking at the beautiful snow that's landed on our trees
and joining some blogging friends for the Christmas photo a day

goody, goody

oh my goodness - how cute are these?!

Impress

i love Impress Stamps.
i went to their store last summer when we were in Seattle.
i actually love their online store better - found the Seattle store a little small.

each time they have new stuff, i get a little email, like this

being an older mom

i'm 39 (but who's counting)...and being an older mom is tiring (not that being a mom is a breeze if you are 29 or anything). but this morning sophie and I both exhausted ourselves.

- first 30 min of aerobics - then i got back home, showered and off to the library with Sophie for the Christmas puppet show (it was cute,but probably 10 minutes too long). several kids in the 2-4 age group were losing interest. but still very cute.

- then off to perk ourselves up here with a cinnamon bun, coffee (for me) and chocolate milk for sophie.

- then a haircut for sophie (thankfully this was all happening in the same mall, so i didn't have to travel far).

- browsed through a couple of shops including a bookstore that we both love

- the back to the library to take out a few books, like this one
and this one

- back home in time for leftover pizza and Christmas music. sophie crashed on the chair and off to nap for a bit.

right now we are just hanging out. tonight it's Vic's Christmas party.

3 for Thursday

Just a good day:

- sophie loves her new jumper and tights (she's become quite a little girl)

- wore my tights (love this company for tights). guess this is where sophie gets her tights love from :)

- finally had a coffee visit with a friend in town at this little spot
she's a mom of two and is a physician in town (delivered miss sophie). so cool to catch up.

boot camp

i like fitness classes. i have a hard time motivating myself to do solo workouts - much better with some group motivation (and music).

our gym started offering these type of classes this fall. (this link isn't actually from my gym - but same idea).

i go on Tuesdays. they are THE hardest classes i've ever taken. remember burpees from gym class. yep, they hurt.

the stingiest man in town

a few Christmases ago, my mom gave me a couple of childhood favourite videos.

one was Jack Frost, the other was this one.

sophie and I watched it tonight - she was not too keen on the Ghost of Marley. A little scary for her, but she enjoyed Tiny Tim and all of the singing Cratchets.
She was happy when Scrooge wasn't "naughty" anymore.

Even though it is from 1978, I enjoyed watching something from Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin,Jr. Definately names that mean Christmas TV specials to me as a kid.

somebody got new boots

her new boots came today (delivered to my office - nice).
i love Lands End, especially for kids clothes.
the quality is amazing.
her boots from last year were still in great shape but she was complaining that they were getting too tight.

sophie was so excited about this little parcel that arrived, she had to run around the kitchen in them.

a christmas tree

we went to a Christmas Tree Farm this afternoon to get our tree.
we usually go to a lot or a nursery, but this seemed to be a better idea (a fresher tree and we are supporting a local grower).

it was a neat experience - it was a U-Cut, so they handed Vic a hand saw and we went out and picked the one we liked and then cut it down. followed by hot chocolate.

smells lovely :)

5 for Friday

I'm so glad it's Friday, because:

1. Sophie's cold is finally wrapping up.
2. The snow has finally stopped and the temperature has creeped back up to a balmy
- 9 degrees celcius.
3. I got one more gift bought for my newest nephew
4. We bought a new Christmas CD tonight
5. I don't have to pack two lunches, a daycare bag, or do laundry for one blissful night.