Things customers have given me...

Okay, it's time I write this list before my incredibly terrible memory lets it all slide through the cracks. For the first few years at work I would describe myself as quiet and unsure. A few years later and I am the person who has worked at this location the longest. I know the oldest stories, why that part of this wall is broken, a lot of part timers who have come and gone and, most of all, our regular customers. I'm almost cocky now. New employees are warned to stay on my good side (cuz I'm picky about part timers) and I'll take on the grumpiest of customers. Maybe boredom of the same ol job has promoted growth in these other areas that I wouldn't necessarily say I was strong at. Dan is always telling me that I have to be more assertive... I think I just use a different "mask" at work. Anyway, the point of that is that I know plenty of the customers and they know me. I probably talk WAAAY too much about my personal life but it's nice to be familiar. Most of the regulars know that I like gardening, farm life and my family. All of them knew when Gavin, Grace and Jaela were born. I've even shown a few of them pictures. But then again, I've been shown pictures of their kids and grandkids too. It does get a bit creepy when a customer who I don't really recognize comes in and asks me about something that I totally forgot that I told him about. I forget what I all say to people. On the other hand, it is soooooo nice to have people ask about how I'm doing, or my sisters, or my farm or my garden.... and then, sometimes, they come in with gifts! And the list is getting quite long. So here it is, things customers have given to me:

-Leek - this was one of my first gifts. He came in a few times with leek for me. I wasn't working but my co-workers knew it was for because it smelled strongly and had dirt on it. ??? (shortly after he started getting creepy so I stopped talking to him)
-A recipe for "Cassia bud pickles". I love this customer. We talk often about gardening and chickens since he has both. This recipe took 10 days to make so, even though I don't like them at all, I can't throw them out. I don't know what to do with these old jars of pickles. This same customer also made ...
-Home made fudge - he made it for halloween and gave it out to his friends. One of his friends who got a lot of it came in and gave some to us. I love this lady. She does detailing on cars and offered to give me a deal for our car. I've never gotten around to it.
-Amazing home made cookies - this customer started out as a real JERK. No one liked him. He finally retired from his business and then cooled down a bit. Now he's in business with his daughter who grows, harvests and mills her own wheats and grains for baked goods that she sells in Toronto markets. This guy jumped into her business and has his own bakery and mill set up close to our store. He comes in once in a while with packages of AMAZING cookies for us. I think he's hoping we'll come by and buy some but I haven't gotten the chance yet. I make sure that I always advertise for him when he comes by though.
-Chocolates and other goodies - from a small handful of customers at Christmas time... nice.... since we're all chocolate junkies.
-Croquets!!! That's right. A customer came in who had overheard us talking about droppies. He asked if I was the one who liked dutch food. We started talking about how he learned how to make croquets etc etc and had made some the night before. Ten minutes later and he brought in a package of 8 frozen ones. Isn't that awesome? I made them that week and brought them into the store so some co-workers could try them. We all loved them... they were very good. I'm impressed. Especially since he's not even dutch!
-An offer from a short Italian old man to paint our bathroom. Our store is so old and gross. There's so many problems with the building I don't know why they are putting any money into it at all. ... well, they don't put much money into it which is partly the problem, i guess. And the employee bathroom gets it the worst. I don't think it's been painted since the 80's. It's so gross. There's constantly cobwebs in all the corners. I tried to clean the walls a few years ago but they dried just as dirty. We were talking about this when the old Italian guy comes in. He had a look at it and said he would come by and paint it for us. This was last week and it hasn't been done yet so I don't know if it's going to happen but I'm almost glad it hasn't... i'm afraid he'll bill us for it after.
-Carpet - this one is really strange. A customer comes up and says "hey, I know you.... you have a golden retriever, right?" yup. Well, it turns out he's the flooring guy for this new subdivision. When we first moved in, when Chloe and I would go for walks, the construction guys would watch and laugh as I threw Chloe's ball down the road and she would take off after it. He remembered me from that. Well, I told him about THIS problem (grrr) and he said he would come by with some carpet next time he was in the area. I'm going to see if he can fix it in anyway.


I know there's more but I can't remember it. If I do, I'll add them to the comments. What a good list though, eh? It's not a very classy job, but it's not that bad either. It's got its up sides, that's for sure.

Well, I can tell we're well on our way through winter.... I'm starting to look up agrarian things online. I've already started a seed catalogue list (even though I probably won't order them) and I've been dreaming about the size and shape of my garden for a while now.
So today, I've been looking for a really good inspiring blog about gardening, goats, chickens and the rest. My goodness is there ever a lot out there. There are some pretty crazy hard core agrarians out there too. I found this one blog with a list of other blogs and they are all hard core Christian agrarians. For some reason, it all really does not sit with me. The ladies are all talking about how they strive to be the woman of Proverbs 31 and the men all talk about taking their boys out and teaching them how to be men... good providing, shooting and butchering type men! I can't really put my finger on what bothers me. I like providing and shooting men. I love Proverbs 31.
I've been reading this one blog (it has a soundtrack!! I had to pause my concert of Daniel Lanois to read it) is about a family who moves out to Texas where they will be living off the grid. It's so bizarre to read and hard to stop reading. She looks like a mennonite with her hair pulled back under a hankerchief and always wearing an apron. There's lots of butchering and canning pictures yet the blog posts are daily. It's very strange and interesting to know that this is happening right now... somewhere in Texas. Here's a clip from one post of her describing why her husband is doing this: " ... the Lord has commanded him to lead his family out of this "ungodly world society" and separate. He is being obedient to the Lord and seeking His will in guiding this family and in his duties as a husband." .... I just don't know what to think.

Where to start....

I don't know where to start. I haven't posted in while and I have so many good post ideas! I've thought of a good list of books that I have read more than once and a list (a long one) of things that customers have given me (mostly food stuff). I could write about how I got pulled over again.... and how I got let off again....

But Dan wanted me to post a picture of our latest and most exciting news:

Earlier this week we had a heated discussion about how long it's been since he crunched up the last truck and how I DON'T WANT TO CARPOOL ANY MORE! And so, I guess the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Three days later and we have a second vehicle. I don't know if the timing is bad, or if it'll turn out to be a lemon. We need to get it saftied and e-tested but its already in our driveway and it looks GREAT. Dan drove it home (about 45 mins.) away and he said it felt good. The guy who sold it to us was selling it because it was his dad's who had died late last year. The inside looks great and so far, I already like it better than the last truck. It's a 96 Ford Ranger and so it's already 2 years newer than the last one. The tires are great. Breaks feel good. We'll see what needs to be done for the rest. I feel so relieved and happy but still.... I feel like I should hold my breath for just a little bit longer.

Oh, and we got the price dropped.... considerably.

Nicole Running

It's not a myth... I have run before... I even found a picture to prove it!

I'm going through all of my parents pictures of when we were kids. I've got a few projects of different picture collections going on. I'm scanning like crazy and having a ton of fun. We have sooo many pictures. What a childhood I had! Wow.

What I'm up to:

Yesterday Dan said his nose was raw already from just one day with the cold. I picked up some Kleenex (with lotion!) on my way home from work yesterday and figured he would call in sick today. Sure enough, here he is, miserable and filling up the garbage with used kleenexes. Poor guy. Oh, and on top of that, Chloe is sick. I think she might have gotten into something at mom and dad w's because she's got diarrhea and she puked yesterday twice. She hasn't crapped in the house but every time she whines at the door I come running. Really, I'm not doing much though. I've got a book and don't have to leave for work till 2:30. Hopefully the snow plow comes by then.

Books I would love to love

I used to read every book I picked up cover to cover. It almost felt like I was killing something if I didn't read the whole thing. I still usually read the whole book but in the last couple of years I have put down books that really weren't keeping my attention. The thing is, usually, they are great books! Here's my list of books I would love to love:
The polished hoe - Austin Clarke : Mom gives us Chapters gift certificates every year for Christmas and for some reason, I picked up this book. I could NOT finish it. It was a mix between the type of writing and how slllloooooowwww the book went. I just could not follow it. I agonized over it so much that mom finally picked it up. It's almost a family joke now.
The memory keepers daughter - Kim Edwards : This book even came with so many recommendations. I was told it was suuuch a good book. I might have been a little too concerned with what was going to happen so I will admit that peeked ahead to see what was going to happen. Once I did that, I was disappointed and I didn't want to read it anymore
Reading Lolita in Tehran - Azar Nafisi : There's no good reason for me not to like this book. I've just never gotten very far in it. I've started reading it a few times and usually another book comes along that I'd rather read. So sad.
The brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoyevsky : For years, my favourite book was "The Brothers K" by David James Duncan. It still might be my favourite book but I haven't read it in years. Of course it refers to the former book and I'm intereseted in reading it for this reason. It is about 4 brothers and one of the gets very involved in Russian literature. I'd like to know what the other allusions are... why else is it "The brothers K"? The only thing is, it's been sitting on my book shelf for years now and I still haven't picked it up. I just haven't worked up the ... the what? I don't know.
Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky : When I was in Honduras I gobbled up anything that I could get my hands on that was written in English. I loved reading and read a lot. I read anything. I read harloquin's and mystery novels. I read the Chronicles of Narnia and the most whacked out book about a German midget. At the bottom of all the books that I could find and were sent to me was "Crime and Punishment". Eventually, after everything else was read, I pulled out this book. I even got pretty far. I think I only had a few more chapters to get through. Why didn't I finish it? I came home.

I don't know why I want to love these books. Maybe because I wish I could say I love Russian literature (all that intellectual posh). Maybe it's because I don't want to waste a good dollar I spent on a book. For some of the books, I know it's not the book... everyone loves that book. It's not you... it's me. Sorry. It's almost a relationship.

Loose ends

Oh man... today is one of those days that I'm finally facing a bunch of dreaded chores that I've been putting off for WAY too long. I think I'm finally getting at them because I've been stuck in this house for so long without much to do. Of course, I could be cleaning the bathroom or wiping down the cupboards and every other surface in this house that is covered in dust (at least the floor is vacuumed!). I have been working and out of the house but not much. There aren't that many hours available at this time of year, plus I don't have a second vehicle to get to work so I have to work around Dan's schedule. I've made 2 weeks worth of chili, dog treats, a terrible pasta salad and banana bread. The house is pretty clean (except for that dust and some clothes to put away) and the dog has had plenty of walks.... now what? So, I started finding a DJ for Cass's wedding and stag and doe. I'm looking into a long lost purchase of my mom's that she never received, I'm making arrangements for Bella's new home (Larissa's rabbit) and now... I guess there's nothing to do but my old chores that I don't want to do. Here's confession time: Dan and I still have stuff at our old place back in the country. Luckily we know the people there so we can go and claim our stuff but eventually they are just going to get rid of it themselves. We have an old car sitting in their driveway (what a waste!) and a spare tire for our Jetta in the garage. These are two things that we for sure should make sure we take care of. How does one go about getting rid of an old car? I know the tires are seized up and it's not worth fixing anymore. If I found someone with a trailer, and we somehow managed to get it on there, do we just drive to a wreckers and drop it off? I don't know!! I have NO experience here. I called the wreckers and they said I would get about $75 for it and they would pick it up.... would I get much more if I pulled in favours from friends and dropped it off ourselves? It's pretty humbling picking up the phone and calling the people that have lived with that car in their driveway for so long. I know they are nice people but I'm still quite embarrassed. And then, I made the dreaded call for a sit down with the bank. It's not really a bad meeting but we have to change our home branch now that we've moved out here. Really, it's not that bad but it's something that I've been putting off forever too. The only consolation that I have after all this is that I'm hoping it feels so good to get it all done. Next, I need to repair our only working car and get rid of the crunched up truck in OUR driveway (by the way, is that the right word? driveway?).

Things I LIKE about winter

... more specificaly, about this winter.
The festive seasons are over and the long winter begins. Or so it seems. Usually I get 10x the usual Sunday evening blues at about this time but this year I'm bracing myself against it. Firstly, now that we have to walk the dog every day I'm testing out the theory that I just need more light and exercise in the winters to keep my spirits up. So far it's working. Second, I'm making a mental list of the reasons why I like winter and I'm working to make sure that I have good things to look forward to. So here it is:

-Christmas, New Years and all the other good socializing and relaxing.
- The silloettes of trees. I don't know why but I love looking at the bare tree just before sunset. There's so many different shapes and sizes... i wish I could identify them.
-Mom and Dad told me about the "blue hour" and how it turns into the "grey hour". Described in that way, I like looking for the right colours to feel out the day.
-Cass and Mike's stag and doe. Not just that day but for the next two months I'll be trying to organize and plan it. By the way, keep Feb. 28th open.
-It's freezing so there's no mud at least!
-Pulling out the graph paper, seed catalogues and the imagination. I love planning a garden in the winter. I rarely actually use any of my plans but it is almost as good as the horticultural therapy of actually being in the garden.
-Dan and I are planning on going away for a weekend with our friends Mike & Meg to the blacksheep inn. We haven't picked a date yet but I think that March would be a perfect month for it. I'm super excited about this one. It's a road trip, a night (or 2) away, good visiting with friends and probably some really good music. Maybe we can get some snow shoeing or something in too. Fun eh?
-As soon as there is any thaw, I have full permission to make whatever garden I want here. That should be fun. Good thing I have a roto tiller!

That's it for now but I'm really going to try to add to this list.