When life gets exciting - or not

While Halloween was a bit anti-climatic here, someone had a lot of fun! D sent this photo of Eli. The kids were able to wear costumes to school. She sent the little bags she'd made up as gifts for his classmates. Later that evening she and Eli made the rounds of four or five blocks close to their home. Of course, he made out like a bandit. At home they sorted the candy, and about half of it was donated. In years past, she's taken it to the Food Bank, but this year a family she knows had sick kids who weren't able to go out, so she dropped off the bag of candy with them. In exchange for the candy he gave up, he finds a new toy in his bucket the next morning. I'd never heard of this idea until she started doing it with Eli - it's called the Switch Witch. This year it was a pair of Mickey and Minnie Mouse characters dressed in Halloween garb, that she'd picked up last year on sale and stashed until now.

Tuesday was November 1st which meant it was time to pull the fridge and stove out to clean behind them. I try to do them at least twice a year, November and April - I can't say I do them more frequently than that. The area behind the fridge was pretty good, a bit of dried up cat kibble and some cat hair; standard in this house. The stove was a little worse for wear with more cat hair and a dead French fry or two, and of course spills down the side. I scrubbed the appliances and washed the floors before pushing them back in place for another 6 months or more. The kitchen floor was swept and scrubbed too. Since these tasks took less time than expected, I did some extra deep cleaning in the master bathroom. My ensuite has what my kids and I affectionally call the coffin shower. It's narrow and tiled floor to ceiling and while I clean it regularly, I find the floor tiles tend to get cloudy. So down on my hands and knees with a scrub brush and a Mr. Clean eraser I went, looking so much better when I finished.

On Wednesday morning, I watched Canada smash Japan in the first curling draw of the day before heading out to Staples to pick up a new ink cartridge for my printer. Backing up for a second, I'd forgotten my phone charger at D's and was using an older cable. It doesn't charge as quickly so I left the phone at home in the charger. When I drove to where the store used to be it wasn't there. It's obviously been awhile....I had to drive back home to check to see where they had moved. I ran that errand and came home, checked my phone and discovered a Public service alert, a text from my brother, and two missed calls from D.

Apparently, there had been a shooting in her small town; one man was dead and the two suspects were on the run. I tried calling D back and the calls were immediately dropped - so I sent her a message. She called me immediately and informed me it happened at a motel across town from her, the community had been asked to stay home and keep an eye out for anyone or anything suspicious. She had moved her car from the parking pad into the garage in case the suspects were looking for a car to steal. Eli was at school and they were basically on lockdown. By end of the school day, the suspects hadn't yet been located, but danger to the public was considered low as the police believed the shooting was targeted and not random. 

It seems that no place is immune from people who have no or little conscience. I doubt we'll ever know the motive (drug deal gone bad is the thought my brother and I share), but a family lost a member and another family will learn the pain of knowing one of their own took the life of another. Another no win situation.

I did get to stitch and chat that afternoon. There were three of us this week, S, D and I. S is leaving Monday for Arizona, and D wasn't certain she'd attend next week. S gave me the phone number of one of the other ladies who wasn't available this week - she had Covid last week and still isn't feeling well. If she isn't able to make it, neither D nor I will attend. I did tell D if she wants to meet, I can pick her up as she lives close by and I know she normally walks to the library unless it is cold.

Speaking of, we've got rain and snow to start this weekend. According to the forecast we could have as much as 30 cm. (almost 12 inches) of snow over the next week. Temperatures have been dropping and on Thursday we didn't even make it above freezing.  Winter is definitely here and likely to stay, though we can expect a few days of better weather before the end of the month. I've been feeding the birds regularly, and earlier this week I looked out to see them enjoying the bird bath. It had filled up with the snow, and it melted. Don't they look like they're having fun?

Those of you who remarked on the wordless Wednesday, it is indeed a Christmas critter. A Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer to be exact. 

I had time the play with the yarn while I watched the Pan Continental curling championships. Two Canadian teams, one men, one women, are in the event to secure our spot for the World events in 2023. The men didn't have to work too hard because their World curling event will be held in Canada so we have a guaranteed spot. No matter, they lost their first game to the U.S. team and then went on to win the remainder of their games. The women secured their berth early in the event is well with five wins in a row before losing to the U.S. team.

Both teams are in the play-offs this weekend, and I'll watch when I can. I've made plans to meet a friend on this afternoon to check out a craft sale, and catch up. It's been over a year since I met her for coffee so we're long overdue! After that, I plan to hunker down at home and avoid the bad weather as much as I can. There is a scarf on the knitting needles, and a mitten started too. Eli's sweater is still in the basket awaiting attention - in other words, between curling, football, and baseball, I have lots to keep me amused.

Have a great week ahead everyone!