Monday Mish Mash

Fall is officially arrived in Southern Alberta. And I love it. It's cold and crisp in the mornings. And it's been raining on and off, which I also love. Although I imagine the folks in the big city aren't too happy with the snow they got on the weekend. Nothing that stayed put, mind you, but still there is something about the thought of snow in the first weekend of October that is a bit disconcerting, even for us Albertans.

My girlfriend and I grabbed us a warm jacket, stopped at Starbucks and with chocolate truffle espressos in hand we headed off to do the rounds of showhomes on Saturday. There is one builder in town who always has the best showhome of the bunch. This year we started off with that house. It did not disappoint. But we thought after we should have saved the best for last. The others were nice in and of themselves but nothing compared to the that first one. The family friendly ideas and the gorgeous way they put everything together always leave me applauding them as we leave. If they would let pictures be taken I would, but they don't.

While I'll pass on the idea of striped walls, or stainless and glass everything, or the green paint that looked black, or the "monster mash orange" paint (yes that is the name of the color) in some of the homes I did decide that yes, I do want a cork floor in my kitchen (so nice and warm on the feet and very forgiving), and I found a counter top I love. While it's not granite, not in the budget, it is a really, really nice Formica laminate.

Sunday started with a headache and ended with me totally wiped out. After lunch I fell asleep on the couch for more than 3 hours. I never, ever, ever do that. Eight ibuprofens spread out over the day and a big bag of classic Lay's potato chips and Philidelphia Brand Herb & Spice chip dip later, I finally shook that thing but it left me wiped out and I still went to bed at my normal time. Now I know what you're thinking. Don't laugh. I'm not joking with the chips and that particular brand and flavor of chip dip. There is something between the two that they really do cut the severity of a bad headache for me. That headache didn't go anywhere until my sweet son went to the store and picked me up some. An hour or so later, the severity wasn't there anymore. Hmmm, maybe I can patent it somehow.

This week is shaking up very, very busy for me. Thanksgiving is this weekend in Canada and Kay is coming home. I see lots of cooking and baking in my week which means grocery shopping too. I love Thanksgiving. And I'm determined that the prep is not going to overtake the attitude of thanksgiving I want to maintain.

So on that note, I'm off to get the to do list and the grocery list together. And I'm thinking it will include a brick or three of cream cheese.