I *Can't* Believe I Did THAT!!

SO. A *FUNNY* THING HAPPENED - "Outside" of The EYE DOCTOR'S OFFICE...

FATHER was waiting in THE CAR. MOTHER was with Me, heading toward the Building's Entrance... I move My Hands to adjust My Sweater Buttons, wondering - WHY They don't feel "Right"..?

Looking down, I "NOTICE" - My Dark-Coloured Cardigan is INSIDE-OUT!! -- We had been in a rush to leave the House, and I had thrown IT on in the Darkened Hall... Yeah. I definitely NEED My Eyes *EXAMINED*!!

Hey, LOOK! There's a Dime on the Ground at Our Feet!! -- Okay. So, perhaps My Fashion-Faux-Pas wasn't so potentially Humiliating afterall... Then again, considering The Doctor's BILL, this Tiny-Shiny-Monetary-Gift from The SIDEWALK-FAIRY was, but a mere Flake of Prosperity!

Clever People is This OFFICE - They make You Pay BEFORE You are BLINDED by the Drops!!

BTW, *THANK YOU* Medical Insurance Coverage!! -- Seriously?! "$60." for the VISUAL FIELD TEST
"Video Game"... Which, as it happens I scored 100% on one Eye and 99% on the Other - Despite My Severe Near-Sighted-ness! The Doctor was actually quite impressed.

Personally, I was quite surprised that I had done anywhere near so well. - Thought that My Reaction Time was on the Slow side... - It was My First Time doing IT.

Anyway... After all of the Drops, Puffs of Air, connecting Flashy-Dots, and trying not to Memorize The Charts - "Physically", My Eyes are Great! "Visually", My Prescription hasn't changed and yet, I'm still pretty much as BLIND as a Wombat!

But, what-the-hey... I found a Dime. And, My Doctor is CUTE!! - [..I'm not Dead Yet, either!!]

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The SHOP-HOP Between The DROPS...

"..IS THAT, THUNDER..?" - Asked the Distinguished-Older-Guy browsing the Displays near Me at the Art Supply Store.

The Weather Today has been..."Hinky". So, of course, I had STUFF-TO-DO. Out of the House. *Without* THE CAR - [FATHER doesn't want the Driveway "marred" just yet..].

As I ate Breakfast, Intermittent Showers roamed by... The SUN came out. Sorta. I soon left, headed toward THE MALL. Along My Route, I popped into FUTURE SHOP - the SANCTUARY Season-3 DVDs are Out Today!

Nuts! NONE "In-Store"?! - Got a Rain-Check from Tall-Cute-Clerk-Guy. Continued on My Journey... What THE...!! Sporadic RAINDROPS... GREY Clouds coming My Way... GOT to THE MALL before Anything "Happened".

Ran a few Errands There, and proceeded to the BUS TRANSIT STATION. Cloudy, but no Rain...
"Then"...

Eventually, arrived at the ST.LAURENT Mall. Slipped into DESERRES for a few Moments... THUNDER?? -- Left to go to TOYS"R"US - next door - and gazed out of the nearby Mall Doors...

Well. There's TIMING! -- SHEETS of RAIN coming down!! -- I picked up That "On Hold" ITEM. Then, moved on...

HMV. Hmm. Perhaps, THEY have Those DVDs..? -- Helpful-Grunge-Band-Clerk-Guy "checked" for Me. YES! ...Same Price... Decisions... oh, what-the-Hell, why not?!

LOOK! The SUN is SHINING through the Skylight! Time to head Back, with another quickie Run through THE MALL to finish up on Previous Business... And, to get a bit of Junk Food! -- Hey, I did a lot of Walking... Have DVDs to WATCH!! Crocheting to DO!!

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Happy "International CROCHET Day"!!

I SUPPOSE, that I should *actually* get around to DOING some of THAT "Today", huh?

I was a tad preoccupied Earlier with flexing My "AUNTIE" Acquisition Powers! -- It's still only September, YET I've been thrusted - [via a 3am Tweet from My Niece-TheMOM] - into "PRE-Christmas-Shopping" Mode for one of Those Future "So-Called" **HOT ITEM** while IT is *still* "hopefully" Available!?

Five Minutes of Busy-Signal, then "On Hold" for another two... Woohoo! Two left On Shelf... Placed a 48-hour HOLD on ONE! -- Well. That's ONE GIFT *Done*!!


NOW... About that whole Global-Domination of CROCHET Thingy..?

I've JUST Finished the Latest MoaBoAloha - "KALIKIMAKA-MINT" - done in XMAS.

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I'm All TARred Out!

AND, FRECKLED! -- Gonna be FEELING *IT* Tomorrow!!

FATHER chose TODAY to apply that BLACK-TAR-DRIVEWAY-SEALANT STUFF on the Laneway... There was absolutely NO WAY that He was going to DO IT, Himself - *despite* intending to do just That!

• First off, MOTHER would have had His Butt-In-A-Sling!
• Secondly, He IS "Elderly", plagued with a few Chronic Conditions that could do WITHOUT Him "over-doing" it...
• Thirdly, IT would have taken Him FOREVER to get IT Done! - Just like Snow-Shovelling... just saying...

And now, after "several" Hours of sweeping, rolling, brushing, and splattering about, The Driveway is all nicely Black and... well, BLACK! -- However, NEXT Time, I think I might just do IT Myself... Along with, a BETTER Push-Broom! I'm certain that I could likely get IT completed in HALF of the Time that IT had taken US This Afternoon!

Meanwhile, this Evening, was spent recuperating with some Crochet THERAPY... I started on THIS...

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TODAY, has also been One of Inner Reflection for Many... Although, THANKFULLY, not directly marred by the Infamous EVENTS of a short Decade ago, I do have Acquaintances who HAVE. As well as, Others whose Lives have taken Other Paths as a Result...

I Pray that those Alternate Journeys prove to be more Fortuitous for ALL! -- And that, after HISTORY's *countless* Transgressions, MANKIND alas take HEED of the Lessons HARD-Taught by the SACRIFICES of the INNOCENT!?

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..Can You FEED Me, Now..?

MOTHER GOT ME UP, "EARLY"...

"WHY..?" -- Well, because She wanted to hit Those FEW Late-Season-YARD-SALES at Prime-Picking-Time! As it happens, *most* were in Our Neighbourhood. Surprisingly, the Weather was bang-on Perfect! -- Although, it did get rather HOT by Late-Afternoon compared with the somewhat COOLER Morning Temps.

Okay. So. I picked up This [BELOW] BLACK-BEADED PURSE... As lovely as IT is, I was primarily interested in IT for the BEADS. However, Now... IT's missing a few on the Strap - which, I COULD Repair with My Current Bead-Stock..? -- A Decision for a Future Time!

Meanwhile... The Original Price was $2. As I "contemplated", then Decided to PASS in lieu of Someone Else looking for a Glitty Evening Bag, The Nice-Pregnant-Lady OFFERED a DOLLAR..!
-- **SOLD**!

Eventually, We made Our Way to BEACON HILL - Nothing There! Did the Regular Stop at The SALLY-ANN... Where, I acquired the ABOVE Set of PURPLE ALUMINUM KNITTING NEEDLES for *only* 89-Cents!!

After a "minor" Delay with THE CAR - [..I *hate* Parking-Brakes! And that's ALL I'm going to Say on the Matter..] - We headed off to a "TRADE-SHOW" for Auditory Devices at one of the Local-Area Hotels. The ELDERLY-PARENTAL-UNITS had already checked IT out Yesterday, coming away with the "requisite" amount of FREE Pens and Tote-Bag *BOOTY*!

We had to go to TRAINYARDS, the Hotel was "Nearby"... MOTHER *LOVES* getting FREE TOTE-BAGS! And, I'm not in the Position to Dissuade Her...

Oh, Look! FREE FOOD...
hmm... It WAS Lunch-Time.
-- Hey! I really was a "Good Girl"! Only got a few Items that covered ALL of the Major FOOD GROUPS - Fruit, Veggies, Grains, Meat, CHOCOLATE... The Chocolate-Brownie-Cake was VERY GOOD!!

As to MY Freebie-HAUL...

That Black Thing on the TOP is a Nylon-Fold-Up-Tote. And there were 2 other TOTE-Bags... MOTHER aquired "more" - so, She was HAPPY! And I, was FED! -- Off We were again, to MICHAEL'S...

LOTS of Little-Novelty-Stuff ON SALE. Whilst MOTHER accumulated an Allotment of Scrapbooking Supplies, I was drawn to These WOODEN
"LETTER" HOOKS. Some were marked Down, the Others at the Regular Price.





-- I really *should* have bought MORE. I didn't realize until AFTER I took This Pic, that from the Other LETTERS that were Available, I *could* have Spelled My WHOLE First Name!

As it is, The "N" will be going to One of THE PRINCESSES - there were a couple of Additional LETTERS not included Here. Those are for the OTHER PRINCESS and Their MOM...

Anyway, "The PLAN" was to Hang Letters in some other Form, to display "HANDMADE by AUNTIE SHAN"... I still have a few more Kinks to IRON OUT...

Until THEN, I came up with Another IDEA... [RIGHT] - These are Soft-Foam Thermal-BEVERAGE-HOLDERS... THEY were CHEAP, very POPPIE-BRIGHT, and looking for ANYthing "Creative" to happen to THEM!




-- I "Envisioned" THIS...

IT's just THREE WASHCLOTHS rolled-up "Flowery-Like"... I was "Thinking" that IT would HELP with My Craft Table Display..?

OPINIONS..?

After spending TOO much Time at MICHAEL'S, We scooted over to WALMART, briefly... And ended Our looong Day at THE MALL, where NUTELLA Samples were awaiting Us! Passed out by Our Fav Demo-Girl - CINDERIA! - [SEE 31JUL2010 POST] - We haven't seen Her in Months!

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Time To Take A HOOK To The "Elves"

I SPENT MOST OF Today - THINKING... yeah, I know... "TOO" much of THAT may Cause Neurological DAMAGE!

AnyWAY... I've been Contemplating the "Set-Up" Arrangement of My Tables for My CRAFT SHOW Appearances. -- Should I continue to use ALL of My Racks..? Which BLANKETS should be Displayed for optimum "Marketing Value"...? DO I bring My Digital Photo-Frame? Perhaps, change My Table-Cover...

Whilst Tonight, I've continued to Replenish My INVENTORY of WASHCLOTHS...

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UGH!! Paper-LESS, huh?

..YEAH.. SURE.. YOU BETCHA!!

WHAT is it about "CYBER"-Work that oft Times seems to be *more* of a hassle AND, *longer* to DO, than ACTUAL Old-Fashioned "PAPER"-Work..?

I had a "Simple" Task - a Handful of Establishments needed to be Informed of a MINUTE Change in Their Records... "How" Difficult could it be? -- hmm?

So... OVER Two Hours LATER...!! -- I have DIAL-UP. My Choice, and not an "Issue" - per se. Although, in this "Exercise", I did HAVE to spend much effort in Switching My "Lines" back and forth... At One Place, I had to use "Online", as Their Offices CLOSE at 2..?! At Another - despite, Their rather Pleasant Staff - I was Transferred and "On Hold" for longer than probably should have been necessary.

And then, there was The ONE, where I managed to do *Part* on Their "AUTOMATED SERVICES", but went on to have to TALK with a "Live Person"... Who was without ANY doubt, "OFFshore..." Anyway, I THINK I got it all done There?? ...I hope...

Meanwhile, seeing as I was doing ALL of "This" sort of Stuff, I decided to take care of another
"Technical Problem" that I've had for a few Months... -- "ANGELA" was *quite* Helpful in Solving My Dilemma!

Oh! LOOK!! I even found Time to FINISH What I started Last Night... "LOOP-FRUIT" - done in FRUIT-LOOPS!

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