drop kicking winter in the butt

yippee, it's a short work week again! bonjour easter weekend! i plan on taking it easy, maybe going for brunch, taking a walk if weather permits. maybe i can put the sorels away in the storage locker for good. as wonderful a workout as it's been, i am sick of walking knee high through sludge and snowbanks.

this past saturday, i travelled home by GO for grandma's birthday. couldn't help take in all the changes as we drove through town. the big box retailers are taking over! never did i imagine that our little town would make way for home depot. it's such a bizarre sight. all my favourite shops from childhood are gone. i remember combing some of these shops on the way home from school, looking for last minute birthday gifts for my parents. like the time i bought my dad an ocarina from rickaby's, which i used to think was the prettiest shop in town. it's now some kind of second hand shop. the castle hotel has been renovated and now has a men's fine clothing shoppe as a tenant. weird! the fields along baseline road are being ploughed under for more box stores. stop it already!

back to the reason i went home. i think grandma enjoyed the day. she really enjoys having the whole family around, and i like when she is happy. grandpa baked and packaged his special cake for all of us. before we left, we gathered around and had the usual birthday cake and took pictures as she blew out the candles.

the picture above is one i took almost five years ago, around this time of year. i actually took a bunch of pictures around the town and it would be pretty interesting to do the same walk and document the changes. maybe i will do this next time i am home. hopefully someone else is officially archiving these changes!

later this week, i will post some more old blog posts, or write something funny at nancy's request. it was at her urging that i wrote this post! it was this, or bake cookies in the kitchen. boring, i know :(