Yes, that’s a guy hunting (gophers) behind my home. Doesn’t even make me blink anymore.

Moving on…

Those of you not on Facebook are going to have to wait to find out how my first week of work with my booster went! I want to make a few more adjustments.

My work week finished at 2:00 and as I got closer to that time, I realised that I had plenty of time to go to the Willow Bunch Thrift Shop before it closed at 4:00! I’m really not disliking my 6AM start time, except for the fact that I’m starting to eat at ‘weird hours.’ Yes, I just wrote that. Me who hasn’t had a ‘normal’ schedule in years. It’s funny how slowly becoming more of a morning person has changed things. But I digress.

I was greeted to a round of applause at the thrift store for my work on the internet situation. I was actually disheartened by this because everyone is so keen to tell me I’ve done good work on this, but no one wants to help. 🙁 I caught up with one of the ladies from the museum since we’ve only been corresponding about translations, then I started digging for treasure. And treasure I found. I actually got to the point where I said, “Enough!” and I made a beeline for the cash register without looking at anything else!

The first things I found were two tee-shirts. I really haven’t bought many clothes this summer because I didn’t need anything, but I have kept my eye out for tee-shirts. I buy cheap ones and rotate through them. I found two today that were colours I liked. The blue one has stitching on the sleeve that I’m not nuts about, but it’s otherwise in good condition and the colour is lovely. The pink one still has the original tag!

Then, I found what I am fairly certain is a diaper bag, but I am planning to use it as a computer and airplane carry on bag. It is really cute. I love all the pockets, as well as the découpaged flowers!

It has a lot of pockets in addition to the roomy middle compartment. There’s even a separate mini case for my cell phone.

Then, I found a little purse/wallet. Much as I love the purse/wallet I bought in Madrid, after living with it for a few months I know it’s not going to work well for its intended purpose on Isla as it’s too big and floppy and the change compartment is too small to really see what you’re working with. Like in Mexico, I use a lot of coins in Canada, and if I’ve been frustrated here by how hard it is to pull out a toonie or whatever, I will go nuts in Mexico where most of my transactions are with coins.

I like the colour and it is just as roomy as the Madrid purse/wallet, but will allow me to be better organized.

Finally, I bought a purse… I’m a sucker for a good quality genuine leather purse in a style that I don’t own. I had a colleague back at the government who was really into high end expensive purses and taught me how to spot one at a second hand shop. So when I saw that this purse had feet and a beautiful liner, I was not surprised to find the ‘genuine leather’ tag. Danier is a brand I know well from Quebec since they made my old coat that I am still mourning (except for the fact that it was a size 18 or 20 and I’m a size 6-8 now…).

And the colour! It’s a dark rustic rose with coarse ecru stitching, totally me. It’s the perfect “in between bag” between my giant tote and my purse/wallet. I really don’t ‘need’ another purse, but this one could not be left behind.

That was it! I grabbed my haul and went down to the cash register, where I was glad I had my chequebook since I only had about $14 total on me. That was twice as much as I needed!!!! Yes, I paid $7 for this entire haul!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reeling from shock, I left the shop and headed to the Jolly Giant pub to get a burger to go. That would put dinner around 3:30 by the time I got home, but I had breakfast at 5:00 and lunch at 10:00, so my stomach was adamant that it was time for dinner!

The burgers at the pub are just gorgeous, with a homemade bun, homemade patty, generous slices of tomato and red onion, romaine lettuce, real cheese, mustard, and relish (I have them hold the mayo). And look at those fries, just like what I’d get back in Quebec! A real bargain for $10.45.