Oops

On the way into town we saw this scene, so I made a mental note to stop and take a few pics on the way out of town when there was more light.  I wonder how the operator of the crane felt when this happened?

Snuggled Up

From the photo below, you might assume that the Sprouts were curled up at bedtime reading stories.  Well, this pic was taken this morning, before the normal "get up and get ready for school time".  Usually, it takes a lot of prompting and cajoling to get the Sprouts out of bed (during the week - on the weekends the Sprouts are up far too early for parents who want to sleep in).  Today, however, they were already awake and snuggled in FK's bed reading stories.

Doodles and Darth Vader

By the time you read this post, you will have missed Google's latest interactive logo celebrating Jules Verne's 183rd birthday.  It's a small thing to point out, but during a week of preparation for a teaching evaluation on Friday, it makes you stop your frantic business, smile and take a moment to breathe (especially if you imagine you are in a submarine a la Jules Verne).  I was curious about the logo and googled (naturally) to discover that the specially designed logos are called doodles and that they have quite the history.  Kudos to the designers who can make millions of people smile, even if for a brief moment.

I didn't watch the Super Bowl and missed the much touted adverts, but they were up within minutes on the web.  My favourite is the Volkswagen spot with a pint sized Darth Vader.  My spouse and I both laughed (with a hint of parental tears) when we saw the ending.   

Kookum

I've been called a few different names as a teacher, but I had a first today. I was called kookum (Ojibway for grandmother), by a grade seven student, no less.  It was a smile and move on moment.

Stan Eagerly Awaits Spring

Snow Wash

No Frills Heaven

Our grocery shopping run into Ktown usually involves two or three places to pick up groceries.  The cheapest and first stop is Walmart for milk, boxed and jarred goods, some frozen items and bread.  Then we head to Wholesale for whatever Walmart didn't have in stock, fresh veggies and fruit and meats.  Then, we would head either to Extra Foods or Safeway (the most expensive!) for whatever else was left on the grocery list not found in the first two grocery stores.  To be honest, shopping this way takes the fun out of cooking.  I had always wished that Ktown would get one grocery store that carried everything we needed at reasonable prices.  And that carried flat-leaf Italian parsley (a staple in a lot of my home cooking).  Apparently the palates here in Northern Ontario like curly parsley, but not flat leaf parsley (as I've been told by a number of produce managers over the few years we've been here).  In TO, we could walk (!) to the nearest Food Basics and buy whatever we needed for meals, including flat leaf parsley.  And the variety of fruits and vegetables, wow! 

Then, this weekend, I walked into heaven.  The Extra Foods grocery store had recently been converted into a No Frills store.  Now, you might think that a No Frills store seems to be a low end grocery store, but, compared to where we have had to get our groceries (aside from the extrememly overpriced Safeway), it's not.  In fact, it felt like stepping into a TO grocery store for the first time in three years.  It's brightly lit, well stocked, reasonably priced, carries a multitude of products, and get this: I was able to buy FLAT LEAF PARSLEY for the first time in three years.  So, no more driving all over Ktown for groceries (which the family hated).  We now have a one stop shop.  That means more time for the library, hanging out at the parks, and Tim Horton's, and...