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Tag: walking

The Open Category is Notoriously Difficult to Place in.

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Usually my painted ceramic sculptures get disqualified because they don’t 100% fit inside the category. This year that wasn’t even a choice to make in the guide book. So I split the difference and purposefully entered the open category for Technique not Previously Named. And I got a fourth place! I placed, which is very nice for a change. There were some very painstakingly gorgeous pieces in the category (No Needlework), so I’m just happy to get recognized and not DQ’d.

Ogre Rogue bust gets 4th place!
Got my name on the card too!
The whole category, lots of great & inspiring pieces here!

On the other hand neither of my Nuts N’ Bolts, nor my Rice Crispy Squares got anywhere near the podium for food stuffs. My Roses, Hostas, and Dahlias did pretty well this year. My wife entered all of those from our front garden. My BIL’s veggies did really well too. No surprise there, he enters 75-80% of all of the vegetable categories, so he is bound to win, or place in a good number of those. Even the kids got on the board with their crafts and photography entries. Nothing to get upset about. Fewer first place finishes, but still on the podium, or worthy of a 4th, 5th, and 6th place ribbon. No small feat given how large some of the more popular categories can be.

Spent more than five hours there in total yesterday. My hips and feet ached all last night, and my back was terribly uncomfortable for the last hour and a bit of the evening. We managed a ferris wheel ride, monster truck show, dirt bike air show, and the opening night fireworks display. My only gripe was that the Smazhed Burger folks didn’t come back this year. I searched the grounds for them last night, but to no avail. Had left over pizza when I got home instead. Now that’s not the fault of the fair, so don’t take my complaint that way. More disappointing that i couldn’t get a second bite at the burger i really, really enjoyed last year. Oh well. I did partake of a chocolate sauce filled churro, which was tasty. But not the Smashed Burger I was well and truly craving. Also at some point I will get some cinnamon dusted Tiny Tom’s donuts. Always a culinary favourite of mine. Tastes like the fair to me!

Oh!, are we doing this again? Ok… um… let me think. Hmmm…

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We started off Domestic Duties Monday with a blitz! Had to rush into Markham for an oil change and get gas for this evenings extra curriculars with the kids. Lots of running around to do each evening from now until April or so. Then I hope we can cut back on something, for May & June. Though as the weather clears it isn’t so bad doing all this evening running about, playing chauffeur, papa coach, cheer leader, and equipment manager. So today includes, dishes, laundry (gotta keep all of these uniforms clean, and organized), vehicle maintenance, recycling gathering & sorting, and getting my day job projects off for approvals. This DDM is going to be chock a block with things to do. So much to do, so little time!

I’m super happy I don’t have to add commuting into the mix here, or a micro managing boss. The PA Day on Friday was a bit strange, as we couldn’t do much outside as there was little to no snow, but I hope that will change for the February 3rd PA Day now that we have snow on the ground, with an expectation of more to come. Hell, I even had to shovel the driveway, and paths to make way for all that should be coming later this week. Hopefully not 18 inches in one dumping, but eight to ten inches over three days wouldn’t be awful. The kids love making snowmen in the yard, or throwing tiny snowballs at the house as we mockingly shake our fists at them through the windows in faux outrage. Get some mileage out of their snow suits, and the yard too! Goes untouched for days or weeks if it’s cold but has no snow in it.

Took the kids for a walk at the mall to stretch our legs, look at stuff, then pick up lunch to bring home for all of us. We kept it together for about 90 minutes. And you know what? I’ll take it. No fights, no squabbling, no tantrums, and we all wore our masks, and got a warm comfortable stroll under our belts out in public. And, what’s better, about 80% of the people we saw, outside of the food court were masked up, so I was pretty happy about that. Lots of decorations up for the lunar new year, and we loved to see it all. Lots of red and gold accents. And lots of rabbit imagery which my kids enjoyed. A great lazy Sunday mooch about. I hope to one day be able to spend the whole day walking Square One in Mississauga, have lunch, watch a movie, wander around just looking at stuff. Perhaps shop for an item or two. Spend some quality time with my kids on our own, as my wife “HATES” to walk around a mall aimlessly or to go shop in person. I like it. I loved it as a kid, and I love it now. Beyond food, and maybe buying a new book it wasn’t to spend money, but get out, to walk in comfortable temperatures, watch people, and see what’s new in fashion and other things I don’t really keep tabs on anymore. Plus if we can work both a lunch, and a movie screening into the deal that will give my wife six to eight hours of alone time to nap, or work, or read uninterrupted for a change. I think the kids are still too young for an outing of that length, but over time we can build up to it. That would make me happy. Maybe in the late spring I’ll try for a day at Wonderland with the kids, see if an amusement park can bump up their daytime outing hours? Possibly. Depends on work, but I think I can swing it!