I can’t believe it’s been almost three weeks since I last published a blog post! That’s not because I haven’t been writing though. I’m going to be speaking at a ladies retreat at our church a couple of weeks from now and although I know what I want to say, I’m not a confident enough speaker to do that off the cuff, so yes, I’ve been busy writing! I’ve been asked to speak for about half an hour in the morning and another half hour in the afternoon.

Did you know that an hour of public speaking involves about 8000 words? Considering the fact that my blog posts average about 1000 words each, that’s equal to about 8 of them. I’m actually thinking that what I’m preparing for the retreat might provide material for a few posts once it’s over, but we’ll see how it goes first. 

As usual, life has been busy with other things as well. Shortly before Easter, we spent several days with our daughter’s family visiting and then helping out while she had surgery. (She’s recovering well and back to work now.) On the morning of her operation, after getting up early to see the kids off to school, I managed to slip over to the nearby mall to do a bit of shopping. I had just one thing in mind. New jeans. My old favourites, the two pairs that I wear more than anything else in my wardrobe, are definitely showing their age. It was time to find some new ones before they wore out completely. 

I knew that finding the right jeans might take awhile as I often have a hard time buying pants that fit because of my boyish figure. I’m definitely not a curvy girl and a lot of pants bag at the hips. I tried on several styles in the first store I visited, but none of them were what I was looking for. Just down the mall I found a Mark’s, a Canadian retailer that specializes in casual clothing, footwear, and industrial workwear. They carry a vast array of jeans. I had no idea where to begin, but I received the best service that I’ve experienced in any store in a very long time. The salesgirl was unhurried and totally attentive. After asking a few questions about my preferences, she directed me to shelves full of Levis and suggested that I try the 314 Straight and 315 Bootcut styles. She also wisely advised that I try one waist size smaller than usual as these shape-enhancing jeans have a lot of stretch. Although both styles fit perfectly and the super-soft denim was very comfortable, the bootcut style won out. Even if they hadn’t been on a buy one, get the second pair 50% off sale, I would have bought two pairs. 

Thankfully, the search for new jeans didn’t take as long as I thought it might. Shortly after I paid for them, my phone rang and I had to leave the mall in a hurry to pick up a grandson who wasn’t feeling well. When I arrived at the school, he looked sickly pale, but apparently it was only anxiety over Mom being in surgery. Once we got the news that she was out and all had gone well, he was fine again! 

The following day, once Mom was home and settled in, we left and headed three hours north to our youngest son’s home. His kids were on their spring break that week, so we enjoyed a few days with them as well. 

Speaking of spring, it’s been very slow coming this year. Earlier this week, there was a flock of robins in our backyard one morning, but a couple of hours later a mini blizzard dropped a couple of inches of fresh snow. Today the sun was shining and the temperature finally crept above 10ºC (50ºF). We watched thousands of snow geese fly high overhead on the way to their Arctic breeding grounds, but now I see that there’s more wet snow in the forecast! I fear that it will be a while yet before we’re out on the golf course and before I’m ready to do my seasonal wardrobe switch. 

In the meantime, I must get back to preparing for the ladies retreat.