What a great day!  Started out with Bill and I picking Kelli up and going to Phil and Sebastians for coffee.  Yum....they make a mean latte.  It was totally delicious!  From there we headed over to the car dealership to pick up Kelli's new car.  Her first new car!  Last week she was feeling quite nostalgic when a she sold her 17 year old Camray.  That Toyota was a totally awesome vehicle.  Mom and Dad drove it for several years and Dad gave it to Kelli when he bought a new car.  It has been an absolutely amazing car....311,000 km on it and it's still ticking right along.  My Toyota Forerunner's the same way.  It has 270,000 km on it and we have had no major problems with it in the 13 years we've owned it. Years ago Bill bought a little Toyota 1/4 ton from Porky's Auto.  It was the ugliest vehicle I've ever seen....mustard gold and rust everywhere.  I think Bill paid a thousand dollars for it and he drove it for a few years before selling it to a neighbourhood kid for $100.  We saw that thing driving around the neighbourhood for two years.  It just wouldn't die.  Gave off backfires that made you almost jump out of the driver's seat and sometimes there were even flames shooting out of the exhaust system but it ran and ran!  Yep....toyotas are my vehicle of choice, although I did offer to do a straight across trade with Kelli this morning to which she flatly refused!  Can't say as I blame her.  Your first new car is always pretty special.  When we were picking hers up this morning I was remembering my first car.  I bought it the year I started teaching.  It was a blue honda civic.  Bill said it looked like a roller skate.  I paid $3500 for it and arranged to pay $300 a month on the loan I took out on it.  I am really going to date myself here.....my starting salary as a first year teacher was about $625 a month!  I was paying $300 a month on a car loan, $150 a month on rent leaving not much for food and other necessities.  Needless to say towards the end of every month I was a frequent diner at Mom and Dad's table.  I did have a second job at that time so it wasn't quite as desperate as it sounds, however, after a few months of being in the absolute poor house I decided to rewrite the loan and cut it down by half!

This afternoon I decided to hit Bow Cycle.  I usually avoid big sales but this one was too tempting and I really did need a decent pair of bike shorts if I'm going to be sitting on a bike seat for 200 km!   There were different times to purchase different items.  Sugoi clothing was going on sale at 3:00.  Thank goodness I got there at 2 because the line went all around the outside perimeter of the store by the time the clock struck 3.  I ended up buying 2 pairs of shorts at half price, a rain coat (a guarantee that the weather will be good this year) and a wind jacket.  Everything was 50% off or better!  I was a pretty happy shopper.  Now I'm ready to ride.  At least I'll look like a biker!

Came home and did a weight workout in the basement.  It was really good today.  Don't know if it's because I'm not on chemo or what but it was the best workout I've had in a long time. It actually didn't even fall under my usual description of pathetic!  I felt like a machine!

Tonight I decided to make my dessert for Sunday supper.  I'm having Geoff and Lindsey and Lindsey's Mom and Dad for dinner.  I decided that while the oven was on I would also make a cake along with the apple torte I was making for tomorrows' dessert.  As frequently happens, I almost had a big disaster.  By now I know none of you are surprised by this but there is something really amusing about this particular, almost train derailment.  I was making a Soup to Nuts Cake.  It has quite a few spices in it.  I haven't made it in a couple of years, in fact the last time I made I really screwed it up. Today, I came soooo close to making exactly the same mistake.  Unbelievable!  The last time I made it was to take to school for a recess snack for the teachers.  I accidentally put cayenne pepper in the cake instead of cinnamon!  By the time I realized what I had done it was already mixed in so I baked it and took it to school anyways, thinking it might be worth a good chuckle.  Surprisingly, the cake was totally eaten and everyone kept commenting on the strange spice in it.  Finally one of the ladies I work with came up to me and asked what that spice was.  It was familiar but she just couldn't place it!  Did she ever laugh when I confessed and I laughed when she told me she actually liked it!!!  Just proves teachers will eat anything, especially when they are at work!  Tonight history almost repeated itself.  Here I was, making this cake and I reach for the spice off the spice rack.  I actually had the cayenne pepper in my hand but LUCKILY noticed my mistake before I actually added it to the batter.  Phew!  I would have had to have frozen the cake and taken it in to the staff next week when they back from spring break!

Just had a look at the Honey Badgers page.  Geoff got a donation from "Boomers' friend Walter"!  Pretty awesome that even Boomers' friends are getting into this!  Walter by the way is a golden lab that lives with my friend Barb in Gull Lake!  Thank you Walter!  I'll send you some salmon sticks the next time Boomer comes to visit!