So, I had to go downtown

So I had to go downtown today to legalize some documents at the Official Documents Services office. Usually this is done for documents which need to be used in a foreign country. The lawyer signs an affidavit that the document is true to the original. The lawyer's signature and seal are verified by the ODS office which affixes its own seal to the bundle. Then the foreign country either accepts it as valid or not. None of this may interest you but I had 36 documents to have verified meaning it was going to take them a while. So I left the documents there and went out to kill an hour and a half.

First I went to get my driver's licence renewed. I haven't driven for about 18 years but since Canada has no official ID card, the driver's licence is it. Note to self -- always go downtown to renew it. There are hardly any lineups if you visit during the regular work day, not before work, during lunch, or after work.

Then I would have preferred visiting a bookstore but it was too far to walk since the temperatures were quite cold with a high wind chill factor. So I went to the nearest shopping establishment, College Park. College Park has a Winners store, mostly clothing at quite reasonable prices. Carmit swears by it. I swear at it. The racks are stuffed, there's very little rhyme or reason to where stuff is. But I wasn't looking to buy clothes -- I was seeing them through the eyes of a cq'er. Oh, those sequins, those beads, that scarf. Cut up, stitches picked -- I could see the possibilities. But reasonable as the prices may have been, they were still too dear for a cq chop-shop adventure.

I spent the next to last bit of killing time at the Dollarama. I love the dollar stores but wasn't enamoured with any of their crafting/fabric/buttons/trims. Not even at those prices.

Popped into a sandwich store, had a quick bite, back to the ODS, picked up my files and returned to the office. Finished a title search and came home.

This morning before work, I picked out some stitches and sequins on my class project and did some beading. This evening I did a little embroidery. Tomorrow, I hope to make greater progress. And if the winds have died down I may just walk to the thread/wool store near the house (just north of highway 7). I need the exercise and doing it will make me feel virtuous enough to justify spending money...