outings and the weather

So it does rain sometimes in Calgary, but it was mixed with snow half the time, and then switched to snow for the overnight. I guess they'd call it white rain, because it does what rain does for Oregon - grass gets greener! At least after it melts. When it's a mix of both, I like to say it's rowing outside. Last week was a beautiful spring week. Then Saturday evening there's rain/snow. Sunday is a little on the cool side, but by afternoon there are clear blue skies. Monday is nice, Tuesday Aaron is able to go to ball practice, and Wednesday sucks. All that ROW! And it's a blustery place, so everything goes sideways, and after you're all wet you get blown on, so it feels even colder. Not fun. Today starts out with light snow. I believe we've had more days of snow in April than the previous two months (combined? maybe?). I do remember one major dump of snow in January that lasted a few days, and that month was a lot colder. It's just all the ups and downs that throw people off. If it's going to snow, fine. Just do it for a week straight and then leave us alone!

So yesterday, amidst all the rain and yucky, Melinda and I went out. She originally came by to return some movies she borrowed and pick up some artwork I had done for her, but since she came all the way across the city, we might as well go out and have some fun! I just picked up a new skirt at Goodwill the other day, and figured we could find a top to go along with it - at least we had a goal. So we headed over to Chinook Centre. It isn't far from where I live, and it has the largest selection of stores we like. I hadn't honestly been shopping there since ... 2005, so I was excited. Old Navy, Claires, Payless, Bath and Body Works, and Sears to use up our last wedding gift card. We show up and there's a fire alarm? What? We walk into the mall anyway, and although the stores all have their gates down, there's still people wandering around, waiting for the noise to stop. Then the security guards start telling people to leave. Fine, we'll go. Turns out the parking garage doesn't have many exits, so there was a nice long wait to get out. Good to know in a real emergency - you'll just get stuck in your car. We still don't know what actually was going on, since we didn't see or smell smoke at all, but fine. So after losing at least an hour, we headed over to another nearby mall - Southcentre. The important store was Sears (since the $25 gift card), so we started there. I picked up at least half a dozen different tops, a dress, and another skirt. In in the end I decided on a more casual top for the skirt, and the dress. It was a pretty material, and looked alright on the hanger, but then putting it on - WOW! Super cute! I do need to alter it slightly, but considering the cost? It was originally $90. A series of clearance markdowns brought it to $30. And on that day, all clearance was an additional 50% off. The sweater was $20, also %50, so $10 + $15 = GIFT CARD! Free clothes are fabulous!! We wandered around a bit more and headed into Claire's right before the mall closed - hair stuff is buy one get one half off (as usual), so I got something for each outfit for less than $8, and called it good. All in all, a very successful day of shopping. (Once I'm all dressed up to go somewhere I'll get pictures - especially after I fix up the dress.)

To top it all off, although Aaron had a rough day, he was making pizza when I got home. Fresh chicken/bacon pizza for a late dinner. Yummy!