Well. At least it went quicker than expected…

We dropped husband off at work by 7:45, and I had the kiddos to mom’s by 9. Plug in some power packs, throw some laundry in the machine, and back on the road.

I was at the DMV before 10. Had to renew the vehicle registrations. Normally, I would do it online, but with address changes, that is not possible. So in-person it is. Blessedly, they have actually hired a few extra agents, so what would once have taken several hours of waiting, had me in and out in ten minutes. Quick and simple, just expensive. All the same, the vehicles are legally registered again.

Oil change at the drive-through place next. I like that place. It is quick, convenient, you don’t need an appointment, and the guys are always super nice.

Sadly, the stop at the wood stove center was a frustrating waste of time. They don’t carry our kind of stove. They’ve never even heard of it. And they do not carry the pipe or adaptor pieces I needed. Also, it turns out that once you have one piece of insulated chimney pipe, you MUST continue using that same brand of pipe. They are not remotely interchangeable. Because why would they try to make it easy, after all? The end result being that I am zero steps closer to the woodstove being functional. Well, maybe half a step. I know where I need to go next anyway. Maybe tomorrow.

Giant Tiger after that, because the eldest has outgrown their rubber boots and it is very much rubber boot season. There was exactly ONE pair available in the correct size.

Then the dollar store, because we have a birthday this week, and preparations must be made. I try to decorate for birthdays, especially as we don’t decorate for much else. We try to make it special and memorable. We also allow the birthday person to make all the choices with regard to the meal. It can be a bit …interesting…at times, what combinations are come up with, but they can have whatever they want. So my last stop was the grocery to pick up the menu items.

I was done a good 2.5 hours sooner than I expected, which means I got to take a shower today, too. Lovely.

It was lovely and warm and sunny. I didnt even wear a coat for half the day. And when we came home, we were able to park on our own driveway for the first time in months. Amazing.