It's like Christmas came early ...

Saturday morning, it's rainy and overcast in Timmins, but the coffee is good with rye toast and a dab of peanut butter. It's all good. I think I have to get my mind around the fact that the cooler weather is back in Timmins. I pushed my luck on my holidays. I did not pack a jacket or anything with long sleeves. Not even a sweater. Luckily I didn't need it. But if I did, Neil would have come to the rescue. He had a gift for me to take home that I sure didn't expect. It is an Olympic jacket from the 2010 Vancouver games. I don't know precisely how he got it, because the jackets were not for sale to the public. I think he helped out somebody that was involved in the games, and they returned the favour. It is one of the blue jackets that was worn by Olympic volunteers. I was quite pleased with that. I think because it's not the sort of thing I ever expected. It sure is cool ... but's it's also warm too.
Speaking of warm, I got myself a gift while on the west coast. I was window shopping in Victoria when I saw the Cowichan Trading Company. For years I have admired the knitted sweaters made by the Cowichan Indians on Vancouver Island. Renee, the salesperson, explained that Scottish settlers taught some celtic knitting techniques to the Indian women in the 1800s. As I looked as the prices, I thought they were a bit expensive, but then I figured they weren't going to get any cheaper. This is not the sort of sweater that will end up at the Salvation Army store in couple of years from now.
Ronald chipped in on the gift wagon too. Of course there is that special bottle of 12-year-old Scotch. That's certainly something that will wait until Christmas, or the New Year. When I mentioned that I had to go shopping for a duffle bag to carry some extra stuff back to Timmins, Ron rushed to his garage and came up with a brand new Forces duffle bag from Afghanistan. He even threw in a velcro 'GILLIS' name tag. Very Cool stuff!
When I got back to Ontario, there was another neat little gift waiting for me. Cousin Victoria picked up a nice coffee mug for me from her trip to Las Vegas. That's pretty darn nice eh.