Inn of the Wandering Dragon

They own their own business; they have for many years but soon now they will be closing their doors. Between the economy, the aggressive competition and a big change in walk by traffic, they simply are not getting the sales required to stay in business. On top of that the landlord is insisting on a rent increase which certainly doesn't help.

My friend was in tears yesterday as she told me news. She asked if I thought this was a good decision and sadly I had to agree. I have worked with them on and off over the years and I know what the sales were like compared to over the past couple of years. There is only so long that one can hold on, waiting for things to get better. Eventually the choice to let go has to be made.

So once they close they are going to take a break for a bit while they sort out the next step. They may start again somewhere else, only time will tell. They may work for someone else for a while, who knows. And this may - in the long run, work out to be a great thing to happen to them.

I certainly wish them the best of luck.

One of the first projects on my list is my new dragon from Windstone - one of the paint your own types. A girlfriend and I opted to get these for each other for Christmas and hang out together painting them. There is a lot of fun detail on these and we are each going with different color schemes. I will attempt to post pictures as my dragon progresses.

And what do I wish for this Christmas? Some quiet time to relax, some time to be with friends, and to get through this stretch of the work season with my sanity more or less intact. I'm not looking for a lot of material things this year and I'm hearing the same from other people as well. In fact that is making gift giving a little more of a challenge this year - because I do enjoy giving gifts! I have most of my people figured out with only a couple more to go.

...makes for a very cranky your truly. However I am currently feeling pretty darn good tonight as I have actually had something resembling a life this week. I'm not going to guarantee that I will be able to get up on time tomorrow morning but so be it. I can live with that.

There have been a couple of nights hanging with friends with a mix of good food, laughter, muddy hair and entertainment. I have been out to see the newest of the Potter franchise and I have to say I'm pleased with how it's evolving. Of course, I will have to go see it again sans the distortion of being stuck in the very front row well right of center. Who knew it would take us over 20 minutes to find a parking spot? Thank goodness we already had tickets!

And tonight I have returned from Bragg Creek where I enjoyed a great show by Dehli 2 Dublin - a band out of Vancouver. It was a fun, high energy performance that had me dancing the entire time. There isn't much left of my voice either and I think I am going to sleep very well tonight!