Mainly Manitoba

Turns out there is a real nice dandelion patch right off our front deck.

How to Win the Lottery: In Life https://a.co/d/3p03Pg3

Amy’s brother Josh on the road this summer. Check them out!

How to Win the Lottery: In Life https://a.co/d/bs8XOMe

How to Win the Lottery: In Life

How to Win the Lottery: In Life My sister had a dream in the early 80s that I had won the lottery, 2.2 million dollars to be exact. The same night I had a dream too. I was sitting in a theater all alone, staring up at a giant IMAX like screen with numbers scrolling across the bottom. Same six numbers over and over, growing in s...

Here is a sneak peek of my new novel "My Tenth Birthday."
The tentative plan is a tween series with each book in the series having a simple message. This first one is about telling the truth, especially when it is difficult to do so. It is set in 1975, a safer less complicated time, a time of belonging. A more connected time. This book is a 50/50 collaboration with gifted illustrator Prism Baley. What a blessing to have my words share a page with her magic.

I attended an astrologist Martin Comtois workshop and reading last week and he said I needed to tell my ancestor's story. He said they had lots to say, especially about our forgotten instincts and abilities. If any of my relatives or friends have any psychic experiences or stories, please reach out.
Bless!
Have a great day everybody!



Chapter 1



Birthday morning



I awoke smiling. Butterflies filled my stomach, I had been waiting for this day, and it was finally here. It was June 18, 1975, my birthday and I am ten years old, finally. Double digits no more of the single-digit baby stuff. Wow ten, seems like only yesterday when I turned nine. Nine was nowhere near as old and as cool as turning ten, but I remember nine was neat because I changed schools. Moving from elementary (baby school) to the oh-so-sophisticated middle school. No change in schools at ten, but this birthday would be so much better. It was a Wednesday, and that sucked. Saturdays were so much better for birthday parties. You could start way earlier, not having to wait for school to be over, and because it was a weekend maybe even a couple of my friends could stay over. Dang it even a Friday would have been better, no chance of a sleepover on a Wednesday, no point in even asking. But whatever, it was my birthday, I was ten and was going to be a celebrity for the entire day!

I leapt out of bed and ran to the washroom eager to start life as a ten-year-old when a realization came over me as I brushed my teeth. I was staring in the mirror at my Spiderman pajamas remembering something I had to do.

You see turning ten is a big deal, you are no longer a little kid anymore. You are part way grown up. Comic books and cartoons were for little kids. Now that I was ten, there were some things I needed to leave behind, and the first was these pajamas.

A month ago, on a Cub Scouts camping trip, my Spiderman pajamas were the butt of many jokes. It was pointed out to me that any pajamas, especially comic book pajamas were for babies. Real men just wore their gotch or nothing at all if it was hot. My two-piece Spidey’s felt extra hot and itchy for the rest of the weekend, but I could not imagine sleeping in just my underwear. Yikes!

But I was ten now, I would not be retrieving them from the laundry this time. I am not ready to go full commando, or even just in underwear yet, but tonight I will be going to bed in the pajamas I got for Christmas. Men’s pajamas if there was such a thing. Just plain cotton white pajamas. No markings or logos on them at all except for the capital M which stood for medium in the collar. That had not changed as I hoped it would, turning ten. Lots of boys my age wore size large clothes, some even men’s small. I wore a medium and if I have to be honest, they are a little big, maybe once you turn ten, that is when the growth spurt kicks in, I hoped.

Teeth clean, or at least clean enough to pass Mom's inspection if there was one, I placed my Bionic Man toothbrush back in its cup now wondering if it was an acceptable toothbrush for a ten-year-old or if that needed some consideration for desertion as well. Not right now anyway, and instead of getting rid of the Spiderman PJs, I will just put them in the back of my drawer. I mean, I had not even tried those white ones out yet, they might be itchy or not warm enough, who knows? I will try wearing the white ones for breakfast, just to see how they feel. Better to keep those Spidey's as a backup, just in case.

The smell of pancakes was already drifting upstairs. Yes! I was hoping for those. My favorite breakfast, meal for that matter. Pancakes should be eaten anytime, at least that was how it was going to be when I grew up. Two bounds, and I was down the flight of stairs. I could make it in one jump but there was no point in risking hitting my head, knocking myself out again. I was eager to take my place as the center of attention, the birthday boy, things could not be going better.

Oooofffff, is the sound I let out as I recovered from the gut punch I had not anticipated, again. “Happy birthday loser!” chuckled Boyd. Ugh, Boyd is my big brother, six years older than me and a royal pain in the ass, oops sorry butt. There are ambushes everywhere, I never see them coming. At least it is only one more year. Next year Boyd is off to college, a year early, a break for me. Can't wait to be done with these gut punches and get him out of the house. Maybe I could even get his room in the basement.



“Boyd, leave your brother alone it’s his birthday for heaven’s sake” Mom piped up in my defense. Ya, I know Mom didn't you hear me wish him a happy birthday?” as he kissed Mom on the cheek, charming her over instantly, her forgetting about the assault she had witnessed. Boyd had it all. He could do nothing wrong. Everybody loved him, teachers, parents, animals, even my friends thought he was cool despite how much I told them he sucked as a brother. At least he was not invited to my birthday party. That was made very clear to Mom when we were in the planning stages of today's event, no Boyd. It was agreed he could have a piece of birthday cake at the family ceremony later, but he could not be at the premises for my friend's birthday party. Mom swore it. Boyd had baseball practice anyway or some girl would be picking him up, but it felt good that would be the last of the ambushes for today.

There was a stack of pancakes sitting four deep at my place at the table, steam still rising with real butter, not margarine, and Aunt Jemima syrup, the whole bottle left in front of my plate. Mom usually dispersed the syrup rations, looks like today it was self-serve for the birthday boy. I took my place eager to dig in, oh man so far being ten ruled.

“Happy birthday Jesse” cooed my oldest sibling, Emily. Emily was a year older than Boyd and would be leaving for college the next year too, not a year early like the golden boy Boyd and unlike Boyd, I was not in a hurry to have Emily leave. As much as Boyd sucked as a brother, Emily rocked as a sister. She was always there to help. Emily gave me rides to baseball practice, and even came to most of the games opting to watch my games instead of following the masses to watch the Golden Boy Boyd play. She had let me sleep in her room when I was little, when I had nightmares too. She stopped in every night now to check on me and wish me sweet dreams before bed even though I was basically grown up now and rarely got scared. Well, maybe not rarely but not as much as when I was nine and it had been a couple of years since I had to run to Emily’s room in the middle of the night in a panic. Our house was not going to be the same when Emily left for college the next year, but I pushed that thought from my mind, it was my birthday! I was ten and I had a stack of pancakes with real butter and an unlimited supply of syrup to eat.

“How does it feel to be ten” quizzed my father. He didn’t have any pancakes, he never ate breakfast, only coffee and ci******es, gross. I will never smoke when I grow up, I remind myself, but Dad had a good question. How did I feel being ten?

“Different for sure Dad,” not sure how to explain it to my father. He did not seem to grasp the importance of being ten or understand its value and what a difference it was from nine. Nine was brutal, you still cried all the time, got scared at movies, almost everyone in the world was bigger than you at nine. Which reminds me, I better check my height on our family measuring board after breakfast, I bet I grew at least an inch overnight!

That was behind me now, I was ten. It came with increased size, newfound bravery, and a closing of most of your tear ducts, basically, you were a man. “Better check your height after breakfast” Dad mentioned, “you seem a little bigger this morning.” I knew it! I will get Emily to help me check my height right after these pancakes. No way you could step away from those, not with a pig like Boyd around. Birthday or not they would be gone if I stepped away from the table. No chance I was letting Boyd hold the ruler for the measuring of my height again either. Last year he held the ruler unlevel and had convinced the dumb naïve nine-year-old he had shrunk an inch, not today, Boyd, I am a lot smarter now. I was too smart for Boyd to trick me anymore, nice. Ten was going to be my year!

I gobbled the stack of four and was given a bonus pancake for my birthday. I had to force that one, using about a quarter bottle of Aunt Jemima to help wash it down my tummy suddenly feeling a little queasy, Mom looking at me a little side-eyed, questioning her decision to give me full access to syrup. Wow at ten you can eat so much more than when you are nine. I can't wait to see how many hot dogs I can eat at tonight’s birthday party; I wonder if I can eat five of them now too?

“Thanks, Mom” I gasped, holding in a burp, and rising to see how much I had grown. Emily rose too, stating she would help me with the measurement and look after the birthday boy's dishes. I backed up to the assigned measuring area where all siblings' heights had been documented throughout the years, including the bizarre shrinking episode last year. I backed up, heels tight against the baseboard, otherwise, it would not be an official measurement. I stretched my neck as Emily balanced the ruler on my head as I awaited the official marking. I was holding my breath as I was instructed to step away, too scared to look back. What if I shrunk again?

“How much did I grow M?” The letter M was how I used to think my sister's name was spelled and it had stuck. I felt lucky to have a sister named after a letter in the alphabet. M was inspecting the new line, “yup you grew” M confirmed. I grabbed a stool and jumped up so I could see better. Well, it was not an inch, but it was higher. About the width of a pencil mark, not much but still higher, after all, I had only been ten for a few hours. “That’s pretty good bud,” M said sensing a little discouragement and giving me a couple of gentle pats on the back that only seemed acceptable and comfortable coming from M. Boyd gave me some pats on the back sometimes too, but his were done with an open hand when my back was bare and always left a blistering hot hand print. Ugh Boyd, only one more year.

No time to worry about my sickening big brother, it was time to get ready for school! Hmm what to wear? No doubt I would be wearing my Cincinnati Reds cap, which was a no-brainer and the new Evel Knievel t-shirt I got from my Grandparents as an early birthday present was going on for sure. I was allowed to open the present when it arrived in the mail, but it could not be worn publicly until my birthday to prevent my mom from getting in trouble with her parents. I really wanted to wear the Adidas tracksuit I had gotten for Christmas. They were blue with white stripes, and I had the matching jacket. All the cool kids wore Adidas three-stripe tracksuits, and I still could not believe I had briefly belonged in the club. I wore the tracksuit from the moment I got it. What a great gift! I did not care at all about clothes until it had been pointed out at school how lame my attire was. Up until last year I just pulled on whatever clothes I found on the floor, good enough. Or at least until Mom told me, “Jesse go and change, put those dirty clothes in the washer, my God kid.” So, if I did not care about wearing clean clothes you can be sure I did not care about whether they matched or not. At least matching did not matter till I heard some older girls laughing at my choice of color combinations when I wore my green corduroy pants with my Cincinnati Red baseball jersey. I did not get it, those cords were super comfy, stretchy, perfect for recess and the Reds were the best baseball team in the world. How could that not be the perfect combination? I had asked M about it in private, “M how come those girls were laughing at the colors?” “Some people think your top and your pants should always be the same color, they should match, you know like Boyd's tracksuit, the one with the stripes? Oh yeah, I knew exactly which tracksuit. It was the tracksuit I was denied last birthday when I was discriminated against by age by my mother when I was told I was too young, too rough in my clothes to get an Adidas three-stripe tracksuit. “I would tear my knees out on the first day” was her excuse. M, bless her had bought me a blue one just like Boyd’s for Christmas anyway and I wore it everywhere, at least the jacket. See my future seeing Mom was right. I tore my knee right out sliding into third base, the first day. Dang it! Even if it matched my jacket, you could not wear track pants to school with your knees torn out, it was so uncool. It might even be against school policy. Anyway, I only got one day in the matching tracksuit club, but at least I had the jacket. I settled on my Reds cap, my new Evel t-shirt, and my Adidas three-stripe jacket. Oh, don’t worry, I had pants on, I just grabbed whatever was on the floor, I was not completely ready for the New York runways yet.

Belly full, even overfull, birthday attire on. I grabbed my Spalding ball glove, and I was off to meet my buddy Buzz at the bus stop.

Hello everyone. Just giving you an important update. We have made the difficult decision to not renew our lease for our Wasagaming location. This means that the space will be available, so please contact Sheldon at 204-867-7299 if you are interested. We will be looking at selling a large number of fixtures, including a commercial fridge and freezer. We also have leftover stock that we will be looking to move, if anyone is interested. Items will likely be posted on Facebook Marketplace at some point or you can dm for more information. Our store at Clear Lake was special and we are grateful for the last 5 years. Although there is some sadness involved in this decision, we look forward to what is to come for us. We will continue with our Valhalla Essentials oils and our daughter’s apparel in some capacity, whether that will be attending markets or having them available for retail in other stores. So, stay tuned for updates. Thank you for all the love and support over the years and don’t forget to try and shop local ❤️.

Sad day today. This is the harsh reality of having a small business in Manitoba. We will be okay, but we feel terrible for the numerous Manitoban families who will be losing this revenue stream and our wonderful employees who will be losing their employment. The cost of doing business in Manitoba is just too high and we can’t compete with the big guys. Sadly, our situation is not unique and there are many other local small businesses destined to a similar fate. We have contacted the government in hopes they would consider our ideas about levelling the playing field, but nothing has resulted from our conversations to date. Thank you to all of our loyal customers who made a point of supporting local. Thank you to our dedicated employees, past and present, who put their heart into our store. Thank you to our local vendors, we will miss our collaboration. And thank you to my family for all the incredible effort they have put into our store. I am so proud of what we have accomplished and what we have learned.

Slat wall merchandisers for sale. $200 each, two available. Let us know asap otherwise will be moving today.

Display prices. Pics in previous posts.

Merry Christmas from our family to yours. So thankful for all our wonderful customers, vendors and staff. Please remember to cherish the ones you love and spread kindness today and always. ❤️

More displays for sale. Dm for pricing.

We will have lots of displays for sale. Please dm us for pricing. More in next post.

Looking for stocking stuffers? We got you! There’s something for everyone!

So many options for the kids! We have a great selection of clothing, toys, books, and shaped bath bombs for the kids on your list.

We didn’t forget about gifts for him 😊.

Gifts for her. So much to choose from. The perfect gift awaits!

“‘Tis the Damn Season” 😉
Lots of holiday decor available at Mainly Manitoba. Also check out the super cute holiday earrings on slide 2.

Beautiful high-quality sterling silver earrings, necklaces, pendants and pins. Made by in Winnipeg. So many designs to choose from.

Sneak peek, coming soon! Lots of hoodies in stock with more arriving this weekend.

Check out our article on The Brandon Sun. So nice of them to feature our story.

This piece is called “Pilgrimage” by Lynn Gwyer (Friesen)

From Lynn:

“This piece is to honour my Ukrainian Heritage and all those who came to Manitoba and started a new life here.
You can go on a summer’s day drive and find small country schools and churches like this dotted throughout the Prairies- reminders of the hardworking families and the communities that grew around them. The colours and the murmuration of birds in the shape of a dove remind us of the connection between us all and the importance of living in peace and harmony with one another.”

This piece is a great reminder of the strength and will of the people who came to Manitoba in search of new opportunities. I am sure they faced many challenges, yet they persevered. Life is full of challenges and it’s sometimes hard to know when to move on or grit your teeth and dig in. We just wanted to let you know that we have felt your love over the past week and your support has meant so much to us. We are meeting with representatives of the provincial government to discuss our situation and share our ideas on how the province can better support small business.

Black Friday Sales

We want to thank all of our customers and vendors for their kind words. Our store provided an environment for us to make some remarkable connections with the people of Manitoba and it will be greatly missed. We also want to thank Jennifer from Specialty Leasing for her continued support as both a leasing agent and customer. Our departure is not a reflection of our relationship with Shoppers Mall, but is an unfortunate response to our decline in sales in the past several months. It has proven difficult for a local small business to compete with the large corporations when people are under financial pressure. Like many others, our forced closure during the holiday season of 2020 put us in a vulnerable position and we have been trying to catch up ever since. Hopefully the public will realize the value in supporting local and other businesses like ours will thrive in the future. ❤️

We have recently made the difficult decision to not renew our lease at Shoppers Mall. Our last day open to the public will be on December 31st. We have put our heart and soul into Mainly Manitoba, but it does not make financial sense to continue at this time. Our hearts are broken over how this will affect the over 150 Manitoba-based small businesses we have worked with and our loyal and hard-working employees. If you are a business similar to ours looking for Manitoba talent, please reach out to us and we can refer you to some amazing artists. Similarly, if you are currently looking for employees, our dedicated and highly trainable staff would be a great addition to any business.

Because of our closure, there will be huge sales in store (up to 50% 0ff), just in time for Black Friday and Christmas. New sales will be added throughout, and I will post them in the comments as they are released. Please share this sale with friends and family to help our vendors have a wonderful Christmas season. If you have any Mainly Manitoba gift certificates, please make sure to use them before the end of the year.

Christmas is coming! Hopefully this holiday season will be filled with love, peace and prosperity. These beautiful ceramic Christmas decorations are made by .brand, the adorable glass ornaments are from and this hilarious pillow is from

We like to keep our Instagram light and positive, but we also want to acknowledge that people are struggling right now. We understand that people may be feeling financial stress this holiday season due to high interest rates and the high cost of living. If purchasing gifts this holiday season, please consider supporting local. A lot of local small businesses are feeling the pressure right now. We encourage our vendors to support each other this holiday season, as we pledge to do the same. If we all order from Amazon, it will soon be our only option.