An Unusual Day

   Today started out as my usual Friday but things took a turn for the better in the afternoon. My regular fitness class this morning followed by coffee with friends. After returning home I found some tennis on SN1 - the WTA Brisbane Open. I just caught the end of a quarter final match but, since the next match wasn't scheduled for a couple of hours I decided on something different.

    I walked over to the Senior's Centre for Duplicate Bridge. This is a new activity for me and a bit more challenging than my usual group. The other attraction was that there are free dinners delivered on Fridays around 1:00 p.m. from a catering company (probably their leftover lunches) and today there was quite a selection. I managed to get a roast beef, mashed potatoes and veg. meal. as well as a carton of navy bean soup. As it is served cold I took it home after bridge and heated up the soup. The roast beef meal was too much to finish for dinner so I ate all the vegetables and saved some of the meat and potatoes for another day.

    Bud (from bridge) has offered to lend me a book (to improve my game) so we have arranged to meet for dinner tomorrow night so that he can give it to me. I hope he doesn't expect me to have read it and upped my game by next Friday! I may have to avoid playing at his table in the future!

A Warming Trend

    Still in the negative values this morning but it got above zero by the afternoon under sunny skies. I walked to the Senior's Centre around noon for my shift in the kitchen and back again around 3:00. Very pleasant!

    My day started with fitness class followed by coffee with some of the other ladies. Our little group has grown somewhat smaller with people having to pass up on exercise due to injuries or other commitments. But it was nice to catch up on everyone's holiday activities.

    So, not a very eventful day but I am glad to get back to my usual weekly activities. Yesterday I had my usual tennis game at Hendrina's but I have to miss the next two Tuesdays because of other commitments. I made cabbage rolls for dinner tonight but they were rather overcooked and the cabbage was too chewy. I'd better search out a proper recipe before I try them again!

  

Frigid!

   The outside temperature was -15C this morning and with the wind chill, -20 something but, with sunny skies, it didn't felt that cold. It did get up to -10C this afternoon but is falling again as the sun goes down. I noticed that dusk is coming a little later this week which is a good thing.

    First thing this morning (well, 10:00 a.m.) was a visit to the bank as the ATM gipped me out of $40 yesterday! They will look into it but I'm not holding my breath. Bridge this afternoon and we had some good laughs but Pinkie and I had terrible cards, although I did manage a no-trump game which can sometimes be tricky. The other pair, Marie and Diane, had a grand slam game, so their cards were really working out for them.

  Out dancing this evening so will have to bundle up - will have to force myself to go but I know I will have fun once I`m there.

Another New Year

    A lazy morning and not too much for breakfast as I was lunching at Judy and Dave's and they always put on a good feast. We usually go to Steve and Alison's on New Year's Day but Alison had just got back from 10 days with her family in Victoria. Steve stayed in Toronto to look after the pets and that's a full time job!

    The grandkids were in fine fettle and as boisterous as usual. We started with champagne mimosas (well, prosecco actually but it was fizzy and delicious) then had lasagna, salad and garlic bread followed by a selection of cookies and bars from Judy's Christmas cookie exchange. They were delicious and, as usual, I went for the chocolate ones! After lunch we played a game of Family Feud and I think some cheating went on as my team didn't win. Natalie came out on top of the money round with her quick answers - although it helps to go first. Elliot and James were quite piqued by her success!

   Home for a nap by 4:00 and then just reading by the fire. It's not too cold today with only a few snow flurries - not enough to shovel. I will just have a light dinner later as I am still stuffed. One of my New Year's resolutions is to only eat when I have hunger pangs rather than on a schedule. We'll see how long that lasts. Thankfully exercise classes start again next week and, if the snow stays away, I will try for some longish walks. If we get snow, shovelling it will be my exercise!

Time to put away the Christmas table centrepiece for another year!