Busy, Busy!

     I got an e-mail from my travel advisor to say the return flight from my river cruise in June will not be direct from Amsterdam after all - it will go through Munich! My geography is not great but that seems like back tracking to me. The advisor said to call her to re-negotiate but as the trip came with free air, I imagine anything other than what's offered will cost more. I am already worried what the exchange rate will be as it's in US dollars. I have to pay in full next month so am saving my pennies.

   Well, the mild weather didn't materialize so I had to clear the snow off my car and the driveway before I could go out today. It was probably 3 or 4 cms. and I got most of it done this morning. By the afternoon the temperature was up to 2C and the snow was getting very heavy but it's all cleared now - my workout for the weekend.

    I made a start on the painting job this afternoon but didn't get as far as opening the can of paint to check the colour. That will be a surprise best kept until tomorrow. I have two doors off and the wood sanded and wiped down so will start first thing tomorrow. (I will, I will! positive thinking)

   I made some bread today - not in the bread machine as it didn't work too well the last time I used it. I haven't been eating bread much recently but that all went out the window today as I had several slices straight out of the oven. It was a recipe from the newspaper and has oats and molasses in it - very tasty!

Another Expense

   Another bill arrived today - nor for much but it has to be paid right away! It's from the Canada Revenue Agency and they don't let you hang around when it's money you owe them. However, when they owe you, it can take months to come. That's life, anyway it was only for $12.95 and I have paid it already. I am still waiting to hear how much tax I will have to pay in installments this year. The first one is due in March so should come soon. Last year my first two installments were around $1750 each but then they realized my income was down (due to smaller RRIF payments) so my last two were $280 each. This year's will probably be somewhere in between.

   Cold again this morning then the temperature rose and now it's snowing. I won't bother shovelling it as the next few days are supposed to be mild and it should all melt - well, that's the theory anyway.

    I finally got around to buying paint for the downstairs door trim, and I think it may be too pink. I foolishly didn't bring a sample home to check, just bought it on sight. It may or may not work out and is rather a costly mistake if I don't like it. That's my work cut out for this weekend in any case.

Keeping Track of Expenses

   Sunny but cold this morning, -12C and only reaching -5C later in the day. No wind, though, so it didn't feel too bad in the short walk from the car to the senior's centre. There's still quite a bit of ice about and I nearly came a cropper on my front path. I will have to put down some more salt before someone else has a fall!

   We met for mah-jong again this morning, just 5 of us and Bonnie had two wins. I came close a couple of times so it was still fun. After lunch we played Bridge. Bonnie was my partner again and I'm afraid I tried her patience quite severely with my silly bidding! But she got over it when she had a couple of good hands. I had one small slam!

   Finally, a night at home. I made a chicken casserole and it turned out very well; it will last another two days. I still have several meals in the freezer so should just have a small shopping list on Saturday. My heating bill came today - $250! Hopefully that will be the most costly month this winter.

  

Financial Woes

    Things were a bit better on the highways, side roads and sidewalks today although still a lot of ice about. At least the parking lot at the senior's centre was ice free and that's as far as I went today. It was interesting to see all the shards of ice under the phone wires on my way there this morning. They must have had a really heavy coating which gradually succumbed to the strong winds. Seemingly, quite a large portion of the city was without power for a while but all is restored as of this morning.

   When I arrived at the centre just before my fitness class - no coffee! I quickly opened up the kitchen and made a pot and by the end of class someone had shown up to refill the pot so we were able to avoid caffeine withdrawal. After that everything went as usual, I finished my classes, ran an errand then spent the afternoon behind the counter. Seemingly the centre is in financial straights as some money was stolen from the trip organizer which has thrown the budget out of whack and the price of coffee may need to be increased - tragedy! In actual fact we only pay 75 cents for a cup which is really cheap (that includes a couple of cookies and it's really good coffee) so an increase won't affect people too much.

   I bought an individual  meat pie to bring home for dinner (they are also a bargain - $1.25) so  had that with broccoli and cheese. Now I am off to my Wednesday dance group. I wonder who will show up; some are really nervous driving at night when the weather conditions are not ideal.