My Sudoku Compulsion

    First off, the Christmas tree that the grandkids decorated on Friday. They did a great job from dragging it up from the basement to unpacking and hanging all the ornaments. I only had to put the angel on top and start the string of lights on the upper branches.

Don't know why it's so out of focus.

  My main topic for today is my compulsion with Sudokus. I jump out of bed every morning and dash to see how challenging the Sudoku in the Star newspaper will be. Usually it is easiest on Monday and gets progressively more difficult each day of the week. On Sundays there are three ranging from easy to hardest and I got all three today without having to resort to "helping" numbers (that's the little numbers I put in when there are two possibilities). I always do the puzzle in ink so sometimes it can get very messy. Look how neat today's are!

  Saturday always has a very different one but it's not as tricky as it looks and yesterday's was quite easy. You can see, no "helping" numbers or errors. I was quite chuffed with myself! The answers come out next week.

Overnight Guests

     Last night I had overnight guests, the grandkids! They were here because their parents were joining some friends in a progressive dinner. So it made sense for the kids to be out of the way and no need for a babysitter.

    I went to pick them up at 4:30, we were home by 5:00 and I had put a chicken in the oven before I left so it was soon time to eat. After dinner and an ice cream treat, they opened their first Christmas book. This is a custom Judy started when they were small -  a different Christmas story each night up until Christmas Eve. Yesterday's was appropriately called "24 Sleeps Until Christmas" and Elliot was in charge of reading it. It went down really well.

  

     They were really good guests, in other words they helped out and tidied up after themselves (with a bit of encouragement), and didn't even wake me up too early this morning. The boys helped with breakfast (pancakes and scrambled eggs) and Natalie mixed the orange juice so it wasn't too much work for me - except for cleaning up afterwards! Judy picked them up around 9:30 as James had a hockey game and, since then, I have had a restful day. 

  I walked over to the local high school this afternoon to register my vote for our new Federal M.P. Hope she is successful!

   I made a big pot of stew this afternoon but I will be eating leftover chicken and veggies from yesterday. The kids put away quite a bit of food last night (they have good appetites) but I saved some for myself for today. The stew will go in the fridge for the next few days. It's full of healthy vegetables.

The Mandarin

    This is our local Chinese buffet restaurant and we were there for lunch today (at the princely price of $12) along with 100 others from the Senior's Centre. It was our Christmas lunch and what a feed we had! I usually try to avoid buffets as I always want to try everything (and usually do!) and there is such a great selection of salads, entrees, desserts etc.

   I had rather a long nap when I got home so may have trouble sleeping tonight. Now I am still stuffed so no dinner for me - maybe a little snack later - but I am very thirsty. Something must have been rather too salty so I will just drink lots of water. The TV is on the blink so it may be a long evening!

A Blustery Day

   Much cooler today but still some sun - only up to 5C. I walked over to the mall from the senior's centre between the fitness classes (the first is 9-10, the next, 11:15 - 12:00) and on the way back the wind was in my face and very cold and strong, but I survived.

   Usual group for coffee after class and then another coffee while I was behind the counter of the coffee bar. I also brought the leftovers home for tomorrow, having made a half pot of decaf towards the end of my shift which didn't get finished. No point in pouring it down the drain, I say!

   I have managed to renew the library book I need for next week's book club but I doubt I will have finished it by then. I took a quick read with me today and got quite a bit read in between serving the coffee, but I must get back to the other one!

   Fish in a cheese sauce with mushrooms and green beans tonight. I forgot to take the fish out of the freezer before I went out this morning but it will thaw and cook in the cheese sauce.