Friday Five - I Learned To Play Mahjong

 Friday Five - I Learned To Play Mahjong

There continue to be more things to do here than I have energy. Last night I elected not to go to a Taylor Swift tribute concert and not to go to a full moon drum ceremony at the beach, because I was tired after an afternoon spent learning to play Mahjong, and wanted to simply stay home and work on the Xmas ornaments I make each year for my family.

But in spite of making good progress last night on this year's hand stitched ornaments, I woke up with some small regrets about the two events I didn't attend, so I'll need to give thought to that today. 

1. I love making family ornaments each year, but this year's are turning out to be real doozies. They are turning out beautifully, but if I had to guess I would say that each one is taking me between 25-30 hours to complete, because there is that much detail work. But still, I think they are each absolutely beautiful, and I hope my family loves them. 

2. I'm learning to play Mahjong . . . and it's fun! After a rough start - I think everyone's heads were reeling after spending more than an hour going over the rules - we got down to playing, and the fog started to clear. After another hour, things began to start making sense and I started to have fun. Our club is starting up a Mahjong group, and today was the first meeting. Going forward, we'll play every other week on a day that work's out well for me, so 'yeah' that - at this point in my retirement I have enough things I'm committed to that adding anything new takes a moment of thought or juggling.

3. I love that Trader Joe's sells some produce by the item rather than by the pound. Case in point - this week I needed one sweet potato for a curry stew I'm making, and I scored a the biggest one in the pile (a one and a half pounder) for the same price as the smallest one in the pile. So many practices at Trader Joe's make me smile, and why I'm their customer for life at this point.

4. Today is housecleaning day, so we'll be leaving for our walk at the uber-early hour of 7:00 AM, which is when our cleaning team arrives. Yes, yes, I do remember my working year gym arrivals of 5:00 AM, but that was then and this is now! However, we've had a string of warm and sticky-humid days, and getting out to the harbor as early as we will today should make our walk much cooler and comfortable. Still, my retired-self prefers no earlier than 9:00 AM starts these days. 😊

5. My Dad continues to be the most amazing person I know. Yesterday, when I called to check in on how his week was going, he picked up the phone a bit breathless, because he was hurrying to answer it while putting away his motorcycle after a 200+ mile ride to breakfast with his riding buddies. This at 90 years of age!!!

So now you know where I get it, even though I feel like I'm a much smaller version of him . . . he sets a standard I'm not sure I can ever reach. But I'll keep trying you can be sure. 

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I hope you all had a good week too, wherever you are!