Weekend Wrap Up - Just Us Again
It was nice to step back into our retired grown up lives this past weekend, after two weekends in a row of high energy activities with our young granddaughters. I'm sure I'll be missing them madly in a very short time, but for the moment I am enjoying the slightly slower pace!
Speaking of which - we've already floated the idea of taking everyone on an Alaskan cruise next summer. We so enjoy spending time with the girls, but boy is it helpful when the activities are being run by someone other than the Bana and the Nana - our energy just can't keep up with theirs! - and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines does a wonderful job with this. We took everyone on a family cruise two years ago, and I do think that every one of us had a really terrific time.
Friday - Did the usual circuit of four markets in the AM; Aldi, Trader Joe's, and then two supermarkets solely to take advantage of some of their advertised loss leader items:
- Whole seedless watermelon for 49 cents a pound
- Kind Bars for 88 cents each (I bought 20)
- Top Round Steak marked down to $6.37 for 1 & 1/2 pounds, which I cut up into three 1/2 pound sections for future stir fry meals. (I use tons of vegetables, and just small quantities of beef.)
- Large container of fresh blueberries for $5.
- A pound of fresh deli ham, half smoked, half honey baked, for $5.
Reheated leftovers for a combined breakfast/lunch. Did a four mile walk, then home to clean up for a short visit with my cancer stricken girlfriend and her husband, the first time she'd felt up to company since January, so it was really wonderful to be able to see her and spend a little time together. After leaving the two of them, we drove over to our membership winery. Our two glasses of wine were complimentary, which we enjoyed with a shared flatbread pizza. All in, we spent less than $20, enjoying this view while we sipped and ate-
Saturday - Met my beach walking group in the AM, followed by a group coffee chat. I love starting my Saturday's this way when we're not traveling!
Home to do some laundry and remake beds before getting cleaned up for a Murder Mystery Dinner event being held in one of our adjacent towns. It was a lot of fun, but considerably more work than I'd expected. We had to work in groups to try and identify the murderer - I thought we'd just eat and enjoy watching the faux-murder performance play out, including the eventual identification of the murderer!
Sunday - I was up bright and early to again reserve our park concert spot by laying out blankets and chairs. I left my car parked nice and close to the event, and walked home instead of driving since we live so close to concert area, and it's a really pleasant walk.
Left for spiritual services after returning home, then home for lunch before we left on foot for the concert, where we'd also saved space for some friends we'd bumped into on Friday night at our membership winery. It was fun to hang out together in the dance area (our friends favorite spot), and in front of the stage near the band (my favorite spot). Actually, the concert, primarily 70's and early 80's music, was an insane blast. There were lots of people socializing and dancing, and a large group of young 20-somethings happily singing, dancing, drinking, and rolling & smoking joints, which completely cracked me up. It was like seeing myself in a time tunnel back in the 1970's.
Personally, I drank only water, and did my best to avoid the considerable second hand joint smoke. But I very much enjoyed watching a new generation discover the music of my youth.
Home afterwards for an easy dinner of chili that I had pulled earlier from the freezer. We ate it while watching 60 Minutes live, the first TV we've watched in two weeks - we were simply to distracted to do so while our family was visiting.
Today, Monday -
I'm leaving shortly to meet my girlfriend for our once-a-month kayaking date. We pack lunches and pull out halfway to eat on the sand, then walk to get coffee, which we enjoy in our kayaks on the return trip - the covered coffee cups hold nicely as we paddle.
I started dinner in the crock pot already, so it should be an easy evening once I return home.
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Inquiring minds want to know - how was your weekend???
I really need a walking buddy or four. The walking group in town supposedly is open to anyone but while I'm sure the women are perfectly nice, a friend tried to "break into" the group and found the relationships were pretty established and not really much to talk about with a new person after the basic hello's.
ReplyDeleteSometimes new groups just need a little time, for you to get used to them, but also vice versa. MeetUp.com is a great source as well, though sometimes you have to try a few before finding one that 'fits.' As an extrovert, I enjoy the process, but an introvert might find it all a tad overwhelming, which I get. We are all so very different.
Delete- Tamara / My Retirement Project