Friday Report

After pilates today, two classmates and I met at a local restaurant.  It's one of those places that are beloved by women -- a small cafe with round tables, two great glass showcases filled with a variety of cakes and slices and cookies, and a back counter with quiche, home made salads, soups and pizza.  The food was outstanding, although I was the only one who ate.  My classmates are regulars at the cafe, but both have put themselves on diets and refused to have more than coffee (excellent coffee, free refills).  I had a wonderful pumpkin muffin; not too sweet, beautifully flavoured and incredibly tender.  It wasn't one of those Tim Horton's muffins on steroids, which contain enough calories and fat to run a small Baltic city for a week.  It was the same size muffin that I could have baked at home, if I was ever in the mood to bake.  The girls tell me that the staff can tell you all the ingredients in their food, which is great when so many people have food allergies these days.  I will definitely return and have lunch there soon.

Then I ran around and got my pre-weekend grocery shopping done.  I treated us to fresh raisin bread for breakfast tomorrow, and some fresh fruit and veggies.  I would prefer not to have to go into the grocery stores on the weekend so I try to plan and buy things in advance.  We'll have a roast chicken with salad and bread tonight, and then have leftovers for soup or whatever on Saturday.  My husband doesn't care what we have for lunch on weekends as long as it isn't sandwiches.  The poor man packs and eats sandwiches four days a week at work, so I don't blame him.  I don't own a freezer, but rely on the one in my refrigerator so I can't buy stuff in bulk and store it indefinitely.  When the boys were younger we bought freezer orders a couple of times, which we handy but far too much for a household of two.  Besides, it's so discouraging when you reach into the bottom of the freezer and find a package of mystery meat.

I'm trying very hard to persuade myself to go for a walk this afternoon.  The weather is mild but our road is wet and slushy, and I've whined about how much I hate cold wet feet before.  I've gotten out of the habit, and inertia has set in, so next week I'll start back into the groove.  Instead I think I'll make a pot of tea and settle in to read a book.  I have just been to the library so I have a number of books to choose from.  I have Kim Harrison's most recent book "A Perfect Blood" and "Midnight in Austenland" by Shannon Hale.  I've never been a Jane Austen fan, but many of my favourite authors rave about her.  I like P.D. James as an author, and she has written "Death Comes To Pemberley" as homage to Austen.  However, I have read many negative reviews about this book and won't be trying it any time soon.  I think I'll tackle the Kim Harrison book first.

I could sit and knit, too.  I'm knitting an afghan for our oldest son in variegated yarn that is shades of blues, golds and yellows.  It's one of those ripple afghans and I got over confident that I knew the pattern.  Somehow I've managed to add a stitch so I quit knitting until I was in the mood to rip out a couple of rows and figure out where I went wrong.  I like knitting while my husband is watching the Maple Leafs lose, so I've missed my project, but I just haven't been in the mood to back track.  Today just might be the day.

Or I could check in with my needlepoint project.   I'm making a snowman stocking and am at the stage where you have to outline everything so it stands out.  As much as I enjoy needlepoint, back stitching can get boring, so I've taken a break.  The sooner I finish, the sooner I can get back to the part that I enjoy.


Boy, I have a big decision to make.  I enjoy all three past times, and they all go well with a cup of tea.  Whichever project I decide to pick up I can focus on for the rest of the weekend.  If I knit or needlepoint I could listen to a book on tape, or find something on TV that I can listen to but not really watch. It doesn't matter which one I choose, they're all enjoyable.