Apr 14 - ramblings

Mary and John were up early and we went to 9am Mass.  It was quite crowded as they had some first-communicants.  The Mass was almost totally sung, quite different from my usual 7am Mass where we only sing the entrance and recessional hymns.

I put on some Easter Bread early and realized later that I'd shorted the flour -- 2.5 cups rather than 3.5 -- because I could see that the mixture was quite "soupy".  I added a cup and hoped for the best -- it turned out ok, a little denser than usual but still sweet.

After Mass we drove to the beach to see the sailboats out for the Lipton Cup.  There was almost no wind so they were crawling along, sails dangling at times.  We were only there for a few minutes and then it was back home because we had reservations for the Sunday Brunch at the club.  It was well after noon when we got out of there.

John and I took Abby for a good long walk along Riverside to Canal then back along Magnolia.  It was hot along Magnolia as we were sheltered from the wind which by then had picked up.  We were out for the better part of an hour as this is a 2.25 mile circuit.  John isn't a fast walker but he's steady.

Mary and John don't have a long list of "to do's" other than getting to Epcot and going out on the boat.  We expect to be able to do both this week.  Today (Monday) was a possible day for one of those but the thunderstorms that we experienced late in the day yesterday will likely carry over to today and Sandy has a dentist appointment mid-morning anyway.  I need to get out biking at some point.  I'm feeling the effects of limited activity !

Did I mention in my last blog that Performance delivered the wrong helmet on the second-try for that order ?  Well, late in the day I received a shipping notice and at first thought that it was the shipping notice for that second (wrong) helmet but then realized that it was the original order, finally found (where was it all this time ?).  I exchanged emails with customer service -- if you want a list of their names, just ask me since I've now hit about a dozen people -- that they would send me a return label for the white/silver helmet and credit the wrong shipping on the black/red helmet and that I would then send the white/silver helmet back.

I'll be wearing a helmet on next weekend's 600k, no doubt, it's just unclear which.

I wonder if the names of these customer service reps are "real" or whether their system does a random selection from a list of names ?  Who knows !

Stef and Aaron are still looking at houses in the Barrie area.  They could be within walking distance of either Alex or David.  We get lots of pictures in emails :).

On the other hand, Jeffrey and Sara continue to entertain us with pictures of Zoe, now "mostly" sitting up.  She'll be quite different when we see her in June.

David, on yet another hand (that would be the third hand?), is sending pictures of his attic and the effects of running the bathroom fan which is not quite property vented.

How did we manage before digital photos ?  Talk about an enabling technology !  What would Facebook be without pictures ?  Well, it would probably be a blog with comments.

The thunderstorms moved into the are late afternoon.  We had a possible tornado warning.  They do this whenever there are thunderstorms -- I think that it's just to limit liability in case you want to sue the weatherman (weatherperson?).  Boom Boom.  We watched a little golf (eh what ? -- John's sport) and then I got the barbie going for the veggies and lamb.  Predictably, by the time they were ready to come in, it was pouring !  Sandy roasted potatoes and we ate well.  Mary and John enjoyed some Easter Bread and ice cream.  I only had Easter Bread.  Sandy had nothing, or at least nothing that I noticed.  Perhaps she managed to sneak some dark chocolate later ?  That's her favorite after-dinner morsel.

Today we're going to try and deal with Mary's chipped tooth.  I'll call the local dentist at 9am.

I've got a conference call with Jim, Vaune and Kathy tonight regarding the Granite Anvil food.

Speaking of the GA, I had my first withdrawal -- Gary Baker from BC had to tell me that he couldn't attend and I refunded, per the schedule, the amount owing to him.  That means that I now have two open slots.

Tomorrow I have appointments with the orthopod and an accountant in the afternoon, and of course John in the morning.  

Well, I've managed to fill another blog with ramblings ...

Onward !