A New Week

It’s Monday and the week stretches out in front of me. Rudy is off golfing this morning and so I have a whole day to myself. I can hardly settle on what I will do first. I take the garbage to the curb, have a cup of tea and sit down to write this blog! But I can’t stand the fact that I could be doing so many things. I am thinking of starting a sewing/crafting project …. but no I will first go for a walk….oh yeah I want to cycle down to one of the mountain walks on the edge of town …. but maybe a sudoko to begin the day. What shall I do first?

Well I first take a walk around the neighbourhood. I marvel at how beautiful it all is. No matter which direction I go on the winding streets I always have the beautiful mountains right on the edge of town to look at. Not to mention the palm trees, grapefruit, lemon, and orange trees, and the beautiful bouganvilla and other flowering shrubs and vines. It is beautiful, cool in the shade and hot in the sun.

After this I head out for a number of hours of cycling. The are many cycling paths that are so safe. There are dedicated lanes with a curb between me and the traffic. And when there aren’t any like this the sideways are wide for pedestrians, golf carts, and bikes. It is just lovely being out in the warm summer air. I get home after one, have some lunch and lie in the cool of the house.

Rudy arrives home after a morning of golf with some old Steinbachers (Robert D., Ken K., Darrel P.). He is smiling so it means, that despite not having golfed for a month, he must have done okay.

He has taken the van into the Honda garage and gets a ride back here. He hasn’t been home very long when they phone rings with some good and bad news. The good news is  that the Old Blue Lady is not ready for the junk heap yet. It is not the transmission but something else much more manageable. The bad news is the price tag for the repairs. But Rudy has a thought. He just phones Katherina at his local garage in Steinbach and she crunches numbers and consults with the mechanic and the result is that Rudy will just drive carefully and then get the work done at home at a fraction of the cost. He is relieved. At this point Ingrid arrives to pick me up for a shopping expedition and she agrees to drive Rudy back to pick up the van before we (Ingrid and I) go shopping. I have nothing to shop for (except a few groceries) but that doesn’t stop me from perusing the baby section of each store we go to. I am super excited as I am expecting 3 new grandchildren (one in January, one in April, and one in May) so the grandma urges are huge and it means I get so much pleasure looking at small outfits. Ingrid smiles politely when I show her some stuff (she is shopping for her grandchildren as well) but moves me on as the items are not on sale. She is a more proficient shopper than me and it turns out she is right. One must look for the sale racks and she knows where to find them. I pick out a few little outfits and buy them.

By this time we need to rush off to meet Rudy for supper. We get to the restaurant and Ingrid knows all the gluten free options. I am the odd person out in this group. But I have basically been eating gluten free with Rudy for the last while so we order a combination of dishes that all of us can eat. Restaurants have changed a lot in the last number of years and there is always something for people who can’t eat wheat. Rudy has been doing so much better since he switched over so he is getting pretty religious about the whole thing. And I am glad he is feeling better. We have a nice time even though we miss Reg. (Ingrid especially, of course)