The past week has been busy and sociable. On Saturday, I went grocery shopping with Julian and Nat. I can’t remember where Glen was. Julian was having a party and I don’t like passing up an opportunity to go to Costco so I went along too. From there we went to No Frills and then the liquor store, before returning home and deciding we needed new clothes for the evening. I bought two new shirts from Guess, which were on sale. Julian and Nat bought things as well.
The party was held in the party-room on the ground floor of our condo. It’s a great space that has a sound system, seating, a bar area, and a fully serviceable kitchen. Glen and I had considered holding our wedding reception here before we realised the effort involved. Anyway, the party was fun. Lots of Nat and Julian’s friends came as well as few other mutual friends. We drank, we ate, we danced, we talked to people. At midnight we left for Fly with a few of the other partygoers. Had a great night there and got home sometime around 2:30, I think. As a result, Sunday was spent mostly in bed, catching up on sleep.
On Monday it would have been Mum’s 60th birthday, so in the morning I spoke to my dad, sister and grandmother via Skype. They’d been out together to mark the occasion. My sister was sporting her new hairdo: a completely shaved head. She’d fundraised over $6000 to shave her head for cancer. She had quite the mane and now it’s all gone. Quite the difference but it’s actually pretty cool looking. Very proud of her for going through with it, and an excellent fundraising result.
My days during the week were mostly spent working and going the gym. I’ve also been forcing myself to write at least 500 words per day to get me back in the habit. As a result, I’ve started work on my next book. It’s all very rough and will probably be unusable but it feels great to actually doing what I’m supposed to be doing.
Tuesday night, Glen, Julian and I went to the movies to see The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel down at Yonge-Dundas. We went to a late session and the theatre was probably only a sixth full. It was one of the small theatres too. As a result I won the TimePlay game that Cineplex has at the start of each film. I won scene points that go towards getting a free ticket.
The movie was better than I was expecting, considering it was a sequel and the first movie had (on the surface) wrapped up most of the stories. There were some fun moments, some sad too. It’s definitely not going to win an Academy Award but it was enjoyable and nice to see the old English actors on screen.
Wednesday night we went for dinner with Pete and Royden. We’ve been very neglectful in catching up with them, which is ridiculous considering they’re in the same building. We went to a restaurant called Wish, which was nearby. The food was excellent. We shared a calamari starter (delicious) and I had half a roast chicken. Service in the place was a little off though, especially as we were ignored when we first entered. At least the food and the company was good.
On Thursday I made hot cross buns with the Thermomix. I made two batches: one with fruit (for me) and one with chocolate and no fruit (for Glen). My batch turned out great, despite forgetting to include the peel. Glen’s batch, however, turned out…weird. When they came out of the oven, I ate one of mine, while Glen at one of his (and kept very quiet while doing so). I then tried a chocolate one. It tasted…of nothing. Seriously, no flavour. I then ran through the ingredient list inside my head. I’d left out the sugar! Glen took them to work the next day anyway. They taste all right with Nutella on them.
Thursday night we caught up with Dave and Antony. It was supposed to be the four of us for dinner, but Antony got stuck at work so Glen, Dave and I went for dinner at Skin+Bones. Dave had been before, and Bec and Al had recommended the place to us so it was good to try there. Food was very good. I had a cod and shrimp stew with chickpeas. Glen had a Cornish hen paella, as did Dave. There were appetisers and dessert too. Service was excellent. Highly recommend going there for dinner. And apparently the menu changes quite frequently.
After dinner, we returned to Dave and Antony’s, Antony having just returned home. We then ate cheese and had more dessert, chatted, and then played card games. I revived Oh, Hell, which I don’t think Glen and I had played since the night before Mum died. We got the scoring a little mixed up, but gradually the rules came back. Despite constantly asking whether Glen had to follow suit, he won, trouncing us all by about 15 points. How did that happen?
Travels with Dan 
What do you say, eh?