the nice thing about a remote working day...

... is that I get back the time the drive and such would take.  

This morning I was out the door early for a walk before Conrad joined me.  After a good stroll and gab, we ended up at Amara for a bite of breakfast.  My usual, his usual. 

A lovely morning for it, cool and sunny.  We chatted with Amara for a bit, finished up, came home.  We were in the door earlier than when I've been going in to work so far this week.  I brewed some decaf, fired up the laptop, and now here we are:  lunchtime, munching on some leftovers, posting a quick blog entry.

Back in the office again on Monday!  The nice thing about that is that I'll get to see folks in person.  And you know, I like the drive time because I listen to CBC Radio programs, something I otherwise don't afford myself much opportunity to do.

Happy Wednesday! 

Christmas 2025

Christmas was a mixed bag.  Weatherwise, that is.  As I posted before, I woke up to the sun peering through the trees at dawn.  There were blue skies for the most part as I took the little girl out for a nice walk. 

Few other people up and out at that time.  I love the peace of mornings like that.  Conrad and Van were in bed a goodly while Christmas morning, so I brought Olive home then set out on a walk of my own

for a little over four miles.  The rain and wind of the day before had left something of a mark in the neighbourhoods,

but for the most part, it wasn't too bad.  A clear, mostly sunny morning for a walk. I called my sister, and as I strolled, she and I chatted away.

It took a while for everyone to get up on Christmas morning, but we had no urgency.  Dinner was all to be reheated - we'd picked it up from Julienne the day before -  so I didn't need to worry about getting home and into the kitchen.  So I spent a lot of the morning messaging friends with Christmas greetings, and after the guys were up and we'd all showered and dressed, we headed to Starbucks and then came back to Van's where he got in the kitchen

and made us eggs, bacon, and flapjacks. 

On a sidenote, I'd looked all over for Saskatoon berry products when we did our BC trip this summer, and found none.  Boo.  But I found Saskatoon berry syrup online and ordered us some, and it's become a favourite for us with our flapjacks.  Good stuff!  I may need to order more.

Anyway, breakfast done - and it was past noon at that point - we finally opened presents to see what Santa brought. 

We didn't have a lot of tangible things this year, at least not until Conrad and Van got to their stockings later, because we're now doing experiences for the most part.  So there are trips ahead for the three of us and for me with each of them separately.  That should be nice.

Conrad and I got home by around 2 in the afternoon and had time to relax and even nap.  Van and Olive came over later on for dinner.  Cocktails to start, shrimp cocktail and veggies with dip and some potato chips, and then I set the ham dinner out on the table for us all. 

It was tasty, and it was easy!  We had leftovers on Boxing Day and that didn't even take care of all the ham or beans!  Ah well.  I opened a bottle of a nice NZ Pinot Noir

that Conrad had brought back from his trip this past August, and we toasted

and enjoyed that.  After dinner came the stockings at last, and of course the little girl had her own. 

Look at her! 

You know she ended up on Santa's nice list this past year.

Van and Olive headed home a while after that, and I sent Conrad, who was yawning a lot, upstairs to bed while I did all the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen.  It was nice to get up on Boxing Day to a clean kitchen!  That work took me until about 11:30, at which point I felt a little too alert to head to bed.  I read downstairs, listening to Christmas music, until about 1:30 at which point I finally felt like I was tired.  And I was.  I was out like a light, putting an end to a lovely, relaxed Christmas Day. 

last weekend in September

Howdy, neighbours!

Is September really ending?  Wow.  I guess it is.  Life feels somewhat back to normal, but I say that a whole heck of a lot, so maybe redefining normal is needed?  Not tonight, though.  Tonight, let's blog.

Friday!  On Friday, we went to Maestro.  Just as we have done many times before, and - with luck - we will do many times again.  We arrived there not long after 5, but the bar was already too full for the 3 of us.  So it was dinner outside on what had been a grey day.  Very comfortable temperatures at this time of year, and we appreciated that.  Cocktails to start with,

and among the food was a roasted beet salad. 

It was very good to be back.  I always appreciate our time there.

Saturday morning I was feeling lazy.  It had rained a little overnight, and I decided not to go out and walk all over on a still-damp morning.  I waited for Conrad to get up, and then the two of us headed to Amara for breakfast.  Decaf oatmilk latte and, this time, a breakfast burrito for me. 

That was enjoyable.

We did some things around the condo after breakfast yesterday, and we also had some lazy time.  That was welcome.  Oh, I know - Hawaii was relaxing, right?  Yes, it was.  But it's another thing to get to relax in your own home, and so we did.  Early evening, though, we headed to Van's, where he made us cocktails and put out light bites for us to enjoy,

giving Olive some love,

before we met up with Jennifer and Sanders at Cannonball,

a new restaurant in South Pasadena.

My verdict?  Handsome space, decent food (ocean trout for me)

and cocktails (the Arroyo Park and then the Milk and Honey),

but it was very loud.  I'm genuinely glad that they are popular, but I don't know if/when we will go back.  Even for the 3 of us not wearing hearing aids last night, it was tough to listen.  ah well.  Maybe one day.

This morning I got up a little later and went for a walk - just look at that magnificent fungus I saw. 

Groceries and Starbucks, and then Van made us a satisfying brunch.  The even wound down with an online happy hour that I'll blog about separately.

What's weird is that I have a fairly normal workweek ahead..... 

Hawaii, day two

Our first full day in Hawaii started off with a morning walk for the two of us. 

It was one of only two days when Marie came for a morning walk, though she did a long walk another day.  I'll be blunt:  we are both large people and out of shape, Marie arguably more so than I am.  The walk was more than her usual, and she might have stepped down wrong at some point, so by the end her back was bothering her and more.  I felt badly about that, and I'm sorry it prevented her from coming on other morning walks - I should have been glad of her company.  Ah well.

So we were up just before sunrise, as the skies were lightening,

and out the door to head to the nearby Ala Moana Park.  Not a long walk there, but we caught some views of boats,

beaches,

birds,

beasts (mongooses - cute but invasive),

and (sorry this isn't entirely alliterative) Waikiki. 

We crossed over to the mall, wandered it a little while we debated what sounded good for breakfast, and eventually parked ourselves at an Eggs 'n' Things.  It was fine enough.  I continued my quest for Spam, choosing that with eggs and rice

and a glass of POG

for a very filling breakfast.

I wish I could tell you about grand adventures throughout the day, but the truth is, after getting showered and changed, we spent a goodly while in the mile, poking in stores, buying some things, later grabbing a small lunch (and thank you to the woman at the one business in the food court who offered me the senior discount, telling me that with my white beard I look like Kenny Rogers!) there, eventually choosing a book in Barnes and Noble to bring to the pool deck that afternoon.

Nice pool, but I wish there was more shade available on the deck. 

It wasn't too busy at the hotel pool, though, and I know I dozed off a little at one point.  Yes, we did go in the water.  Once done with the pool, we headed to the room changed, and came down to the pool level to try the little bar there.  Lilikoi (passionfruit) drinks for us - a margarita for Marie, a spritzer for me. 

The bar was, sorry to say, underwhelming, but now we know!

Dinner that evening was at a place Van had found back in 2023 for him and me and Conrad.  Fête is downtown/Chinatown rather than Waikiki, and I think Marie appreciated that we saw a different part of the city.  I was glad to go back and enjoy it again.  The hostess greeted us and asked if Marie and I were on a date, thereby beginning a pattern of the two of us explicitly inserting into conversation with service staff in restaurants, bars, and stores that we were brother and sister.  I guess not many siblings like us travel together, or something.  Anyway, we had a table in a little side part of the restaurant, by the window and across from where the kitchen was doing its magic. 

Great views!  We started with much better cocktails than at the hotel bar:  the Grab 'Em by the Pineapple for me

and the Spicy Kitty for Marie. 

We shared an appetizer special, breadfruit with Indian spices and crispy shreds of okra atop,

then it was the Korean steak for me and the coconut prawns for Marie. 

The coconut cake was a special as well, and we went for it. 

She and I capped the evening with an amaro each, and I was delighted that Marie is into them. 

Something else we now share.  It was all very good, and we headed back to the hotel with full bellies, turning in fairly shortly after getting back.