Sunday Smiles 2019.01.13

Greetings! I hope 2019 has been good to you so far and your day is going well. I want to share five random things that are making me smile today:

1. Nature in sunshine: We woke up to a light dusting of snow on the ground and a bright, sunny morning. I went for a walk to enjoy nature. Blue skies, sunshine, sparkling snow, and the lake view, they all bring me happy thoughts. The pink umbrellas at the beach are cute, too. A simple walk always clears my mind and warms my body. I came home feeling energized and upbeat for the rest of the day.

2. Five VIP birthdays: My brother, my sister-in-law, my nephew, my niece, and one of my longtime friends since grade six are celebrating another trip around the sun this month. I visualize their smiles or laughs and the images make me smile. I'm happy to have them in my life. They are very important people (VIP) to me. I'm wishing each of them a wonderful birthday and a fantastic year ahead.

3. My upcoming trip to Guatemala: I pack one carry-on suitcase with light clothing in it since the daily high temperature there is around 24C (75F), low 12C (54F). Light packing means less to pack, less to carry, less to remember, less to lose, and less to unpack.

I look forward to exploring some of the main attractions in Guatemala such as Antigua, a UNESCO World Heritage site, Lake Atitlan, formed thousands of years ago in the crater of a massive volcano, and Guatemala's local villages and markets. Here's a photo of Guatemalan bills, 5, 10, and 20 quetzales:

Guatemalan bills

4. A frugal win: Speaking of money, we made reservations for our family outing in January and saved about 30% on the hotel room rate at time of booking, before taxes. The savings will go towards nice dining or future travel. Either way it will bring us more fun experiences. We plan to enjoy our time together, and be away from household chores for a couple of days. I bet the thought of no housework for a few days would make you smile, too.

5. A 'wide' challenge: I discovered the Toronto Public Library 2019 Reading Challenge on their web site. This is exciting and timely for me since one of my goals for 2019 is to read three books each month. I just finished Stephen King's On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (288 pages) and Holly Ringland's The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart (400 pages). After I return from Guatemala, I plan to take on the Reading Challenge and see how widely I read this year.

What's making you smile today? Let me know in the comments!

5 Things That I'm Grateful For

Greetings! I'm back from Morocco and am feeling grateful for numerous things that I'm grouping them into five at the moment.

1. Completing my trip to Morocco with wonderful experiences: I visited Rabat, Volubilis, Fez, Marrakesh, and Casablanca. All the sensory stimuli that I expected from Morocco came true. I'm grateful for my good health throughout my trip, the nice weather, reliable Wi-Fi, amazing sights, tasty food, friendly travellers that I met along the way, knowledgeable tour guides, and my knowledge of French language which enables me to read the local signs and feel more comfortable in a foreign land.

2. Returning home safely without flight delay or lost luggage: I had a carry-on suitcase which I checked in on my flights from Casablanca to Frankfurt and Frankfurt to Toronto. I didn't need to check it in but volunteered since both flights were full and cabin space was limited. My flights were on time and my carry-on arrived in Toronto with me. A happy ending!

3. Relishing the familiarity at home: As soon as I landed in Toronto, it felt great to know exactly where everything is, unlike when I landed in Casablanca and everything was foreign. Both experiences made me smile. It was wonderful to travel and to return home. My appreciation for things at home such as drinking clean water from the tap is heightened.

4. Resuming activities that I enjoy: I'm back to use my home computer, the gym, the swimming pool, the library (already put two books on hold), and blogging. I'll be out and about to attend entertainment, art, and social events. The local shops have put up beautiful displays for the holidays and with the temperatures hover around freezing point, I look forward to my daily walks while feeling the festive atmosphere in the city.

5. Planning for my next trip: This is part of #4 above. I'm always grateful for having the capacity to travel. I plan to be home until after New Year's to soak in all the beautiful festivities and precious time with my family and friends. Then I'll go to explore Guatemala in Central America. A new adventure awaits!

What about you? How are things going with you?

Making happiness happen

Greetings! I went for a 5K run this morning and wanted to share what's making me happy:

I had written a A to L fun post back in May, so just for fun I jotted down a list of twelve simple things, from M to Z, minus X and Z, that I plan to do in the next ten days to continue making happiness happen for me:

1. Meet my friends to go to a farmers' market.
2. Nap one afternoon when I feel like it.
3. Open and re-read a comic book we have at home.
4. Pick up a gift for my cousin's wedding.
5. Quick packing for my upcoming trip.
6. Ride the ferry to Centre Island on a weekday when there is no crowd. 
7. Share unhurried coffee chat time with my husband.
8. Take photos of what makes me feel happy.
9. Undertake to plan another discovery walk. The previous one was fun.
10. View wildlife and sailboats by the harbour.
11. Write a happy birthday card to a relative.
12. Yoga practice every other day.

That's it from me. I hope you're making happiness happen for yourself each day.

Movie with popcorn

Last night was movie night with our neighbours. We watched Beauty and the Beast on a big plasma screen while munching on popcorn. I used to go to movie theatres frequently and as you can tell from the time the Beauty and the Beast movie was released, I’ve been behind with movie watching by at least three months!

I enjoyed everything about this movie, from the music, singing, dancing, to the animations and costumes. Emma Watson is a talented and pretty actress. And the happy ending of the story is a nice start to my weekend! Sometimes I just want happy entertainment, nothing scary or serious.

I looked up some stats about this movie. Did you know that Beauty and the Beast is the world’s 10th-highest-grossing film of all time? That’s a lot of money generated. I hope some of it will go to a good cause to make our world a better place.

Speaking of weekend, we’ve had a warm and sunny stretch of weather for a few days now. The trees and flowers seem to explode overnight so I’ll be outside enjoying the sunshine and the natural beauty around me.  

My plans for the weekend:

• Take online Spanish lessons
• Swim on Saturday
• Walk or run 5K on Sunday
• Get a haircut
• Grocery shopping for the week
• General home clean up
• Do weekend picnics with my family

How about you? Any big plan for your weekend? Have a fun weekend wherever you are!

 

My 3rd week of May

The third week of May just zoomed right by for me. We had Victoria Day long weekend, May 20 to 22, full of activities. More social outings are also happening now that we start having nicer weather.

Happy I’ve accomplished the following this past week:

Fitness:

• Continued to learn Spanish, 15 minutes a day.
• Exercised at the gym 3x, did yoga 2x.
• Swam 50 laps on Saturday. In the last ten minutes of my swim, I had the pool by myself and decided to keep going until lap 50. Swimming in calm water is so enjoyable!

Family:

• Kept up with my family routine.
• For our Victoria Day long weekend, I savoured time at home with my family. We also went out for a 45-minute walk and dinner with friends at a casual, all-you-can-eat place. On the menu were two choices of soup, salads, garlic bread, spaghetti bolognese, penne with grilled vegetables, cookies, ice cream, and soft drinks. Cost was CAD$10 for youths and CAD$15 for adults, taxes included - quite reasonable and good food, too.

Friends:

• Met up with a friend for cappuccino and visual arts at Harbourfront. We had a nice time chatting and strolling along the lake front.
• Reconnected via email with a former classmate who now lives in Germany. Happy messaging!

Fun:

• Attended an uplifting piano and violin recital at beautiful St. Andrew’s church.
• Blogged about ten home organization tips that have helped me stay organized.

Finance:

• Experienced a delay in the carpet installation for my condo refresh project. I had hoped to get the new carpet in on May 17 or 18 but no such thing. The work is now scheduled for May 30.

Plans for the last week of May:

• Keep up with daily family and fitness activities.
• Get new carpet installed in the condo.
• Explore a local art or entertainment event.
• Search and compare air fares to Europe.

I hope you had a good 3rd week of May. How did it go for you?

My 2nd week of May

The condo refresh project took a chunk of my time this past week. When I started going through my calendar, I felt better that I actually accomplished my other personal goals as well. 

Happy that I’ve accomplished the following this past week:

Fitness:
- Continued to learn Spanish, 15 minutes a day.
- Exercised at the gym 3x, did yoga 2x. I changed up my gym routine this past week by asking a positive-minded friend to join me in one workout session. It’s amazing how long a small dose of humour can last. I’m still smiling when I think about our fun chitchats. I’d encourage you to ask a positive friend to join you in your exercise routine now and then.
- Swam 42 laps on Saturday, and ran 5K on Sunday. 👍👍

Family:
- Kept up with my family routine.
- Enjoyed a BBQ for my mother with extended family on Sunday - Happy Mother’s day. 

Friends:
- Emailed my friends who live in the USA to touch base. Glad to hear they are well.
- Shared positive energy and laughed with my friend who joined me at the gym. 

Fun:
- Made a visit to the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) on Wednesday evening. It was nice to view art at leisure. I’ll be back to explore different sections in the AGO.
- Tried another easy recipe Sausage and Asparagus Bowl, as the ingredients were on sale at my grocery store. I used shallots, and sweet chili sauce which I had on hand, in lieu of onions and jalapeno. My family ate everything on their plates, and agreed they would have it again - Success!

Finance/ Condo refresh project:
- Plumbing: Hired a plumber to change the parts in the toilet tank to fix the toilet leak. It was the first time I called in a plumber for the condo unit. He completed his work and prepared the electronic invoice on his tablet within 90 minutes. I was pleased to see the total cost for parts and labour was reasonable.
- Do-It-Myself: The plumber diagnosed the weak water flow in the shower stall was caused by debris caught in the shower head. He suggested that since I had successfully changed the shower head in the bath tub, I should change the shower head in the shower stall to solve the problem and save money from paying him to do it. So off I went to the local Home Depot. Yep, I bought another Moen handheld shower head that was easy to install. This one has 3 settings with chrome finish. You may not be excited but I was when I finished installing and both shower heads now work beautifully!

Moen handheld 7-settings shower head

Moen handheld 3-settings shower head

- Painting: Hired a painter to paint the entire condo, including removal of the medicine cabinet in the bathroom, and the fixed desk in the den. It took him three days to complete the job. The condo looks fresh and cohesive with neutral grey/ white palette. Benjamin Moore paint codes used: Gray Owl (OC-52) for the walls, Storm Grey (AF-700) for the bottom cupboard doors, and Decorator’s White (CC-20) for the upper cupboard doors, trim, and doors.
- Carpeting: Received two quotes and carpet samples.  One of the quotes was from Home Depot. Decision to be made early next week. I was impressed that the Home Depot worker who came to the condo took measurements of the carpeted areas with a laser tool, and keyed in all details in his tablet. I was able to view the plan and estimates on his tablet right away.

Plans for this upcoming week:
- Keep up with daily family and fitness activities.
- Book contractor to install new carpet in the condo.
- Attend a free or low cost art and entertainment event. Finding one is part of the fun!
- Have dinner with friends on Saturday.

I hope you had a good 2nd week of May. Your turn to tell me about your week!

My 1st week of May

We had a lot of rain this past week, especially on Thursday and Friday. Lake Ontario has risen nearly 25 centimetres (or close to 10 inches) since May 1. It was still lovely in that my sister visited us for a week. She just left yesterday morning. Due to the heavy downpour, we spent more time indoors than outdoors.

Lake Ontario high water level

Happy that I’ve accomplished the following this past week:

Fitness:

• Continued with Spanish lessons, 15 minutes a day.
• Exercised at the gym 3x, did yoga 2x.
• Swam 40 laps on Saturday, and ran 5K on Sunday.

Finance/ Condo refresh project:

• Finished cleaning all rooms and the five appliances in the condo.
• Met and received quotes from two different contractors.
• Chose new carpet and paint colours (greys and whites).
• Replaced the shower head in the bath tub with a new Moen handheld shower head. It has seven settings, grey/ chrome finish, and was very easy to install. It was on sale for 20% off regular price.
• Added two light bulbs that were missing in the bathroom. The new LED light bulbs were frugal wins in that they were on a special sale for $1.94 each, or 65% off regular price.

Family:

• Had lunch and dinner with my sis and our parents on Sunday.
• Took my sister out for coffee and indoor shopping twice.
• Kept up with my own family’s routine and chores.

Fun:

• Posted my first April in a sentence a day and read other participants’ blogs.
• Window-shopped with my sister. We went to two different shopping malls that I haven’t been to for a while so they were kind of new to me, too. I think we were doing more talking than shopping!
• Tried Sheila’s easy chicken sausage skillet recipe. I served the chicken sausage and kale with a small amount of steamed rice, and got thumbs up from my family (thanks, Sheila).

Plans for the upcoming week:

• Keep up with daily family and fitness activities.
• Touch base with my friends who live in the USA.
• Book contractors for my condo refresh project.
• Visit the Art Gallery of Ontario.

I hope you had a good first week of May. Tell me about your week!

Saturday thoughts 2017/04/22

A Saturday morning post as we’re heading for our weekend getaway, returning home late on Sunday evening. The above floral arrangement was a rushed job and was easy to make.

I had a busy week and got a few mini pop up projects at home that require me to do extra thinking and planning. I’m looking forward to enjoying our family getaway this weekend.

Happy I’ve accomplished the following this past week:

Fitness:

• Exercised each weekday morning (gym three times and yoga twice).
• Continued indoor swimming on Saturday and increased the number of laps from thirty four last week to thirty six this morning. Feeling invigorated after my swim!
• Learned Spanish fifteen minutes daily, currently learning new nouns and verbs, present, past and future tenses.

Family:

• Recycled or disposed some of the furniture that my parents no longer wanted to keep. I had to hire movers to do this so it was a mini project.
• Kept up with my own family routine: grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning up, laundry, and general home maintenance.

Frugal win:

• Saved money by completing my 2016 income tax return myself. I have never paid someone else to do it so I am unsure how much I save but I’m sure I saved.

Fun:

• Tried a new casual eating place called Alexandro's World Famous Gyros. The chicken gyros on a pita was fresh, tasty and filling for under CAD$7 (US$5). The gyros we had in Athens were better and bigger though.

What I look forward to this coming week:

• Making it another productive week.
• Jazz on Friday evening!

How was your week? What do you look forward to this coming week?

Sunday thoughts 2017/04/16

On Getting Help:
My parents are elderly and were unable to take charge of the move themselves so it was up to us, their children, to take care of the details. I asked for and received family help for the move. For this I’m grateful.

I dealt with three companies, one for the bin rental and moving supplies, one for the moving truck and movers, and one for cable TV and Internet service. The staff who spoke with me on the phone from all three companies were friendly and helpful, without sales pitch. The workers who I met in person smiled and acted professionally. I appreciated their smiles and good work. I now have some restored faith on good customer service.

On To-Do Lists:
I usually have a short to do list for my daily living. As soon as we knew my parents would be moving, I prepared an additional to do list for their move. I noted what needed to be done in an electronic file, went through the list almost daily, and changed the font colour of completed items so I could see visually what was still outstanding. If I had not done this, I would have forgotten something. I’m happy that the move went smoothly, my parents are settling in their new home, and that to do list is now closed so I can focus on my own list!

On Letting Go:
Packing and unpacking for my parents reminded me about the importance of letting go of material things that are not meaningful or no longer useful. Small additions of stuff over time create clutter that is time-consuming and emotionally draining to clear. So just like saving money, decluttering needs to be done regularly, even in small amounts. A good defence would be to let into my home only things that are meaningful or useful.

Happy I’ve accomplished the following this past week:

Fitness:

• Exercised each weekday morning, except Thursday when the move was scheduled.
• Continued indoor swimming on Saturday and increased the number of laps from thirty to thirty four.
• Ran 5 km in about thirty minutes on Sunday. I could spend thirty minutes surfing the Internet but chose to run. Either way the time was gone. By choosing to run, I felt invigorated afterwards, and was rewarded with naturally rosy cheeks (ha)!
• Learned Spanish fifteen minutes daily.

Family:

• Completed my parents’ move while maintaining my own family routine.
• Enjoyed a relaxing Good Friday/ Easter long weekend with my family.

Fun:

• Entered the Ultimate KitKat Tasting giveaway on Laura’s The Occasional Nomads blog.
• Thinking and reading about visiting Gibraltar, Spain, and/ or Central Europe (Budapest, Bratislava and Prague).

What I look forward to this coming week:

• Making it another productive week.
• Having a fun family weekend getaway.

How was your week? What do you look forward to this coming week? Please feel free to share any travel tips you may have on Gibraltar, Spain, and Central Europe.

Sunday thoughts 2017/04/09

We had a sunny weekend with spring temperatures that were perfect for being outdoors, getting some fresh air, seeing small flowers poking out of the ground, and listening to the bird sounds.

Happy I’ve accomplished the following this past week:

Fitness:

• Exercised each weekday morning (gym three times and yoga twice).
• Resumed indoor swimming and did 30 laps on Saturday morning.
• Walked 5.6 km (3.5 miles) outdoors on Sunday morning and enjoyed the sunshine.
• Learned Spanish fifteen minutes daily.

Family:

• Received the rental bins and moving supplies as ordered for my parents’ move.
• Packed my parents’ stuff to be ready for the move next week.
• Made phone calls to re-confirm essential services for my parents at their new home.
• Got the routine house chores done for my own family: laundry, grocery shopping, cooking, and cleaning up. My DH also pitched in.
• Enjoyed meals at home with my family.

Friends:

• Went out for cappuccinos with a close friend.
• Called another dear friend to wish her a happy birthday.

Fun for myself:

• Browsed the plants and flowers at the local garden centre.
• Thought about new floral arrangements and how I can make them.
• Researched and read more on potential travel destinations.
• Wrote about my trip to Lisbon and Sintra on my blog.

What I look forward to this upcoming week:

• Making it another productive week.
• Finishing my parents’ move to their new home.
• Enjoying the long Good Friday/ Easter weekend with my family.

How was your week? What are you looking forward to next?

Sunday thoughts 2017/04/02

I started writing about what I accomplished last week, then went on to think about the month of March, and the first quarter of the year so this post will be a wrap up of my first quarter of 2017, with some highlights of what I’ve accomplished this past week.

Fitness:

• Happy I got my daily exercise in through the winter months from January to March. During the week, I usually workout in the gym three times, and do yoga twice, an hour each time. On weekends, I do brisk walks on Saturday and Sunday, 4 km (2.5 miles) or longer depending on the weather. Yesterday I walked about 5 km (3.2 miles) and today 7 km (4.4 miles). I like the feelings of being alive and warm after each workout.
• Happy to learn Spanish online, fifteen minutes daily, and to read about various topics, to give my brain its dose of learning something new on a regular basis.

Finance:

• Happy all is in good order. Other than housing and food expenses, I paid for our tickets to Costa Rica in June, and hardly spent on anything else.

Family and Friends:

• Happy my own family is healthy.
• I had concerns for my parents’ health in February, and am coordinating their move to their new home. I’m grateful for having a close knit family, and a good health care system.
• I wrote to two of my dear friends overseas this past week to share our life updates. Happy to hear all has been well with them. We used to write letters but have moved onto use email. I’m grateful to have close friends even though some of them have moved away.

Fun:

• I saw a few movies on DVD, and a few art exhibits this winter. All were either free or low cost entertainment.
• I just realized I’ve been maintaining this blog for about six months. It’s a fun creative outlet for me, 19 posts written in 2016 and 17 posts in 2017 so far, including this one. It’s so nice to receive positive comments from other bloggers. I hope my posts and pictures bring some fun to your day 😊
• This past week, I sorted my photos and wrote a post on my visit to Athens. This task brought back nice memories and took my mind back to Greece. I love to visit ancient sites. Travel is still one activity that I’m passionate about. I can’t think of any other activity that engages all my five senses like travel. So I will continue to read about places, dream, and make some of my travel dreams come true.
• I entered the Bird Cookies (Hato Sabure) giveaway on Laura’s The Occasional Nomads blog. Visit her blog to read about her recent trip to Japan, and remember to enter the giveaway to win. I receive one additional entry for mentioning her blog here.

Not so fun but necessary:

• I decluttered my closet (yay!) and donated more than twenty clothing items. This past week I put away my dark winter clothes and brought my lighter spring clothes to the forefront in my closet. The seasonal clothes are now more accessible and I see more colours on display.
• I added a recurring note in my calendar to “curate” my closet quarterly, starting this March so the next round will be at the end of June, then September, and so on. The quarterly curate should make the task much smaller and quick to do.
• I spent time doing my regular house chores: grocery shopping, laundry, cooking, cleaning, recycling, etc.

What I’m looking forward to next week:

• Making next week another productive week.
• Calling my friend to wish her a happy birthday and catching up. This is another friend that I treasure. We always have so much to talk about.

Now your turn...How was your week? Any big plan for Spring?

Sunday thoughts 2017/03/26

I had a productive week by staying focused and positive. There were tasks that I prefer not to do but I’ve talked myself into finishing them. Disciplined 1, Lazy 0 :-)

Happy I accomplished this past week:

• I completed my one-hour exercise every weekday (workouts in the gym on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and yoga on Tuesday and Thursday).
• I walked briskly for 4 km (2.5 miles) on Saturday and another 4 km today even though it was rainy and soggy on Saturday, and grey and windy this morning.
• I learned Spanish online fifteen minutes every day. I actually did more than fifteen minutes on some days.
• I saved more than I spent. My biggest discretionary expense will be travel! I look forward to travelling again soon.
• I’m checking off my “to do” list for my parents’ move next month. I ordered moving supplies and booked movers for them. I also arranged for health care and utility services at their new address.
• I got my regular house chores done (e.g. laundry, groceries, cleaning, cooking, etc.). A vacation from all of this is welcome!
• I decluttered my closet while listening to music to make the task less tedious. The closet is now neater and has empty space.
• I donated clothing items to the Salvation Army.
• I made a Spring activity list, and changed the display theme of my blog, from white background to charcoal background. I like the contrast but is it too much? Please let me know what you think.

Good things that happened this weekend:

• My DH baked home made cookies. The aroma and freshly baked cookies are simply wonderful. Our coffee chat time is fun and priceless.
• I had a frugal win at the local grocery store: A $8.19 refund and a free 16-pack yogurt due to a scan code error. Glad I checked my receipt before leaving the store.
• Warm family time at home on a Sunday afternoon while the wind is gusting outside.

What I’m looking forward to next week:

• Making next week another productive week.
• Taking time out to visit a contemporary art gallery.
• Reflecting on the first quarter of 2017 and planning for the next quarter.
• Putting some creative ideas that have been dancing in my mind into words and pictures (e.g. Write about my visit to Athens or Lisbon, and post some pictures.)

How was your week?

Mid-January 2017 review

I received a Tim Horton’s gift card at New Year’s and plan to use it when I meet up with my friends for coffee. Tim Horton’s is a Canadian food service brand known for its coffee and doughnuts.

Tim Horton's gift card holder

Reflecting on the first two weeks of 2017, I’m happy that I was able to accomplish some of my goals and enjoy some fun activities.

Fitness:

• I exercised one hour daily. This month I alternated working out in the gym with yoga sessions to give myself variety.
• I also walked about an hour daily. We had some cold days these past two weeks. I just dressed in layers and kept moving at a brisk pace. The weather forecast calls for above freezing temperatures with some rain in the next two weeks. I’ll look out for sunny moments and try to go for my walk during those times.

Finance:

• No unexpected expense so far.
• My savings are on target.

Family:

• I did my share of the usual laundry, grocery shopping, cooking and housework.
• All of us spent most of our free time at home and we love it! When it’s cold outside and everything we need is inside, we stay inside :-)

Fun:

• I wrote on this blog about my solo trip to New Orleans. It took some time for me to decide on which photos to post and to edit my writing but I got it done and got to re-live my favourite experiences in New Orleans.
• I also edited my New Year’s Day post to add a picture of the greeting card that I received from my dear family.
• I resumed my Spanish lessons on Duolingo. I had not done this for a while. I may be traveling to a Spanish-speaking country this year so it’s time to review the basics.

Grocery shopping is actually an activity that meets my goals for keeping fit, saving money, and caring for my family. I walk to the grocery stores and carry the groceries home. I pay attention to what’s on sale and buy what we consume when they go on sale. I try to prepare balanced meals so we can stay healthy. Bonus: I have fun browsing and comparing the store products.

How are you doing with your goals?

Weekend reflections

I took this picture at Harbourfront in Toronto, looking towards Centre Island. Something about the blue sky, the water, the trees and sailboats that are attractive to me.

Toronto harbour

Reflecting on this past week, I’m happy that I was able to accomplish a few things.

Fitness:

• I went for a walk three times per day, usually one in the morning, one at mid-day and one in the afternoon. Total about 1.5 hours each day. It gets dark by 5 PM in Toronto at this time of the year so I want to be outside before sunset. It feels good to get some fresh air and keep moving.
• I went to the pool to swim once this week, and exercised in the gym three times, one hour each time.

Finance:

• No unexpected expense. I got several items on sale on my grocery runs.
• My savings are on target.

Family and Friends:

• Our family all pitched in to do the usual laundry, grocery shopping, cooking and housework.
• I had lunch with two of my friends on different days and we caught up with what’s been going on in our lives. We all agreed to plan another meet-up before the holidays.

Fun (for me):

• I sorted out the pictures from my trip to Argentina and finished posting three articles on my visits to Buenos Aires, Iguazu Falls and Bariloche.
• I started thinking about my travel plan for 2017. I’m flexible with the destinations at this point. My passport will be up for renewal soon. I think I’ll go for the 10-year renewal option.

That’s about it from me. Here’s wishing you all a nice weekend and a great week next week.