Onwards with Fifty

Workouts:  Socializing.  That is all.

It’s been a crazy two weeks.  And I’ve loved every minute of it.

So, now I’m 50.

Let me tell you about my world.  I’ve done 5 dinners.  2 lunches.  Drinks on a couple of patios.  A weekend away.  Way too much eating and considerable consummation of beverages.  🙂

I had a great weekend away in Niagara-On-The-Lake.  What a beautiful, beautiful little town.

This is main street.  Gorgeous, eh?  This is someone else’s picture – check out the website on the bottom.

Cottage Girl, Best Friend and I shared Belfry Cottage which was just outside of town.  This pic is from the website…much better than the ones I took.  I think I need  new camera.  Couldn’t be my photography skills.  Nope, couldn’t be that.

Cottage Girl’s room (I did take this picture).

Best Friend and I shared this room (yup, took this one too).  Note the bags on the bed.  Good photography.

We toured town, took in a production of My Fair Lady at the Shaw festival, the play being written by George Bernard Shaw of course, and the festival also celebrating it’s 50th birthday.  What a coincidence!

That was Friday evening of last weekend.  Saturday, it was all about wine.

Cattail Creek Winery was the first we visited.  Small, young winery, big success and great wines.  Of course, I bought some of their product…um….maybe 3 bottles.  🙂

Coyote’s Run Estate Winery was the next adventure and we had a great experience here!  I would highly recommend the wines and the staff were incredible. Bought some wine here too…um….4 bottles.

They had a Yoga in the Vineyard program!!  How groovy is that?   Except it’s 6 hours from my house.  Sadly.

Wine + yoga = ZEN, I think.

Saturday night, it was all about food (with a little wine thrown in, of course).

We had dinner at The Oban Inn.

Oh, my word, it was gorgeous.  You can check out the food photos here, because we ate much too quickly to take any pictures.

Definitely a weekend to remember.  With some of my favorite girls.   Both 50-something glorious women.

Note the wine glasses in hand and the blur!  It was a good trip.

And a new program begins today.  More on that later.

Ta-ta.  Enjoy your Saturday evening.

Money Sense

Workout:  1 hr. walk on the Rideau Canal

I’m usually on the Canal in the winter time, skating, but today Best Friend and I walked for an hour along this lovely pathway.  We were passed continually (by grandmothers and kids pushing toy cars) since we did more yakking than power-walking!  It was another steamy day – glorious.

In the afternoon, I met with a potential new investment adviser.

I wonder if I’ll get a belt buckle when/if I sign up?

I’ve been dissatisfied for a long time with how my money is performing.  Ya, ya, I know — it’s been a tough couple of years.  But I’m worried I’m going to be a bag lady in my old age.

No picture here.  It’s not a funny subject and I’m really not kidding.

I often worry that, without a supplementary pension, I’m not going to be able to support myself in my old age if I live for a really long time.  Lots of women end up in poverty because they haven’t been able to save enough or don’t have a second income to assist them (husband’s social security).

The new guy’s name is Kash.  I kid you not!  He seems very smart, organized and driven.  I’ll do a little research and see if he checks out.  He tells me he can do better than my banking rep — Golden Retriever Barbie could do better than my current money manager!!

After that, I met my favorite physiotherapist for a glass of wine which is always fun.

And I’m pooped.  It’s been a busy day.  I enjoyed some reading on the deck and now it’s time for bed.

And Kate and William are in Yellowknife!  Where the sun never sets.  How will they know when the day is over???

A little ball hockey was followed by a quick plane ride to tour some fire-ravaged towns that are starting to rebuild and could use the morale boost.

Now we can all sleep because we know what Will and Kate did today.

‘Night!

Stories & Cocktails on Rainy Days

Workout:  other than running up and down the stairs at work (busy day, no building elevator), nothing.

Thursday:  I’m headed out for drinks tonight with three ladies – yes, I know, two nights in a row.

This is an interesting group.  We are work colleagues – one client, one competitor and one coworker and me.

But we all have something in common.  We’re all single ladies over 40.  And it seems everyone has a story.

Three of the stories are quite grim.  All three of my social companions have had bad marriages with very rocky endings.  One was married to a drinker.  One was married to a serial cheater.  One was married to a criminal.  Seriously!  The first time we had drinks together, everyone unfolded their stories, with the honesty increasing as the wine flowed.

I sorta felt out of place – because I have no horrible story!!  I kinda wished I had something dramatic to add to the mix.  I just have a long history of nice but not-right-for-me relationships.  Since the last one ended with a broken heart, I opted out of the dating scene for a long time and focused on other things (yay, university degree and new house!!).

In a world that revolves around couples and families, it’s often more challenging socially to be single.  In my suburban neighborhood, I’m the only single person on my street.

But I have no trauma to overcome and no crazy stories to tell.  And I still believe in love and romance.  🙂

Tonight should be interesting.  Competitor Girl, who is very sweet,  is trying to set me up on a blind date too!  We’ll probably chat a bit about that tonight as well.

Yes, I’m writing this at work because I’m slacking.  Don’t judge.  I’ve just had a couple of my holiday days cancelled because we’re doing some corporate reorganization that requires my input with the bankers and lawyers.  😦  Wine will be earned this evening.

Later:  it was late (for me on a “school night”) when I got home so I’m posting this on Friday morning.

The ladies were a blast.  They are hard core party girls.  Coworker and I bailed at 8:45 after 4 hours of cocktailing and the other two ladies were ordering another round.  A very good time was had by all.

Re-energized

Workout:  Nada, unless you count strolling around the mall or running on at the mouth!

You know how you always enjoy time spent with some good friends….you know who you are, University Girl!  And some people suck the life energy out of you?

And not in a good way.

I had dinner tonight with University Girl and it was fun.  🙂 Got some tips on how to use my new Blackberry.

We ate too much (OK, I’ll speak for myself here) and drank a little wine and talked about people we both know.  Some are fun, some are interesting and sadly, there are a few who are draining.

But those kinds of people are always a good mirror for what I may not like or respect about myself.   Do I play the victim sometimes?  Am I whiny? (Yes, occasionally)  Do I have a chip on my shoulder? (Oh-oh, maybe so)

However, we did spend some time talking about fitness and workouts and eating healthy and that’s great motivation for me.  We went to Must Wine Bar in the Byward Market.

Nice spot.  Good wine, although the owner thought I should have been drinking beer with my organic fancy burger.  Why would I, when there was lovely red wine??

I stole these pictures from the website.  Very pretty.

It’s raining and it’s a perfect night for sleeping.  ‘Night.