Dear Forum friends,
This morning I arose at 6:30 am and quietly looked to see if Ben was awake. He
wasn't yet, and that's just what I wanted. You see, I had still to wrap hispresents from me and it has been tricky. He seems to have been around a lot lately, and I haven't been going out much alone, so it was hard to even buy him a present and a card without his knowing what I was doing. I made an excuse to be in one store where I quickly managed to find an excellent card. Then I tried to
take care not to be seen as I was paying for it. I think I managed that one'
successfully!
One think I had was beautiful warm-red breast pocket handkerchief for his black
and whitetuxedo. So that was the first thing I wrapped, together with a note so
that he would have pleasant anticipation of where he might wear it. :-))
Yesterday we went out and I managed to get to the local independent book-store,
although Ben protested and didn't want to bother going into town. I had placed
a telephone order after I read about a book in a fascinating Globe and Mail book
review. The book is called "The Marsh Prince." It's by a man who has walkedthrough Iraq over the past year. He relates his observations and experiences.
I thought it would be enlightening. There is another book by the same author. It is already a best seller so they were out of stock and have ordered it. It'll
be here Tuesday, I think. Because I phoned they held the only copy of The Marsh
Prince at the desk all ready for me to pick up and pay for. I had it to wrap.
Ben left that package until last to unwrap this morning at breakfast and he's been reading it off and on all day, right until now at 10:30 pm. And you know how
he is -- he likes to get ready for bed at 9 pm, so it's really holding his interest.
There was a big gift envelope from Karen and her family. Poor Tamara, the lovely present she sent seems to have been stolen at the sub-post office instead of being mailed. She had the children with her, and as they have a restaurant and she helps out with lots of things there she ordered insurance, but forgot to get
a receipt. The receipt should have been given to her without any need to ask, anyway. So it appears that the clerk knew the value and what it contained and when she managed to get away with not giving a receipt she stole it. Poor Tamara
has no written record to prove it, so there is no recourse. It should have arrived quite a few days ago, so I don't think it's just caught in the mail -- but we can hope!
There were many birthday phone calls during the day. The one from Ben's sister
Helga and her husband in Germany was first. Their time is nine hours ahead of ours. Yesterday our son David and his wife phoned. They live 3 hours ahead.
He was able to fly out of Denver where he was on business and where all the planes were grounded by the big snow. Because he was there on business he was scheduled among the first out. Our eldest daught Jeannie called. Second daughter Karen called. Youngest, Tamara, called yesterday, too. Various friends phoned.
Also some friendly business associates. Some were surprises and Ben was glad to
know that those people cared about him.
There were cards here for him to open, including a special one from me. Even a
wedding anniversary card from Karen and family. He had three packages of chocolates. I ordered the second book for him, too. Also, I let him pick out a particular tool he wanted so he can fix his attache case himself. It's a riveter. There are three sizes of rivets in the package, along with the tool. It has a life-time warranty, so it should save more money over its useful lifetime than it
cost.
The sky was blue and cloudless. Overnight there had been a few cm. of fluffysnow so everything looked fresh and beautiful. We sat in our chairs on the deck
in a sheltered spot in the sunshine We have very little wind in this valley, anyway. We were happily outside basking in the sun together for at least an hour.
Ben made us French Toast for lunch. You make an egg mixture, (milk, a little sugar added,) then dip thick slices of raisin bread into the egg mixture and
fry in a very lightly oiled skillet. It's delicious! At least I think so.
Our friend Harry came by with a birthday gift for Ben. It was one of the books
he has written. This one was about the Baha'i Community of Germany during and after the Second World War. Harry was there during that period. Ben read it in
German, and read it in English again today. Now I'll be able to read it, too. It's a small book. Harry didn't stay long and soon after it was time for lunch.
That French Toast. We also had hot black tea with some milk added and each had
a sweet, delicious Chinese tangerine.
I dressed in something pretty that I intend to take to Mazatlan to wear on cooler evenings when we go out to listen to music or for dinner. It was a goodchance to try out the combination. When we go to Mazatlan this time I want to take uncrushables and things that are easily rinsed out. I hope to pack light and with one outfit for each kind of occasion. we'll be away for 14 days in mid January. This time we are going to fly by way of Kelowna/Vancouver/Seattle/Mazatlan, and return. We'll stay in our favourite oldhotel with the house-keeping units and the balconies that overlook the bestsandy beach, directly below. Ben booked everything by computer this time.
There was chocolate ice-cream. Tapioca pudding. Ben's gift chocolates, and a few other goodies in the afternoon. We intended to drive to Peachland and then
go for a walk along the waterfront in the park, but the sun slipped away and seemed to look colder, so Ben decided he'd rather stay in the cosy house, use the computer, read his book, and I put together some of the genealogical research I've been doing. It's interesting to see how people lived so long ago, and to put
together the stories of their lives, complete with various kinds of incidents.
I'm lucky because my family is well-known, enough that there's lots of information available so long as I hunt it up.
For dinner Ben had "Shepherd's Pie" with green peas, and I had a spicy chicken dish with good rice and green peas. Shepherd's Pie, in case you don't know, isa spicy ground beef mixture with meat between the layers of mashed potatos. Then the whole thing is browned in the oven. My chicken was too salty and I'm
still thirsty, but Ben enjoyed his Shepherd's Pie. We bought packages of food that only needed to be heated and a few things added to become good meals. We wanted to have as much leisure as possible on Ben's birthday. We had a very restful, relaxing day. It's 11 pm and Ben's still downstairs reading the book! In a
few minutes I'll be on my way to bed.
With warm good wishes to you all, Mary
