Monday, August 17th - Well, it's certainly not been boring...

 I've been managing to keep myself busy during this very warm and humid summer.

Two weekends ago I had the pleasure of visiting my friend Judi at her cottage in the Kawarthas. We spent lots of time just sitting around the cottage and catching up. We had a nice time but it was cut shorter than planned due to a meeting on Monday. This brought be back a day earlier than expected.

I'm learning that living in the city can have some unexpected events take place. Early last week I went over to Walmart to pick up the vitamins I take for my eyes. I had just found what I needed but as I headed to the cash the fire alarms went off and we were instructed to leave the store immediately. I decided to wait it out and after about 20 minutes it was determined to be a false alarm so we were let back into the store. Fortunately there's a liquor store on the same parking lot so it gave an unexpected opportunity to do some shopping of another kind!

Last Friday I was talking to Sarah at the house when I returned after work. She asked if I'd heard what was going on. Unknown to us in the store there were 3 incidents in the city in less than 3 hours that morning. The biggest was the explosion of a car outside the courthouse in the downtown (which is actually not very far from my house). The driver of the car was killed and it was determined that there

was an explosive device inside the vehicle. It's also been determined that he acted alone. Very sad. Then there was a report of an elderly woman who had hit a pole with her car in Waterloo and she also died. Even more sad. Then at the same time a cab drive was allegedly threatened by a passenger with a gun, who left the area and was the subject of a police search. Friday morning was quite busy.

Saturday morning I went to the market and then walked on to the library. I had to pass the courthouse to get there but by Saturday morning all traces had been removed. I love that the library is so close so I can pick up a couple of books a week.

I missed our Thursday evening supper as one of the ladies at work came over to my place for a glass of wine and some snacks. Also a great opportunity to get to know each other better.

It was a rainy day on Sunday so I used the day to visit with Fran in Rockwood. I hadn't seen her since Boxing Day. On my way out of town I dropped in to see what Nancy was up to. She was busy with a sewing project so I only stayed for a few minutes. She suggested I stop in to see Marla. She was busy watching the Jays play so I had a short visit there as well. But it was so nice to have people I could actually just drop in on. Then today, Monday, I had lunch with an old friend I haven't seen in a very long time - Liz. They now live in New Hamburg and have 4 grandchildren. Needless to say we had lots to catch up on.

Tomorrow I'm going to my co-workers house to see a quilt that she's putting together. She has some other ladies coming over and she thought I might enjoy meeting them. So lots to keep me busy.