How Was Your Week? A Hectic Valentine’s Week

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you I’ve had a hectic week with hardly time to pause for breath.

Move Over Roses on Valentine’s Day

I bet I can count the fingers on one hand for the number of women who received a red bromeliad rather than roses or a bouquet of flowers for Valentine’s Day.

Mr Piglet knows better than to buy me flowers as I prefer a plant with longevity.

We decided long ago that Valentine’s Day was a gimmick. Restaurants not only charge extortionate prices for Valentine’s meals but then also cram you in like sardines. Besides, Mr. Piglet’s Birthday is on Valentine’s Day, and I had secretly made other plans.

Has Valentine’s Day become too commercialised? How did you celebrate?

Birthday Celebrations

The preamble to most landmark Birthday celebrations is usually stressful when you are the one trying to keep arrangements secret. But I’m convinced Mr. P was watching my every move. Friends from the UK secretly brought the birthday bunting, balloons, and cake topper while another friend baked the cake. I am convinced Mr. P had a sixth sense that something was afoot. At one point, I even hid in the bathroom to string together the 70th Birthday banner.

“Where are you?” he calls. I flush the loo. “Going to loo,” I lie. “You’ve been in there a long time,” he persists. “Yes.” I look at the half-finished ‘HAPPY 70th BIRTHDAY’ bunting. Thought. I’ve put the letters in the wrong order and cursed. Held my breath. Flushed loo again as I stuffed the banner in the vanity unity drawer. “What do you want?” waited. “I’m going to stay up late tonight to enjoy my last day in my 69th year.” I groan. He always goes to bed early. How will I put up the banners? W**?”

*

I am pleased to say Mr. Piglet’s birthday celebrations went smoothly, and he had a great day. Two of our friends left the Birthday lunch early with the excuse that their neighbour had a problem with her dog and needed them urgently. No, there was no neighbour or dog. Our friends needed a plausible story to escape and sneak into our house while we were still at lunch to decorate the room with balloons, do more 70th birthday bunting, and set out the cake. When we all returned home from the restaurant, Mr. P was lost for words!

Mr. Piglet was also lost for words when the cake topper caught fire, ignited by a rogue sparkler. We all started frantically blowing on the cake to put out the potential inferno. I can’t remember if we sang Happy Birthday through the laughter, but at least Mr. P got to blow out two remaining candles.

Unfortunately, the videos I recorded of Birthday highlights were useless. When the video was on and should have been recording, it was was off and when off it was on. Let’s just say we had some lovely videos of floor and feet and 2 second pideos.

A big thank you to all our amazing friends who helped to make his birthday so special.

Yoga for Seniors

When I saw an advertisement for ‘Yoga for Seniors, ‘ I thought the class would be popular. Wrong. I arrived to find I was the only person booked there. What a shame for the teacher, but for me, I had a private session. I need to destress, relax and learn to live in the moment. We will see. I’ve since registered for a block of four classes.

Although I’d explained to the centre’s receptionist that I couldn’t get down on a mat and asked if it would be okay to take all the Yoga in a chair, she checked with the teacher who confirmed it would be okay. Imagaine my horror when the teacher laid out a mat.

“We make meditation on mat, sim?”

“Um… no,” I said, glancing suspiciously at the mat. “The only time I’ve laid on the floor since my knee op three years ago was when I fell over.” I acted out a beetle lying on its back in case she didn’t understand my Portuguese. She looked perplexed. “…and couldn’t get up.”

“Soon, you will be able to lay on mat.”

I love an optimist. She’s built like a twig. Thought. Not unless you want to call the local Bombeiros (firemen) to haul me up. I smiled. “Sim”

Food and Fitness

While I excelled on the exercise front with two line dancing classes, walks, stretches, and Yoga, I failed miserably on the diet. We ‘lunched’ out on Thursday and Friday, and I was experimenting with several recipes using oats.

Supporting Local Producers

On Saturday, we went to a local market. I prefer to buy Portuguese homegrown produce rather than that shipped in from halfway around the world. It’s even better if it’s bought directly from local farmers. I will post more about this another time, but for now, today’s purchases included eggs, broccoli, watercress, and bread.

I think it’s fair to say we’ve had a ‘cracking’ week! I wonder what next week brings!

How was your week?