I finally got tired of using snow and ice as an excuse not to get outside, so I joined the Hiking Club this week on their trip to Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Rescue. The day started out foggy and then morphed into snow. We only walked about 100 yards before everyone stopped to put on ice cleats over their hiking boots. We were hoping to see some wildlife (bison, hawks, foxes, deer), but I think they were even too cold to come out of their dens.
So I gave up on the outdoor activities and decided to stick with indoor stuff for now. We shuffled names this month in my Ladies Out to Lunch club, so I went out with my new group. We stuck with a restaurant close to the neighborhood so people wouldn't have to drive very far - Portofino's pizza and pasta. I had the Corleone flat bread pizza - yum!
The lady holding the to-go box in the lunch picture runs the Chinese Mahjong club, so the next day I went to the clubhouse to play. It's much easier than the American version of Mahjong (the game I tried last year). Chinese Mahjong is like gin rummy. You just need to make 4 sets and a pair to win. A set is 3 of a kind or a sequence of 3. It's still a little tricky trying to keep all those Chinese characters straight, but I actually won 2 out of our 7 games.
Then I went to a plant-based cooking class at the clubhouse. I thought it was going to be a demo, but it turned out to be hands-on. It was tasty, but 20 ladies wielding huge chef's knives is a little out of my comfort zone. I think I'll stick to cooking by myself at home with Hello Fresh.
I'm starting to catch up with Janet on our Colorado Trail challenge. I'm still a third of the way behind, but it's surprising how many steps you can rack up shoveling snow and ice off the driveway.
Janet, Violet, and their friend Trish have been busy this past month organizing a 40th birthday party for Melissa and Jamie. It was a Mexican theme - Fiesta 40. Hearing about how much work they put into it, I think when my birthday rolls around the theme should be Siesta 70.
