A Little Sad and a Little Funny!

At bridge today, I found out that one of the ladies passed away. It was shocking to me because I didn't know Nancy was sick. Turns out, she was diagnosed with cancer just 3 weeks ago. I guess it's best to go quickly, but still it seemed so sudden. I felt really bad because she had been trying to get me to come over and see her garden for quite awhile. I really wanted to see it, but the timing just never worked out. Now I regret that I didn't make it a priority. It always seems like there's plenty of time---or that you just don't think about it---when really, you never know. I try to appreciate all the little things in my life and be aware of how good my life is. When someone dies, it just reminds me of how short life is. I want to cherish every moment.

Another lady at bridge is 98 and so amazing. Adelaide still drives and is very sharp at the bridge table. I really hope I'm like that.

One thing I've noticed---with age, these ladies don't really care about what they do or what other people think. They would never cheat at the bridge table, but think nothing of taking food they are not entitled to.

Most of these ladies play bridge every day. It is just about their whole life. I guess it can get pretty expensive for them, so they really try to "cheap out" for lunch. Hillwood Country Club has the best salad bar---huge, with soups, sandwiches, assorted salads, fruits---just about everything you can think of. The salad bar is $9.95. Many of the ladies order a cup of soup, which is $4.50 versus the bowl which is $5.50. So rather than springing for the bowl, they get the cup and just refill it from the salad bar. While they're at it, they think nothing of helping themselves to a few sandwiches or some fruit. They'll top their soup with cheese and other toppings from the salad bar. Each table has a couple baskets of mini muffins and flatbreads. They eat those like nobody's business---requesting refills. The waitresses never say anything to them. I'm such a rule follower, that it shocks me that these ladies do this. Maybe I'll get like that when I'm older, but I doubt it. It's seems like stealing to me.

I did have an embarrassing moment today. The very first thing you are supposed to do when you take your hand out of the card holders is to count the cards---each person should have 13 cards. This is basic bridge 101. Our bidding was progressing when the director announced that someone was playing with only 12 cards. Yep, that was me. David gave me a hard time about it. But here's the best part. I ALWAYS count my cards. It just goes to show that when you do something so habitually, you don't even realize anymore what you're doing. I never even noticed when I counted that I was missing a card. To make matters worse, my partner and I played badly today---coming in 2nd to last. That's pretty unusual for us. We'll do better next week. I hope.

The home improvements are just about done inside the house. My bookcase was installed in the library yesterday and the new carpeting in the bedroom was installed today. I was planning on getting everything back in order tomorrow. But since the world is coming to an end on Saturday, I think I'll finish my book tomorrow. I'd hate to "go" without knowing the ending. Plus, why do all that work for nothing!!