Up On the Roof

Tuesday, I had the day off work, so I celebrated the arrival of summer by heading up to the rooftop for my first visit of the year.

Before going up, I packed up a bag of tricks. [Sidenote: when I was about three or so, my mom would pack a few quiet distractions to occupy me during church on Sunday mornings. For whatever reason, this was always referred to as my “bag of tricks”).

Today we had…

my journal - i journal first thing in the morning, but sometimes a-ha's hit at unusual times; why not be prepared?!

x-word puzzle book - as previously discussed, "easy" is debatable

current read - < 20 pages to go!

knitting! i can hold a private "knit outside" party!

…all of which went into this bag:

lulu!

This stayed behind in the kitchen:

time to detach from humanity for a little...

Let’s go upstairs!

Basically, our entire rooftop is one big patio with cement tiles encircling the building.

We’ll take a walk around.

to the north, we have the perimeter institute (physics) and waterloo park...

to the west, we find a quiet residential neighbourhood composed of well-maintained older homes...

the highlights to the south are the bauer lofts (L) and the sunlife tower (where i worked for 3+ years many moons ago)...

to the east, is uptown waterloo: the mall (including valumart) - and you could even see the store, if you looked close enough!

If you squint, you could convince yourself you were in an outdoor garden setting:

rooftop planters adorn the corners...

Hungry?

in a sheltered spot, there is a gas bbq, ready for use!

I headed to my favourite spot:

just around that wall...

...to a chaise longue in a bright and sunny spot!

Once settled, I was able to

• finish my book [Sidenote: Yes! after a number of false starts, I am happy to finish a book in June. This read, part of the Stephanie Plum series, is truly mindless, light, forgettable. Nancy Drew with humour, for adults. And it was just what I needed].
• attempt a crossword puzzle – I didn’t fare too well, today. Not that it’s really different any other day…
• knit a few rows

So, while it’s not exactly Aruba…

file photo: march 2011

…but for an oasis of tranquility right at my fingertips, I’ll take it!

I predict just *a few* rooftop visits will be in order this summer!

Where can you escape to for a quick quiet moment? In < 10 minutes, I can be at Waterloo Park, too – I feel fortunate to live in this central location!

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The celebration of summer continued Tuesday when VFBF Joanne and I met for coffee. Yes, it’s summer and yes, hot coffee still tastes delicious!

self-portrait at coffee culture - the same spot lisa and i met at on monday! the best coffee!

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Man, where did the time go this month? I’m in deep trouble if I’m going to fit in all three coupon of the month redemptions this month. :O Luckily, ONE outing of the month took place Wednesday eve:

The Brother and SIL Ana got out for their outing. This coupon redemption is the more challenging one to organize due to time and distance complexities. I do plan to fit in shopping with Mom (she has a mission in mind!) and a food outing with Dad…but only seven days remain at my disposal! Good thing my folks are right next door – and retired!