what the...

I'm sitting in my leopard chair looking bleary-eyed out onto the frozen tundra and feeling glad that I don't have to go out into it. Winter gets long no matter what the conditions, because, as we have discussed before, it's the lack of light.

I had a busy week doing what I am not sure. I think I was grumpy for part of it which takes a bite out of the calendar. Friday night we went to a Winterfest event, a wine tasting at the Ecumen Assisted Living Center. Seems like an odd place to have an event like that but what the hey. It's a lovely building and it was set up nicely for the tasting of all Minnesota wines.

This is a picture of me with John Mayer at the wine event. Regis said we won for Chapeau of the Evening. That means hat in French which Regis knows because the Catholic bishops wore those big hats but you can't call something of that dimension a simple hat so they call them chapeaus.

I am a bit disconcerted by my most recent hair-cut which Patrick tells me is asymmetrical. I feel like it isn't asymmetrical enough for people who look at me to get it. It needs an explanation. Thus, the hat.

Peter has always been one to keep his personal information to himself. When he was in high school, he considered it prying to ask him what he had for lunch. We have never met a girl he dated, barely heard their names. A few weeks ago, he casually told me that he had been spending a lot of time with April. I didn't ask too many questions because that could cause the information door to slam shut.

Then he called this week to ask if I would make the potato dish I made for Christmas dinner because April really liked the left-overs. I said I could do that but why didn't they come for dinner but wondered if they would stay for dinner or was this a take-out request. He said take-out which is what I figured.

So, I prepare the potatoes and have them waiting on the table. Regis and I plan to have ribs for dinner. They are at the mall and it gets later and later...text messages flying...finally, yes, they will stay for dinner.

Much mad scurrying to fill out a meal ensued. She has a baby and I assumed baby was coming. Gathering some toys, bringing in the high chair, finding food a baby can eat (not ribs and salad...ham, corn, apple sauce, cookies) but when Peter and April arrive...no baby. I should have asked.

We had a nice time, good food, and lots of talking. She is a talkative one, which must make Peter nervous. Ha!

I finished The Art of Fielding which I liked very much and then started Some Danger Involved, which is not usually the kind of book I would choose. It's a mystery and one of a series.

Here is the review from Amazon:

An atmospheric debut novel set on the gritty streets of Victorian London, Some Danger Involved introduces detective Cyrus Barker and his apprentice, Thomas Llewelyn, as they work to solve the gruesome murder of a young scholar.
When a student bearing a striking resemblance to artists' renderings of Jesus Christ is found murdered -- by crucifixion -- in London's Jewish ghetto, 19th-century private detective Barker must hire an assistant to help him solve the sinister case. Out of all who answer an ad for a position with "some danger involved," the eccentric and enigmatic Barker chooses downtrodden Llewelyn, a gutsy young man whose murky past includes recent stints at both an Oxford college and an Oxford prison.
As Llewelyn learns the ropes of his position, he is drawn deeper and deeper into Barker's peculiar world of vigilante detective work, as well as the dark heart of London's teeming underworld. Together they pass through chophouses, stables, and clandestine tea rooms, tangling with the early Italian mafia, a mad professor of eugenics, and other shadowy figures, inching ever closer to the shocking truth behind the murder.
Brimming with wit and unforgettable characters, and steeped in authentic period detail, Some Danger Involved is a captivating page-turner that introduces an equally captivating duo while signaling the start of an exciting career for Will Thomas.

I don't have much planned for the day. Too cold to do anything outside. Maybe some reading, a nap, a movie, and a grocery list.