Daughter and I woke up fairly early, this morning and were out of the house a little after 6:20 a.m. I had wanted to leave by 6:15 a.m., but, it took us a few minutes longer to actually leave. But, that was OK. The drive to downtown was not bad - traffic was fairly light, and I got to the parking garage just before 7:00 a.m. Then, we walked the 2 1/2 blocks to the building where the counseling session was held. The counseling session went very well and we had all our questions answered. I have changed my mind about when I will retire and have postponed it till the end of summer/beginning of fall. I think this will work out best for me. As a result, I didn't hand in any of the paperwork, yet. I will be doing that, closer to the actual date.
Afterwards, daughter and I went to Chinatown to have dim sum. Unfortunately, our favorite dim sum place had closed - they were in a mall and it looks like the entire mall's businesses had vacated; most probably, the mall will be torn down and something else built there - either a bigger mall or maybe housing. So, we went to another restaurant, but their dim sum wasn't quite as good. The other restaurant used to remind me of the dim sum restaurants I've been to in Hong Kong, where servers push carts filled with various dim sum items from table to table for the diners to select. Still, we enjoyed some of our favorites:
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| Dim Sum Favorites |
Char siu bao (steamed barbecue pork buns), pork shumai, and shrimp dumplings. We also had some scallion pancakes (which we brought home because we couldn't finish it all):
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| Scallion Pancakes |
And for dessert, we had sesame balls:
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| Sesame Balls |
They have a sweet red bean filling, inside a chewy rice dough (mochi):
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| Sesame ball, cut open to show the red bean filling |
On the way home, we stopped to get ice cream cones, as well, as a treat!
At first, we had thought of going shopping for shoes in the afternoon. But I was too tired to go shopping and daughter was, too. We both took naps after we came home!
Later, I took off and washed the sheets I use to cover the family room sofas (to try to keep Dancer's fur off them) and used a lint roller to remove any fur that had still got on the sofas. Then, covered them with the 2nd set of sheets I keep for the purpose. Daughter applied the flea prevention medication to Dancer, because I was unable to do so, earlier. We had leftovers for dinner and spent the evening just relaxing. Tomorrow, daughter will work from home and I will try to do some tidying (I took two days of vacation while daughter is home).
Today, I am grateful for:
- A good, retirement counseling session
- Having all my questions answered
- Going out to lunch with daughter
- Afternoon naps
- All the help my former supervisor has given me
How was your day? Do you like dim sum? What are some of your favorite dim sum dishes?
I'm glad that you got all of your questions answered at your counseling session and can have a relaxing a couple months at the end of your job.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Live and Learn. I am very glad that both my daughter and I were able to attend it and that it went so well. I had heard some horror stories about the experiences of some of my former co-workers! I am no longer stressed about filling out the forms, either. I was told that there will be more forms to fill out, later! But, now I feel better educated and more prepared. :)
DeleteI've never eaten dim sum! Having read about it in your post and doing some more research online, I think I need to try it so I've added it to my 'new experiences in 2018' list.
ReplyDeleteEileen, I think you'll enjoy it. It's like having a meal of appetizers. Go with a friend or two, because, very often, items come 3 or 4 to a plate (or, bamboo steamer tray). Each one can sample one or two of the items and try many more dishes, that way. I always fill up sooner than I'd like, though! Depending on the restaurant you choose to go, be prepared for a very noisy experience! The servers pushing the carts will call out what they have, there will be a clatter of plates, and of course, the conversations of the other diners. :)
DeleteIt seems your retirement plans are coming nicely into focus. I've never had Dim Sum but have heard it is a great way to eat. One of these days I will try it. I'll put it on my bucket list, which is a fairly simple short one.
ReplyDeleteBushlady, I am glad I started thinking about retirement when I did, because it has taken me a little longer than I had originally planned! But, that's OK. It has all worked out quite well, I think.
DeleteDim sum is a fun way to have a meal out with a friend or two. You get to try different items, one or two bites of each. I hope you get to try it, some of these days. :)
It is good that you have all your ducks in a row before making that decision to retire, and it sounds to me like you had a very good session with the retirement counselor. Might as well go to work in air conditioned comfort. Ha,ha.
ReplyDeleteI have not had the kind of dining experience that you described. It sounds like a lot of fun. I love appetizers. If I could eat a whole meal with just my fingers, I'd be in heaven.
I am trying hard to do this retirement stuff in a manner that would result in the least amount of second guessing and regret, down the line! I'd rather do all my second guessing before hand! I have a hard time choosing between options because who knows what will happen in the future? It's all a bit of a gamble, isn't it? But I want to feel that I've chosen what's best for me and for my child, given my current health situation and all that.
DeleteIf ever you do have the opportunity to try dim sum, then, I would urge you to. Unfortunately, just about everything is prepared with some sort of carbs, often rice flour. However, there is at least one item that I know of where ground squab is served on lettuce leaves - you wrap the lettuce around the meat and eat it. The other dim sum restaurant that is now closed used to have that on their menu; the one we went to on Wednesday, didn't.