You ask about dinner....

We ordered the special which included salad, roast beef tenderloin in a peppercorn sauce, with garlic mashed potatoes and green and yellow beans. All very nice, but then came dessert.  OMG! The menu had said apple pie ala mode.  The pie had whipped topping and caramel sauce, plus the vanilla ice cream.  It had been a very satisfying meal, and both of us were unable to finish the main course, but this dessert was way over the top.  However I realized that it had been a fairly plain frozen apple pie.  Maybe the fancy stuff was to disguise that fact?

We went to finish applying for our passports today.  This is an example of how attitude can make or break an experience.  We had the forms all filled out from the website, which also said something about taking them into any Service Canada Centre.  Nope! You can get the forms there but that's all.  So at 2:00 we were suddenly off downtown.   Last time we went in the afternoon there was a huge lineup that wound all around the room in snake=like curves and then out the door. This time there was a line up that went half way around the room, and we were told there would be a fair wait.  So we got established in line, and then I needed the bathroom.  I went to the very harried security guard, and gently asked him if he could direct me to a public washroom.  Blank stare, and then he almost giggled a bit and in a hushed whisper told me that here was only one publc washroom in the whole buidling and where it was.  I guess that the question was so different from the usual, and not a complaint about the wait that it had thrown him for a moment.  He also knew where I had been in line and carefully assured me that I would have lots of time.  Just a quiet conversation that gave both of us a moment of relief and certainly relaxed me.  We had been so rushed and a bit panicky about having trouble finding parking ( we ended up six blocks away on the opposite side of Main st)  When I got back, David was at the front of the line, and we were started through the process right away.  We had to sit down and wait for a few minutes to pay for our stuff, and a lady a couple of seats down asked if we would change  our position inline with her ( we had paper numbers) as her husband was still in the first line, and her number was almost  up.  All in all , we were in and out of there is less than 30minutes.  We walked back to the car through a bit of the exchange and Market Square-something I haven't done in a couple of years.  We were able tolook at all of the new buildings.  Really a pleasant afternoon, when, with a different attitude, it could have been quite stressful.  Instead, we had an adventure.