peanut gallery

so people are complaining. i guess i need to write. i succumb. the truth is i've thought about writing all week. and i just wrote out some of my excuses but does it really matter? nope not really.

price is right is on. it's judith's turn. if she wins her game she gets to win a sofa and a trip to sanfran. she has to pick a price that's higher than the sofa and lower than the trip. judith is a little confused. she just said "can i play a different game?" "play a different game?" said bob, appalled. "no! i've been playing this game for years!" judith turns out to be a winner.

let's play a little catch up.

Tuesday: Tuesday i went back to work. it was the day of the vote. i came home from work and walked up to the local elementary school. along the way i was joined by various neighbours on their way to vote. it was kind of neat. different sorts of different ages, coming from different roads all converging quietly and unassumingly to have our say. i like being part of the democratic process. i like that there is a democratic process. that was also the day that fatima and i had a 'meating'. she came over. i was down here reading the blogs and contemplating writing an entry when i heard her come in. she halloooooooed and i halloooed back. i heard a rustle of bags being deposited and down she came. later i was to discover that one of the bags in question contained my birthday present, a lovely throw rug to match my room. a rug for my rum. fatima showed me that i could place it at the end of my bed or any other place of my choosing. thank you fatima. next fatima's show and tell had to do with the other bag. it was the bag with her new sari. (the apology dress i call it.) it's her 'digs' for the reception she's going to be a part of. i made fatima put the 'petticoat' , what turns out to be a mere cotton slip with a tie from aunty, on and then wrap herself up in the way of the sari. it was a facinating process that involved tucks (this is where the petticoat comes in handydandy) and flolds and over the shoulders and fatima didn't think she did a good job but the truth is that my friend fatima is a beautiful girl any way you look at it. every angle, depth and preception reports back the same thing: beauty. and there she was in my room with a sari on over her jeans and whatnot and i recongized again that i was with my friend the princess lady. fatimaji is immersed in the wedding of her friend's sister who is also her friend. fatima is participating in an indian event and learning things about herself. she is also visiting such places as the stinky lady's to get all her wedding errands done. she is looking for jewels to match her sari and her bellybutton ring.

after getting a lot of enjoyment out of the sari we started think about filling our bellies. a search for a place to eat commenced. we discussed our options and preferences. it soon became clear that it was one of those days when we both felt picky and unsure at the same time. after much hemming and hawing we went to the georgia straight and agreed on a thai place. in the thai section we found a place that wasn't too pricy and had a star. a star is a good thing. what we didn't realize was that although it was on w. broadway it wasn't what you would call close. it was almost on the border of the endowment lands at ubc as far as i'm concerned and the fact that we memorized the last digits of the address in a dyslexic manner (how do you spell dyxleksic anyways?) made it difficult to find. i was just about to give up when fatima being the eagle eye that she is, spotted it on the other side of the street. after that turbulent start we were seated at a table inches away from tables on either side of us, both full. that was a little disconcerting at first but we soon got over it. we talked away until the food came and then mum's the word. we had fish cakes to start and then shared some pad thai, and a green, or was it red? coconut milk curry with some chicken and bamboo and other veggies in it. i wanted the spice to be a 2. so that's what we got. later when my mouth was burning with just the right amount of tingle and warmth, i said "i'm glad we didn't go spicer." "me too." said fatima who had dumped the spicy chili sauce from our fish cakes on her portion. i thought i was going to like the curry the best but it turned out that i really really liked the pad thai. it was a tasty meal. after the eats fatima and drove back to my place, said a few hellos to the girls inside, some of which were NOT watching brittney's embarrassing film it yourself special on tv, and made our way to the kitchen room. where we closeted ourselves and dived under the covers for warmth. (our pilot light is out in our furnace and just in time for the cold spell. nobody seems to be making the right moves to fix the situation either)i was at the head of the bed and fats was at the foot. i experienced her dead leg treatment and she was on the receiving end of the pancake foot. we talked and talked until the lateness of the hour and the stupid sheets coming off on all the corners (which bugs me to no end) combined to compel me to kick fatima off the bed which was the oomph she needed to grab her sari and go. i walked her to her car, kept a wary eye out for skunks and jumped back into bed. and that was tuesday.

oh! adendum to tuesday: i forgot that i got to spend the afternoon at work interviewing, as part of a team of five, people for a position at work. it was pretty cool. i was excited about the whole thing and of course the thing i liked about it was discussing each person afterwards and debating on how they'd do on the job. there were two we really liked. unfortunately our pay is too low for the people that we like. so now what to do? dunno.

Wednesday: what i remember about wednesday as that it was pancake breakfast at work and that it was the gilmore girls finale that night. what a good ending. nasty cliffhangers. Wednesday could have been the day that i finished kaffir boy too. a good book and a good education all in one.

Thursday: on Thursday karey and i went shopping at metro town. i was determined to spend my transit gc, but first i spent my chapter's gc on three books. one's a photo/journal/photojournal of a man at sea, called Men at Sea. one's a gardening book on flowers and one was a novel called a complicated kindness. this was a fun purchase, but fast because karey could only last so long in the book store. next stop transit. i found a fun pair of shoes because this money is for a fun pair of shoes. that's what amay told me herself. i took them up to the front, handed over my gift card and the boy said to me "oh, we can't take gift cards here right now. they freeze our computer. we're the only store with the problem." and it was the store i chose to come to. maybe i just don't want to spend the card so i keep sabotaging myselef. maybe not. whatever the case i did not get shoes that day. what i did get was some new sheets. jersey sheets. burgandy sheets. sheets that stay. sheets that look good. sheets i can live with and sleep with. sheets that didnt' cost an arm and a leg or even a small digit. i purchased these sheets at superstore where we also purchased donna and scott's wedding present.

thursday night steve and selina came over to watch apprentice. the right girl won and all was ok in the universe and then they left and i said goodbye to carter my good er friend of over ten years. i think he'll be happy in africa though, so i'm happy for him.

Friday and Saturday: went to the ysa conference, saw some mechanical bull riding, had some good laughs, sang some tunes on the top of our lungs on the way there and back, did some painting at a hourse stable, went to a reception, had a talk with karey about relationships and how they're so hard and are they supposed to be? fell asleep during star wars episode 1 on channel 3. went to bed.

Sunday: no 3rd branch because of the conference in abbotsford, so heather, sarita, randy mark and i went to church here near my house. of course because it was near, i was late. getting out of the car all flustered with a tangled bag out of which my cell phone fell seperating into two different pieces on the wet asphalt, i encountered the large man with a deep voice that i had heard so much about. he had seen me putting on my lip gloss while i parked and was trying to say something charming about how i don't have to worry i look great. i rushed in. was going to sit in the back but luckily randy saw me and pointed out my 'spot' to me. church was ok. i really liked releif society. she was a good teacher. felt the spirit. shed a tear or two. weird thing: after church while selina and i were waiting for steve, the executive secretary came up to me and said "are you one of the ysa's being thrown our way?" "i don't think so." i said feeling a little confused. "maybe you're thinking of my roommates." (who have started attending that ward once and a while in the last month or two) "what's your name"? he asked. "yep. you're on our list." he confirmed. whaaaaaaaaaaaaat. how can i be on any list?? i just turned 31 and does our new branch pres know it already? is he sending me off? i dont' know but the long and short if it is that i have an appointment with bishop ward this tues, because apparently he wants to meet me. steve says i shouldn't go. but that seems impolite. heather thinks maybe bro. wood saw me and lumped me in with them because they talked to him one week and told them they were thinking of moving over. maybe bro. wood is a trouble maker. i told them about it this morning and heather had a good ol' laugh because they've gone for 3 weeks and i go one sunday when there is no 3rd branch and now i have an interview with the bishop. i told her not to laugh too hard because i gave him our home number and he was coming for them next.

after church we drove selina home and she showed us her house and her little dirty dog pluto who was like a maniac trying to get attention from us and lick us as much as possible. he liked me the most. he sat at my feet against my leg when he finally calmed down. he only calmed down in spurts. selina showed us her room and her books. stephe and her talked about greek and latin stuff. she gave us potato salad. we left and i got to watch a movie about sir thomas moore, very good, and one about luther, also quite good. i think i liked the thomas moore one better, although i liked them both. i just liked the way thomas moore spoke and i liked the jail scene with his family and some other stuff.

and now i've been down here in the cold for 2 hours and i'm leaving.

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