I took Friday off work to run around and do errands. I dropped the theatre camp carpool at the Jewish Community Centre just after 8am, then drove all the way home (almost) to make it to the cycle class at the Rec. It was the debut class of all new yellow bikes, so the die-hard luddite old bike lovers were a bit uncomfortable. I felt sorry for them. I got a good and welcome workout. My summer morning work and driving schedule has put me off regular attendance at the gym. I'm walking a lot more to make up for it, but it's not the same as sweating your head off and shouting and laughing with a bunch of other goofy people in the dark on a bike.
After the workout I popped by the office to pick up my new cell phone charger. I got a new cell phone from work on Thursday and I realised the short charge that the dealer gave it wouldn't take me through the weekend. My friends at work told me to "Go away. You have the day off." So I did.
Julie cut my hair and I caught up on her triathlon adventure last month. It was 38 degrees in Oliver, where the race was held. It was so awfully hot that nobody did their best. Julie has a great attitude, and decided that her goal was just to finish (she is a seasoned triathlete, but not competitive). She made it across the finish line, and was glad for it. I got to ask obscure triathlon questions I had always wondered about like "Who takes care of your bike while you are swimming and running?" (They are locked in a guarded cage) and "Do you stop to pee?" (Yes) That was an interesting conversation.
Then I drove downtown to pick up 100 bottles of water from Nester's Market at Seymour and Nelson in an absolute downpour. The store manager gave me perfect parking and pickup directions before I came, so it was not as nerve-wracking as I thought (try parking anywhere near anything downtown and you'll know what I mean). The manager on duty carted the water out and loaded my car for me. They are very generous and kind, and the store is wonderfully set up and stocked. Shop at Nester's if you need groceries downtown.
For some reason I decided to drive up Cambie Street back to the Oakridge area where I was scheduled to do theatre camp pickup. Cambie is completely trench-dug for the Canada Line rapid transit. There a slim lane on either side with a massive fenced trench in the middle. I'm not usually on the west side, so I hadn't seen it until Friday. All the way from downtown past 41st, it's an ugly mess. Nowhere to stop if you want to go to any of the local stores or restaurants along the way, an obvious nightmare for people living on sidestreets (noise, dirt, access). Once it's done it will be lovely, I'm sure, but UGGG! To boot, water was streaming down it like a river in the continuing downpour. I purposefully stopped at a restaurant on Cambie and parked in the lane while I ate lunch. Those guys need our business right now.
With still an hour to kill and all of my newspapers and magazines read, and one day until Harry Potter, I decided to go to Oakridge shopping mall to get a new umbrella. My old full-size umbrella finally busted so it was time for a new one. Oakridge is awful. I don't like a mall at the best of times, and this one is full of snooty weird women's clothing boutiques and jewelery shops. And there's really nowhere to sit. I got a coffee at one point and had to perch on a bench that I swear should have been a luggage rack. At least I should have enjoyed people-watching but I couldn't leave fast enough. I ended up at The Bay and found a nice one for a reasonable price, but only after I ran the gauntlet of high end stinky cosmetics counters, peopled by aliens in lab coats (Here, let me experiment on your face). Only the one at Oakridge is twice as big as the usual because I guess the people around there spend even more on that stuff. I just beeline through. No eye contact, I'm just looking for an umbrella.
Then I picked up Fi and her friend and got her home in time to rendezvous with other friends who were going early to the movie theatre to see opening night of Hairspray. Then I collapsed on the couch for an hour and caught up with Andy on how his day went (busy busy day at work). Then I fixed supper for Andy and Alex and me. I made sausage and perogies for them (good rainy weather food) and I ate the leftover pasta with chicken and veg from Thursday.
After that, the ladeez in the 'hood went down to Myrna's house. Her twin sister Marlene is in town from Toronto. We try to get together whenever she comes. Marlene's son Brandon is living at Myrna's so I got to meet him too, as he was at home for the evening to see his mom. We ladies drank several bottles of wine and sat around and laughed and talk and ate some of Marlene's yummy cooking (should not have bothered with supper at home). We came home around midnight. At that time I could have gone to the bookstore to pick up Potter, but I decided to wait. I had done enough already. Really.
question: how do you spend a rainy day?
mompoet - still wondering if that was really a day off
No comments:
Post a Comment