We managed to stay in bed until 9:00am this morning, but I don’t think either of us was sleeping much. I dozed on and off – and had some weird dreams – but I know Eric wasn’t sleeping well. I stayed up until 2:00am last night, watching shows I had recorded, but Eric fell asleep before midnight.
We had cereal again for breakfast (Cheerios!) and watched LIVE WITH REGIS AND KELLY, which I haven’t seen in months and months. It's GUINNESS WORLD'S RECORD week and every day they have someone else who is trying to break a world's record. Today it was a big strong guy pulling 150,000 pounds on a truck. He did it, too!
Meanwhile, I received a letter from the Board of Equalization that I didn’t pay my sales tax and had to pay by September 30th or risk a fine of up to $5,000. I had previously tried to pay online two times, but they told me nothing was due at the time. I finally went online today and paid -- $7.82!! That’s what I owed! I didn’t make much at the crafts fair and I knew I didn’t owe much, so I wasn’t too worried about it. Wow, glad I was able to do it online. I was afraid I’d have to go back downtown, wait on line and pay in person. That’s another thing resolved!
We left the house around noon, and ran a bunch of errands. We went to the HALLMARK store on Balboa, because I wanted to buy a new baby card for the couple who bought our house. I’m so happy for them!
Eric’s sister, Ellen, called when I was about to go into the card store. I spoke to her for a few minutes, then Eric spoke to her while I was shopping. When I got out, she was still on the phone, so I spoke to her for another few minutes.
Then, we went to STAPLES in Pacific Beach, because I wanted to get an ink cartridge for my printer. Eric stayed in the car and spoke to his friend, Jimmy. Jim can’t wait for Eric to get back to NY. He really has good friends in NY and they are being very supportive.
Next, we drove to Fashion Valley and had lunch at the CALIFORNIA PIZZA KITCHEN. Someone at work left flyers in the kitchen there saying that today, tomorrow and Wednesday at California Pizza Kitchen they would donate 20% of any purchase to the SUSAN G. KOMEN BREAST CANCER FOUNDATION, so I thought it was as good a place as any to have lunch!
I had ½ portion of Miso Salad: Shredded Napa cabbage with fresh avocado, julienne cucumbers, daikon, edamame, carrots, red cabbage, green onions, cilantro, crispy rice noodles and crisp wontons tossed in a Miso dressing and topped with blue crab and shrimp. I also had a cup of Sedona Tortilla Soup: Vine-ripened tomatoes, tomatillos and corn with mild green chiles and Southwestern spices. Garnished with crispy corn tortilla strips.
Eric had ½ portion of the original Barbecue Chicken Chopped Salad: Chopped lettuce, black beans, sweet corn, jicama, cilantro, basil, crispy corn tortilla strips and Monterey Jack cheese tossed together in herb ranch dressing. Topped with chopped BBQ chicken breast, diced tomatoes and green onions. He also had a cup of Adobe Chicken Chowder.
As we were eating our delicious soups and salads, we saw the waitress walk by with a piece of Red Velvet cake, which is my absolute favorite, since we first had it in Graceland. The salads were HUGE (and we got the ½ portion!!!), so we finished our soups (it was a very big cup, too!) and took home enough salad to have for dinner tonight! We shared a piece of the Red Velvet cake and it was as good as we remembered!
After we left the restaurant we decided to walk around the Fashion Valley Mall a little bit. It is REALLY big, with all the top stores – Coach, Gucci, Saks, Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s, among many others, along with all the big chains. I saw an Anthropologie, and I love that store, so we decided to walk around a little. Their prices are VERY high, so I asked the sales girl where the sales items were and she showed me to a room in the back. I found a gorgeous black/white dress that just screamed “PEPPY!” It was originally almost $200, but it was on sale for less than half. I tried it on, it fit perfectly, and I bought it!
Eric was very sweet, because he waited patiently while I shopped around and then encouraged me to buy the dress. I hardly ever go to the mall and even less frequently buy anything this way. I’m a catalog girl – cheap catalogs – so this was a real departure for me.
We walked around a little more and then headed home. Eric filled my tank with gas, because in San Diego they only have self-service and I HATE pumping gas. Eventually, I'll have to do it myself, but I'd like to put it off as long as possible!
We still wanted to go to RITE-AID and KEIL’S (pronounced KYLE’S). When we got home and dropped off the salads and our shopping from the day (HALLMARK, STAPLES, ANTHROPOLGIE) we decided to relax and take a nap before heading out again, which is exactly what we did.
We went back out at 6:00pm and picked up a few items at RITE-AID and KEIL’S and then came back home. We finished our salads and watched DEAL OR NO DEAL and PROJECT RUNWAY. You KNOW Eric is being agreeable, because he doesn’t really like DEAL OR NO DEAL (he finds it too frustrating) and he’s definitely not into PROJECT RUNWAY, but not only does he watch it with me, he gives me his opinions on the design creations walking down the runway!
We are both still super-stressed and very sad about Eric’s impending departure, but I guess we’re both resigned to the fact that it’s going to happen and might as well make the best of it.
I’m hoping we will both get a good night’s sleep, but I’m really not counting on it. Tomorrow we will leave around 6:30am and I’ll drop him off at the airport at around 6:45am. His JET BLUE flight is at 8:00am, so that will give him plenty of time to check one bag, get through security, buy himself a snack (and maybe a book) and then get on the plane. He’ll get off at JFK at 4:20pm and his sister will pick him up.
I know he doesn’t like to fly (really -- that's an understatement -- he HATES it), so this is doubly hard for him, but I think he’s got it in his mind that he really has to make the best of a bad situation. He really tried so hard today to be positive and showed me he can make it in NY. As usual, my optimism is kicking in, and I’m starting to believe everything will be okay!