I woke up at 9:00am, called Eric, and then immediately got started on my day. I had breakfast, worked on the computer, showered, dressed and was ready to leave the apartment by 11:00am, because I was supposed to pick up the girls at 11:30am for lunch.
I decided to quickly check my email right before I left and saw the girls were all emailing saying that all the restaurants in Del Mar were closed because apparently there was a water main break the other day and the water was undrinkable, and they didn’t even want you showering for 72 hours!
Fortunately, they said we could just go to another neighborhood, so I left the apartment, went to Citibank to get some cash, and then drove to Del Mar. Ailien, Judy and Nancy directed me to Panera Bread in Solana Beach, which is just about 10 minutes away.
We all had cream of broccoli soup, but I had ½ a Mediterranean Veggie sandwich and iced tea. The others had ½ sandwiches or salads. We sat outside, because it was a glorious day. We had a lot of fun. Judy was telling us about all the trips she’ll be taking this year. She’s just had so many great opportunities to travel. 2009 is certainly her year!
Ailien was telling us that she’ll be going to Cleveland for a wedding. She’s in the midst of planning her own wedding, too, which will take place later this year.
Nancy was telling us that her daughter (who is in college) just bought a PT Cruiser. I told her how much I love my car and that I recommend it so highly. We talked about work, about my imminent departure, and about what life will be like when I get back to NY. My first project is to find us a better apartment. After that – who knows?
After lunch, and a lot of laughs, I dropped the girls back off at the office and drove to Hillcrest for my hair appointment. First, I stopped at STARBUCKS and picked up coffee for me and John. (I called him from the car and he told me what he likes.)
We discussed my hair and he told me that I should go inbetween what I had (bushy with a DA in the back) and what I had in December (super cropped). So, he trimmed off what I was calling my “Mrs. Brady” flip in the back (remember how Florence Henderson had that flip in the back of her hair?), trimmed the sides, and left it a little longer on top. I was thrilled with the result!
After my haircut I drove back to the apartment. I needed to go to the shopping center to pick up my pictures (the ones from my old Minolta camera that had been in the camera for years) and also my bicycle, which was being packed in the box by the bike shop. I decided to call both, to be sure my pictures AND the bike were ready. They both were and I was on my way.
First, I had to go back to CITIBANK, because my $75 check had arrived from the insurance company to cover my week of car rental from ENTERPRISE. I swear, I have been involved in accidents before, but never have I been reimbursed and the entire incident completely resolved so quickly. I’m surprised and happy!
Next, I went to the bike shop and the guy put the big box in the car. He’s not much taller than me, and he told me it wasn’t heavy, so I figured I could carry it upstairs by myself. Then, I went to CVS to pick up my pictures. When I got to the car I looked at them and couldn’t believe what I saw. The last time I used my MINOLTA camera was during a SNOWSTORM!!!!! It was pictures of Eric, coming in from shoveling snow, Eric outside with the snow blower, the snow in the backyard, the snow on the old PT Cruiser, etc. It made me laugh out loud, because it was like a premonition of things to come, as well as a reminder of things past!
There were pictures of a dozen long-stemmed red roses taken in the shop, so I knew it was around Valentine's Day, and that it had to be 2003, because the shop wasn't opened yet on Valentine's Day 2002 and by 2004 I had my Olympus digital. Good detective work, eh?
When I got back to the apartment, I opened the back of the PT Cruiser, but I couldn’t even get the box out of the car! So much for that! I talked to Eric and he said to ask Bret to help me, but Bret is never very enthusiastic about helping, so I decided to see who else was around. I told Eric I would ask one of the workmen to help me. There were some guys working on repainting the stairs, and I had seen them around for the last few days. I walked over to one and asked him if he could help me.He carried the box from the parking lot, through the complex, up the stairs and into the apartment. I thanked him profusely and offered him $5, but he wouldn’t take it. Eric told me he wouldn’t take it. I wonder how he knew! He didn’t even know how much I was offering him, because he wouldn’t even look at the money. He wouldn’t even touch it. I tried to put it into his hand. He wouldn’t take it.
Just seeing how much snow built up on the railing in the backyard, you can see that we had at least a foot of snow. Oh, those were the good old days (not!)
Anyway, I begged him. I said he HAD to take it. I told him if he didn’t I would feel really bad. He said, if he did HE would feel really bad. Finally, I just thanked him again, and said goodbye. There are so many good people in this world. I was so grateful. I told him he had really helped me, because I am all alone here and my husband is in NY and it was so kind of him. I know he felt good when he left, but I still wish he had taken the $5!
I felt good that I had been able to cross another thing off my list – the bicycle was packed and ready to ship!
I spoke to my friend Marti this afternoon and we made definite plans to meet again tomorrow night for dinner and go to THE CARRIAGE HOUSE LOUNGE for Karaoke again. I’m really looking forward to it! She’s a lot of fun, AND she has a great voice! She just came back from a trip to visit her daughter in San Francisco, and she got to spend some time with Jimmy, too. She told me they had so much fun – and Jimmy emailed me some pictures to prove it!
It was 4:30pm by the time I got back from running all the errands, so I just relaxed for a while and watched TV before my yoga class. I dozed for a while, but it wasn’t really a nap, because there was a lot of noise outside.
I got up at 6:30pm and went to yoga. My regular teacher was back. She’s so sweet. The class was packed, as usual, and she worked us really hard today. It was a great class. When I got home I was starving. I hadn’t eaten since lunch – and that was at noon! I decided to drive by STARBUCKS to get a decaf coffee, and then I drove across the street and went someplace I have never been to before – in the year and a half I’ve lived here! I drove through DEL TACO – a Mexican fast food place. I got two shrimp tacos and a cheese quesadilla.
They were both gone in a flash. I inhaled them. They’re small portions, to be sure, but it was delicious and I was starving, so they didn’t last long!
I watched THE BIGGEST LOSER (isn’t it ironic that I’m stuffing my face with Mexican food as I watch a show about losing weight?).
I just stopped blogging long enough to watch THE FREE PHOTO BOOTH on Jay Leno. For those of you who have never seen it, they set up a real photo booth at Universal Studios in L.A., but instead of being a regular photo booth, there’s a comedienne who can see the people inside and she pretends to be the “automatic voice” of the photo booth, giving them instructions. She is SO funny and then, when she makes the people laugh, or they’re shocked by what she says, they snap the picture. It’s HYSTERICAL. I’ve seen it 4 or 5 times and they’re even on YOU TUBE, so if you want to check it out, go to YOU TUBE and type in LENO PHOTO BOOTH. You’ll thank me!
I have no plans for tomorrow during the day, but I’d like to get a lot of packing done and then have fun later with Marti at dinner and Karaoke. Believe me, I’ve still got a lot of packing to do!