can i go clap erasers, teacher?
Whoo hoo! I did 3 miles today. (Okay, time to be truthful: more like those 3 miles did me. But I got out there.)
Friday
David and Alaina Sloo are coming to town for a museum exhibit tomorrow--would we care to join them? Darin and I immediately say yes.
Therese calls. She wants to have a surprise party for Brent's birthday tomorrow. Damn. We have to pass.
Late on Friday: David and Alaina cancel, though they do not say why. We decide to tell Therese we are coming, but it's going to look suspicious if Darin calls and asks to talk to Therese. So I call and Brent tells me she's working the late shift at her job (at a video-dubbing house). I say, "Oh, that's even better," and we hang up.
Darin talks to Therese and finds out the 411 about the party. He tells her that the cover story is Diane called to find out dubbing rates for some of her buds at film school. Pretty darn clever I already had that cover story in mind when I talked to Brent, huh? (Still an actress, after all these years.)
Saturday
As I suspected he would, Brent asks Therese why I called her. She is ready with the story. He does not suspect.
Darin and I wake up very early and go for breakfast. Then I drop him off at the Boys and I spend the rest of the morning doodling, writing e-mail, and watching Mrs Brown. I do not see the end of Mrs Brown, however, because I have to go get Darin to take him to Brent and Therese's. Of course, when I arrive at the Boys', Darin is ensconced in a game of StarCraft. I could have stayed home and watched the movie. I note this for future reference.
Darin, Mike, Harry, Al, and I go over to Brent and Therese's. Ellie, understandably, is quite excited because it's clear that everyone's there for her.
I go food shopping with Therese and tell her some about Israel. She tells me a lot about their Christmas vacation with his family.
Therese and I cook. She keeps telling me to go socialize, but I'm perfectly happy to make the weirdest pasta sauce ever--recipe: a couple of cans of peeled diced tomatoes, a few cans of tomato paste, some onions, some salsa-like concoction, cooked beef, keep stirring--and heat bread in the oven. It takes us 45 minutes to make dinner.
We eat. Everyone pronounces themselves satisfied. My stomach is still not right; I eat too much; I feel unhappy. Brent and I go for a long walk in their neighborhood as the others start to play The Settlers of Catan. Brent and I discuss Israel.
At 10 we go home. Conveniently, I do not fall asleep until after I've parked the car.
Sunday
Darin plays Zelda all morning. We are supposed to go to Fernando's at 1; 1 comes and goes without Darin getting showered and dressed. "I guess we don't have to be there at 1," I say. Darin nods firmly.
As Darin plays Zelda, I play Clan Lord for the first time in a month. I run into a group of players who look exactly like I do: human female fighters with purple shirts and short skirts. I see they are all a part of a clan: The Order of the Mini. "What do I have to do to join?" I ask. "Just ask," replies one. They sign me up for their clan, take me to buy a blue skirt (they all have blue skirts), and we go off hunting.
We go to the north pass to do some wendie hunting. When we arrive en masse looking identical, someone says, "Look! It's the Swedish Bikini Team!" We think this is funny.
Then another player says, "What's the Swedish Bikini Team?" We weep for lost cultural experience.
Darin and I go to Fernando and Nancy's for a BBQ with some friends of theirs and her brother and his parents, who are visiting from Brazil. There's cooked meat and sausage and Portobello mushroom and black beans and rice and flan and butter cookies. Mindful of my indigestion last night, I attempt moderation, though the beans are quite tasty.
I discuss gardening with Nancy, and once again I become excited about gardening. I do this to myself twice a year, but this time will be different. Nancy promises to take me with to the nursery so I can started with a few pots of tomatoes and beans. I imagine making that pasta sauce with tomatoes I have grown myself. I ponder that this means I would have to touch tomatoes; then I push the thought from my mind.
We go home at 6 and settle in to watch The Sopranos, the new HBO one-hour series about the Mafia guy who's having "family problems": his wife and kids are driving him to distraction and his Family is in danger of extinguishing itself, if the Feds don't do it for them. I am expecting something wackier, more like last summer's Maximum Bob, and it's not like that at all. There are no big ha-ha moments. Darin and I reserve judgement until future episodes. We are not yet in love with this show, the way the reviews said we would be.
Darin goes to bed. I watch The X-Files, which continues this season's theme of "The Wackiest X-Files Ever!" This one keeps harping on the unspoken attraction between Moose and Squirrel...I mean Mul--you know who I mean. The entire episode is completely out of left field, and I'm not even going to comment on the mountains clearly visible in the background of what's supposed to be Kansas. Next week is an Arc Episode that looks confusing and dark and possibly really, really depressing for fans of AD Skinner.
I read some books on gardening. Then I sleep.
Monday
I wake up early, determined that today I will go for a run. Or a jog. Or an extended, strenuous walk. And I do. I immediately realize that I am totally out of shape. I comfort myself with the knowledge that every time I have a long layoff I have to take time to get back into it.
I pass the car wash and remind myself I haven't gotten my car cleaned since we bought it, which is 7 months ago. So I shower and dress and head over to the car wash, which is now packed. I forget to give my keys to the car wash guy. I feel very silly.
I come home and send e-mail to Scott Anderson about Amazon UK. He hadn't known about it--he realizes that his life is over too. We commiserate about how easy it is to fix one's jones.
Darin announces that Mike has been in a car accident--Mike's okay, but Darin's going to go see him. This encourages Darin to get dressed, and I think that's a good thing. (Darin always wears this comfy bathrobe with a hood around the house, so Brent and I tease him that he's in wizard-mode.)
I decide I have got to get working. And I finish my entry.
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Copyright 1999 Diane Patterson
Send comments and questions to diane@spies.com