What was that? You didn't say Marvin? I'm deaf as a post, sonny! Too much Calliopeeing!
After a deep deep nap in the late afternoon, and inspired by a "new merchandise" email I rec'd yesterday, I dragged myself out of bed and down to the pathetic Long Beach Plaza (or whatever it's called now) to visit Nordstrom Rack. Well, I may not know much but I know NONE of that merch made it to Long Beach. I found a couple nice pair of shoes but decided not to buy either. Tried some shorts - hated them all, especially at the "discount" price of $17 (I was expecting $4). Nordstrom... I don't know why you hate fat women so much but I gotta tell you, your selection of plus size merch is truly scary.
On a lark, I then wandered next door to Ross (who did I just made very happy)?? The store was noticeably short on merchandise and smelled of ant spray. A looooong time later, I had found 1 dress that didn't really fit but I liked as a kind of modern shirt (might look cute with some spanx. or i might be fooling myself) and "had" to buy cause it said it was size 16 regular, when I'm actually a 20W. I also found it in 16W, which technically fit better (and, unlike the 16, had all of it's original beadwork) but I liked the overall effect of the 16 reg better. While checking out, I found a "little black dress", in 16W (ooops... just learned it was mismarked, it's actually also a 16 regular), by the same brand and snagged it without a try on. Bought them both ($20 and $18, respectively). Tried on the black dress and home (after discovering that I'd left the house with the back door wide open - thankfully it doesn't face a street or alley) and it's gonna be a stretch to make it work. Definitely needs a girdle (or whatever they call the modern version of those). I should probably exchange it but at $18, it's not worth the effort. I'll keep it to wear to some place dark (where my fat rolls will blend into the night).
After shopping, I took off for home, rather disappointed with my evening. I spied a new It's A Grind coffeehouse so I decided to stop (since I was planning to drive to the one in Signal Hill anyway).
About 10 min after I got in there, "Maria" walked in and settled herself at my table. What a joy this woman is! Kind of nutty - but in a way that's so appealing that, if it were my store, I'd give her free coffee & food just to get her in there every day and engaging customers.
She's 77. I would have guessed mid/late 50s. She has a glass eye that she got in Sweden. She's getting lasik in her other eye. She cried tears of joy when her plane arrived in America. She sells short stories, screenplays, and political jokes to KCET, several other channels, and some sort of print media (I missed that part). Her stories changed randomly. Her son (one of several?) is 54. He, or one of them, works at a german bar in Alpine Village. Or maybe he runs a karaoke store in Santa Monica. Or he helps her cross-breed orchids. She's a horticulturist, anthropologist, and bunch of other stuff I forgot. Mostly, she's just fun and a joy to talk with! She kept me entertained long past the time my parking meter had expired (no ticket so it must have been destiny).
She sang me a lot of big band songs and invited me to some german bar for big band music on Monday night. I gave her my real cell phone number! Despite promising Miss Scotch that I wouldn't show anyone the pics of her in her wedding dress, I showed one to Maria. She thought Scotch was beautiful and wished her a happy wedding.
I'm supposed to tell you that Maria the owner of the coffee shop (thus why she posed with the coffee) and I never have to pay for drinks again. So... she's the owner of the coffee shop. Okay?
She was a random encounter who completely made my night!
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The only bummer is that you'll have to register on SFGate.com, but it
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... but the mole is still coming off. Sept 4. Sometime after 11am.
He thinks it's just a benign growth - but it will be biopsied anyway.
Small problem of transportation - the surgery center is about 15 miles from my home and probably won't let me drive. But, ya know, the rest of the world WORKS during the day... so I'm not sure how I'll be working that out. Right now, I'm thinking I'll park nearby, take a bus to the center and maybe a taxi back to my car. I mean, I'm just gonna have one eye patched (and a couple days of feeling like I have pink eye). I don't think I'm going to be knocked out at all I don't see any reason for that. Then again, they told me no food or water 8 hrs before, so maybe they are planning to put me under. I suppose I should call & ask about that. If that's the plan, I should move the surgery to a local hospital instead (it was an option). I don't know. Month away - I'm not gonna worry about it just yet.
They also did a full eye exam. I have an ocular pressure issue that makes my eyes have bulges/ridges where my lids meet. I've always noticed it but didn't think anything about it. Apparently the fact that it doesn't cause headaches means it's no big deal. Eye pressure & vision were fine (except it was obvious to me that I'm getting dramatically near sighted, thanks computers!!).
His assistant dilated my pupils and told me I wouldn't be able to drive - so I called work to take the day off. The dilation turned out not to affect my vision too much (had to hold my cell phone an extra foot away to read it - that's it), but made me REALLY tired (??), so I considered going to work after all (even though I really didn't want to). Till I got in the sunshine - then WHOPPER headache. So I came home and now my Bambi eyes and I are chilling in my slightly dark living room.
Oh, goodie... GI probs just returned with a vengeance. Wonder what the hell brought that on. Glad I already have the day off!
and on that TMI note... it's nap time!
Most forms of entertainment require a degree of this. After all, can we really believe that people randomly break out in song to explain an important detail?
Anyway, my cousin was filling me in last week on the details of the new 90210. I have a confession: I religiously watched the original 90210, but I lost interest once Shannen Doherty left. (After all, before she was Brenda Walsh, she was Heather Duke.) And then when they left the zip code to go to college, well, I really stopped watching.
So, back to the new 90210. Instead of twins, the main parents have a daughter and an adopted son (who happens to be black - they adopted him while he was a foster child in their home). They're moving to So Cal from Kansas instead of Minnesota. And the adopted son? He's a star la crosse player... from Kansas.
Would one of my neighbors from the Mid West please clarify this for me? Do schools even have la crosse teams in Kansas?
The dad of the parents is some guy who used to be on Melrose Place, and if I'm not mistaken, I think his character died. I also think Kelly Tayor (Jenni Garth's character) either slept with him or had a crush on him, but I could also be thinking of someone else. (So many people in Kelly's life to keep track of, you see.) Anyway, he's supposed to be a West Beverly alum, and is coming back to SoCal to take care of his ailing mother and assume the role of school principal at West Beverly - where Kelly teaches (or is a guidance counselor - I really wasn't paying attention).
He gave me a rundown on the other characters and their backstories, too, but each one seemed more far-fetched the the previous. I think the jury's still out on whether I'll give this show a chance. I honestly haven't decided. I think if Brenda came back to West Beverly instead of Kelly, I'd be more apt to watch. But I don't know.
All I know is that if I decide to watch it, I'll have to suspend disbelief for an awfully long time...
My former roommate just had her little boy this morning! Mom and baby are just fine, and dad and big sis look like they're well, too. Hooray!
Wendy and I had talked late last week about the baby. She was getting really anxious, as today was her due date and she was showing no signs of labor. She told me that if she scheduled for an induction today if he didn't come on his own; from the photos she sent, it looks like she delivered via Cesarean.
But everyone looks great in the photographs!
(One baby out, three more to go. But as two of them aren't due until January, there's still plenty of time!)
