Home Again

It was the look which caused her to be known in native bearer and halfcaste circles as 'Mgobi-'Mgumbi, which may be loosely translated as She On Whom It Is Unsafe To Try Any Oompus-Boompus.
-- P.G. Wodehouse

Sunday, November 21, 1999
One year ago: The Rhumba Bums
Two years ago: An Impromptu Hop

Jack and I woke up this morning at about eight thirty, earlier than we'd have liked, I think! A-----, his daughter, was pounding on the front door downstairs. She'd supposedly spent the night somewhere (with permission), and came back with another girl to use the shower. She left again a bit later -- I contributed a quarter to her bus fare.

So we did get to have a fun, relaxing private morning after all, which I thought wouldn't happen when I heard her knocking. Have I mentioned lately how kind, thoughtful, and considerate Jack is? He got some great ideas from something I forwarded to him from an email list, although I really hadn't intended it as a suggestion.

Jack wanted to go into to work today, so I left after getting him to show me where to check the power steering fluid on my car. I'd asked the gas station guy to check it a few nights ago, and he'd said it was fine, but the noises my car was making had convinced me otherwise. Sure enough, it was low! So I added some when I fueled up before getting on the road.

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I didn't stop at the outlet mall this time, but I did stop at Alderwood Mall. I haven't shopped there for a long time, but I used to go there all the time when I worked at an accountant's office in the early nineties. They've done a remodel job, and added on since then. I hardly recognized the inside!

I went on a shopping spree! I cruised all through the "As Seen on TV" store, inspecting all the stuff normally seen only on infomercials late at night. Here's the nastiest thing I saw there. You know those plastic frogs that you put by your front door, with a motion sensing switch so they croak when you walk by? This store had a molded figure of a cartoony man, bent over with his pants down so you see his asshole. It made what was supposed to be a farting noise every time someone walked by! The only saving grace was that it wasn't a very good sound effect -- it sounded more like a creaking door!

I bought a pillow for Jack, to fit between his legs when sleeping. This should help his back.

I also went a bit nuts at the Yankee Candle store. I bought some votive samplers for myself, then filled up a plastic egg-crate thingy to use for gifting. (I swear, they're for gifts!) You get a good deal if you buy eighteen of them.

My other stop at the mall was at Lane Bryant. They were having a sale, and a dress that I'd looked at before was now one-third off. So I tried it on, and bought it. I was interested in it because the adidas-style clothing is popular with some of the lindy hop dancers in town, and this dress, a simple black sheath, has striped bands running from under each arm to the hem. I wonder if anyone will get the reference? I think it's funny! (And the dress fits and is danceable, or I wouldn't have bought it.)

By this time I was at the opposite end of the mall, and it was a very busy shopping day. The place was packed! Folks were getting a head start on holiday shopping, perhaps? So I went outside and walked back along the perimeter of the building. I was surprised to see that the folks ringing bells and opening doors at the mall entrances weren't from the Salvation Army, but from a group called Volunteers of America. I don't think I've heard of them, so I didn't donate.

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We had a committee meeting for Potlatch in the evening. I didn't bring anything for the potluck portion of the proceedings (say that three times fast!), partly because I forgot, but partly because I wasn't hungry at all. I'd brought a quiznos sub home from the mall, and munched on it in the late afternoon.

Kate looked at me from across the circle. "You look absolutely wiped, Anita!" I said I'd had trouble sleeping the last few nights, which was true. Both Friday and Saturday, I'd had to get up and go downstairs for a while. My mind would get hooked on some non-happy thoughts, and I'd know that I was making myself bummed out of all proportion, but couldn't stop it! So going downstairs and curling up in Jack's recliner with some good, entertaining, cheerful book (P. G. Wodehouse last night) would break me out of that cycle, or tire and relax me enough that I could sleep.

The unexpected result of this meeting: I'm to be on a program item! Something about romance and science fiction, I think. Should be fun!