The tragic misadventures of an American English teacher in England
Such a cool show! My brother got me a copy of it and I finally sat down to watch it. I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I thought it was gonna be way too chick for me, but it wasn’t as bad as I expected. If my brother hails the show, it must be worth a chance. (Then again, he doesn’t like Gilmore Girls…pffft.)
Salma Hayek — totally hot.
I’m heartbroken that I have to wait forever for new episodes. Now I gotta find something else to suck me in.
I have decided I am either on crack or not really a woman. I picked Pride and Prejudice to read this month ‘cuz everyone’s always told me what a great book it is; most of the other girls at work have seen me carry around my copy and always gush about how much they love the book and how much I am going to love the book.
I guess I just don’t have the attention span nor the sophistication to appreciate this book. It’s kinda there with Three Musketeers right now in that it’s a classic novel that I can put on my shelf and say I’ve read…but will probably never pick up again. Of course, in this case, should I return to the U.S. as an English teacher, there’s a good chance I’ll hafta read it again and what not.
On the bright side, the edition I have has all the old spellings like “shewn” for “shown” and “staid” for “stayed”.
So yeah. I guess I suck ‘cuz I don’t really care for the book.
George has finally left me. He’s been a good bruise, all kinds of interesting and had a lot of character. He’d been slowly but surely taking leave. Bit-by-bit, he’s been moving out. I kinda miss him.
I read about this festival, the Amanogawa Hotaru Matsuri (Firefly Fetival), in the June issue of the Kansai Scene at the beginning of the month and it sounded like a wicked cool thing to see. I also thought it would be mildly appropriate because it would fall on Firefly Sunday. I was pretty bummed that for various reasons, the usual suspects would be unable to assemble. I was actually at a loss. I have become rather accustomed to meeting and hanging out every Sunday that when we don’t meet, I get a bit confused. Like I really have no idea what I should do. I also felt like it really wouldn’t be right going to this festival alone. It seemed like the kind of thing to be shared with friends.
I’d been hanging out with Kat quite a bit recently — we do a Tuesday morning breakfast thing and because of my past two Thursday swaps, we’ve been wont to go to Starbuck’s after work. It was there that I got it in my head that maybe Kat would want to go. I was quite pleased that she accepted, as Kat is good people.
I have never been to Shiga Prefecture, and the transportation website I usually use said it would take about two hours to get there. With this in mind, I figured leaving as soon as possible would be the best. And since I got out of work at 3ish, it all seemed quite feasible.
After a quick shower and confirming train times and directions to the best of my ability, I sent a text to Kat and was out the door. We managed to catch appropriate trains and it seemed like we would be making good time. Kat is a pretty comfortable person to be around, so the train right was rather pleasant.
When we arrived in Maibara, we found the shuttle bus pretty easily. It all seemed like things would work out quite well. The only minor hitch was that the bust would return at 10:00, and the last train was at 10:17. At first, we thought nothing of it and decided we would still go. We had about an hour to kill before the bus would depart for the site, so we decided to buy some snacks at the supermarket across the street. We were also in search of an ATM as Kat was uncertain of her funds. (We never did find one.)
As the hour approached the bus departure time, we headed back to the station. We also took this opportunity to confirm times and tried to synchronize the schedules. I managed to ask the bu ladies about how long the bus ride would be, and we were beginning to feel less confident about taking the bus from Maibara. The ladies were kind enough to give us a refund on the bus ticket and direct us to the next station where we could catch another bus that left on the hours. Kat was pretty chill about everything, but I admit I was starting to get a bit more anxious. The last thing I wanted to happen was to get stranded somewhere.
The bus ladies wrote down the name of the next station for us on a piece of paper. Unfortunately for us, the train map only had major stops written in English. The lady who spoke more English mentioned that our destination, Omi-Nagaoka, was only two stops away. We took a chance and purchased Y230 tickets. If all else failed, there was always a fare adjustment.
We asked one of the train conductors which train we would need. He gestured to the one that was presently on the track. Well that seemed to work out rather well. I still wasn’t so confident that ti was the right train, though. I noticed that it was a Special Rapid, which meant that it would be making limited stops.
“If all else fails, we can always just go back. At least we had a fun train ride.”
I kinda nodded absently. I didn’t mind having such a misadventure, but I didn’t want Kat to have wasted her money. The ride to the next station seemed to be taking quite a while, which didn’t help in the “I think we took the wrong train” thought.
It turned out that the stations were just spaced apart wicked far. I guess I’m used to the stations in the city. Again, luck seemed to be with us as we found the shuttle pretty easily, and coincidentally, we ran into Mike and Anna. (They were trying to go on a date.)
We boarded the bus and sat in front of them, telling them about our minor misadventure. They had taken the shinkansen, which was why they pretty much arrived at the same time we did. We departed from the station not long after we got there. The folks who were running the shuttle service were all wearing these bright neon-yellow jackets. One of them stood in front of us to give us a kind of background about fireflies and the festival. She made some joke about the paper fans we bought, which served as a ticket for the bus. It was amusing ‘cuz she was like, “You all paid 500 yen for this, though I don’t know why, so be sure to treasure it.” Or so Mike translated. It was awesome. It was kinda sarcastic. I was impressed.
When we arrived at our destination, it was nothing like I expected. Festivals to me mean lots of vendors and people. This was more like firefly viewing than anything else. Not that I’m complaining, ‘cuz it was actually wicked cool. We were taken to a kind of field along the river in the middle of nowhere and as we approached, we could see the glow of many fireflies lighting the area. According to the map, there were many locations to see fireflies. So, if there were like about a hundred in this one spot, and there were like seven or eight other locations with about the same amount, that’s a heckuva lotta fireflies. I was definitely starting to relax. I even snapped a few pics, only one of them turned out cool, but still.
Kat was really impressed since she’d never seen fireflies before. We walked along the path to watch them, and I even managed to catch one. I told Kat about how they used to be all around in our neighborhood when I was a kid and how I used to catch them all the time. It was a most nostalgic viewing.
It really didn’t take that long to walk the path, so after about an hour, we headed back to the bus stop. We ended up back at the station about a half hour earlier than we expected, and we even managed to catch a Special Rapid.
Despite not sharing it with all of the Firefly Sunday group, it was still a grand Firefly Sunday.
I’ve been teaching these private students for about six months now — holy smokes, I think it really has been six months..! Anyway, we have good days and bad ones; yesterday would be counted as a not so much day. It was a struggle to keep their attention and honestly, I ain’t so sure I’m doing a good job. Then again, as the old adage goes: You get out of it what you put into it.
I had my first TOEIC lesson today. I was pretty anxious about it ‘cuz I’m still not overly confident in teaching this. It started out bad ‘cuz I couldn’t find the student’s file in the binder, lucky for me today was one of the days that has fifteen minute breaks in the afternoon, so I was able to still make it to the lesson in time. But I didn’t feel really prepared. I’m still not sure if I even did what I was supposed to. I mean, we got through the lesson all right, but there’s this mini-test that the students are supposed to take in the second half of the lesson. They pass with a 60% or higher…and well, Kumi didn’t quite make it. She got 5 out of 9. I’m all kinds of paranoid. I hope she didn’t fail ‘cuz I suck as a teacher. 
I did it! I finally did it! I finished watching ALL of Season 3 of Buffy: the Vampire Slayer!! Go me! It only took me over a year to do it…
Now that I’ve overcome this, I think I can get through “This Year’s Girl” and thus completing Season 4. It should be smooth sailing from there! Wooo!!!
I just finished watching the series finale of Gilmore Girls and I admit, I teared up a little. I watched the show when it premiered, and then on and off throughout the years. I think I really got attached to the show when I’d catch it on re-runs on ABC Family, and then I borrowed seasons 1 - 3 from Li’l G. The Gilmore Girls have been great friends ever since. I think I also have some sentimental attachment to the show because it was the one hour everyday that I was allowed to myself when I was teaching. I’d come home from school, make a S’mores pop tart and watch an episode. Quality television.
I admit, I was apprehensive about this season what with Amy Sherman-Palladino and her husband no longer having a direct hand in the show. I honestly felt like this season was trying way too hard to establish continuity, referencing quite a few things from past season and seemingly more so than before. But it still had some great moments. I think the special appearance in the last episode was really fitting.
I was a little surprised with Rory’s final job. I think the campaign thing is great, I guess I just pictured her going with something more reputable or something. I think it’s great that she didn’t get everything exactly the way she wanted, but there was something lacking in the venue that she ended up with to me.
I was just talking to Rob about it, and he and I agree that this show ended well. Despite the departure of the brain-child, I think the ending did the show justice. Anything more than this, any season more than this, and I really think it would have jumped the shark. It’s really nice to watch a show and not feel like it did that at any time during its course.
It’s also bizarre to me that I watched this show from the beginning and while I didn’t see every episode as it aired, I’ve watched every episode of every season. It’s like I’ve been there from beginning to end. I can’t remember ever feeling this sentimental about a show’s ending before. I mean, with Firefly it was more heart-wrenching than anything else. This is just bittersweet.
Star’s Hollow will always have a special place in my heart.
Since meeting Clint and Laura, it seems that I’ve been going to a few more parties than I had before. Now they don’t exactly compare to college parties, but they are on a similar thread. I went to Clint’s party earlier this year, and tonight I went to Edward’s.
Edward lived with Mike up until about two weeks ago, so he invited the Firefly Sunday group over to his housewarming shindig. Mike, Anna, and I were the only ones to really attend, however, and Yumi, one of Masumi’s friends we met a while back. We had had our usual Sunday night dinner, this time at the Hawaiian burger place, and then Phil, his girlfriend Nikki, and Steve parted company with us while Mike, Anna, Yumi, and I killed some time at UniQlo (I think I’m going to buy some pants after payday).
Since it was a housewarming, we got it in our heads that we should bring some kind of gift. We stopped by the 100 Yen Plaza on the way to Nippombashi and picked up some odds and ends: trash bags of various sizes, chopsticks for both cooking and eating, multi-purpose scissors, a few utensils, a can/bottle opening thingy, and paper towels. We figured for one thing they were having a party which would generate quite the rubbish load, and they could probably use some practical things. Oh, and we know that he and his roommate Emily are both vegetarians, so we got some tofu miso soup for them, too.
Edward’s apartment is about half way between DenDen Town and Nippombashi Station. Side note — on the way there, we found this pet store that sold parakeets! I got wicked excited ‘cuz well, I miss my birds. They was sickly looking birdies, though, which made me a bit sad. Anyway, back to this misadventure…
Their place is a decent sized apato for two people. Both rooms are about six-tatami and they have a kitchen and small dining area. It’s not exactly suitable for hosting a party, or at least the kind they were hosting, but it was what it was. I actually had some fun; I met some new people and had nice chats with various people I don’t usually talk to. It is nice to branch out every once in a while, and it’s kinda funny that I’m more comfortable hanging out with the newer folk than I am some of the others who have been here for forever long. I just wish there was a better venue for this kind of gathering. I ducked out as more and more people started arriving, knowing full well that the chances of the police getting called were high.
Good Sunday.
Yoss and VoW arrived safe and sound last Wednesday afternoon. I was quite bothered by the fact that I was a little late. Turns out their plane arrived a bit earlier than expected and my planning did not quite go the way I would have liked. Of course, neither of them was really fuzzled by it, but it was time that could have been spent together instead of waiting.
I was pretty amazed with the luggage VoW brought with her — I mean, it was pretty much two carry-ons…and I don’t even know if I could qualify them as carry-ons. “This one is mostly your stuff,” she said, hefting one of them.
The bus ride back was pleasant. Yoss sat next to me and we chatted about the usual goings-ons back home whilst VoW seemed content to jot stuff down in her book. Good to know peoples is alive back in the States (and that was purposeful, not a grammar mistake). Our plans were not overly complicated. We pretty much brought stuff back to the house, and then went back into Namba to try and get some sushi. Of course, it was prime dinner time, so the all-you-can-eat place had a line going out the door. We settled for Royal Host then.
Now, don’t get me wrong, Yoss and VoW in the country was all kinds of shiny. But I think one of the things I was pretty excited about was my new DS Lite. I busted that sucker out the second it was in my hands. She’s very white. And yeah, I decided it’s a she. I was at a loss for names for a spell; Yoss advocated for “Zoe” or “Jayne” — the latter of which I was quite tempted by. I also flirted with “Miranda”. I finally settled with “Miho” — I figured a Japanese name would be pretty cool, and she probably will be the death of me.
A game of Settles was most definitely played. It was nice to play a board game again. It’s very different with only three people. It seemed to go by really fast. Or maybe it was that they were jet-lagged. Or ‘cuz Grant was playing with us — come on, let’s face it, he does take a year and a day to take his turn and all. 
It’s the start of the rainy season here in Japan, so pretty much there were about three days of partly cloudy weather, versus the rain storms that would take up the rest of the time. Thursday was one of the rain-free days. I wanted to try and make the most of it and thus planned an excursion to Fushimi Inari, a shrine just outside of Kyoto City. I had wanted to take them to Akameguchi, but I had never been to Fushimi Inari before and I’d heard it was a pretty easy hike. Mike did also mention that he wanted to see some culture stuff and this place was supposed to be one of the famous shrines in Kyoto.
We woke up at a reasonable hour, much to my surprise. Yoss and VoW had some errands to run, so I took them into Namba and to the currency exchange place in Namba Parks. After some breakfast at this tea place, one of the ones I’ve always wanted to try ‘cuz it looks so fancy, we went to Spotaka so Mike could buy a hat and a pair of sunglasses, two items he’d meant to pack but sadly forgotten. By the time we got to Kyoto, it was right around noon thirty.
I’d forgtoeen that with the rainy season comes the humidity. It wasn’t completely intolerable, but it was certainly present. We made sure to stop by the convenie and pick up water, or in my case Aquarius.
The beginning of the trail was pretty level, passing under hundreds, and I mean hundreds of torii gates with a gradual incline. And then there were the stairs. There are several little shines as you go up so there were plenty of places to stop and take a drink before pressing on, as well as Chozusha. We also saw a bunch of off-trails that seemed interesting, so we’d follow one or two of those from time to time. I guess I really have increased some stamina as, according to Mike and Vicki, I’d frequently “leave them in the dust” going up. I just thought they were taking in the sights — I mean, a torii gate hike isn’t exactly common for us in Illinois. I guess they were having some trouble keeping up with me.
We we started the way down, we saw another off-trail. It looked interesting so we decided to try it. In retrospect, we probably shoulda just kept to the main path. I’d read about this swell waterfall that was supposed to be somewhere slightly off-course on the way down and thought perhaps this would take us there. We should have known better when we didn’t see any other people around. We really didn’t think much of it because at the base of the stone step trail was another shrine area. We kept waking around until we came upon a paved street. This was probably not part of the hike…
The climb back up the way we came was pretty much ruled out as it had been crazy steep in the first place. That left only one option: the street. We followed the street quite uncertainly as vehicles were as sparce as people. It seemed that the area we inadvertently stumbled upon was a kind of farm/lumber area. We saw a neat bamboo forest…so that was kinda cool.
Eventually, we wandered down long enough to find some semblance of civilization. We managed to find some train tracks and started walking parallel with them through the suburb we found. When we saw an official looking gentleman, I kindly asked for directions to the nearest station. He pointed us to a Keihan station, Tofukuhi, I think, which was only one or two stations past where we were supposed to end up anyway. We managed to catch a semi-express home, so that meant we could find seats. After that hike, we were pretty happy about sitting down.
I had Miho with me, so naturally I built up my character. Oh, how evil the DS be for me!
When we got back to Osaka, we finally got a chance to eat at the sushi place. It wasn’t bad, and we managed to get in at the 850 time, so it was even cheaper than I expected. Woo! It was back to the house thereafter, as the prospect of walking elsewhere caused some protesting from our weary feet and legs. But yeah, it was pretty cool what we did.
That night, we played Phase Ten, and get this — I totally won! It was sooooo cool! I mean, come on, y’all know how I never win these games, with the exception of Golden Deuce. I was pretty excited about kicking ass! ‘Twas to sleep thereafter.
Friday rained all bloody day. I was actually a bit surprised with that — I mean, I knew it was supposed to rain and such, but usually there’s a lull here and there. I can’t say we did much. There was definitely some sleeping in, and then I got a message from my Kuya and we headed into Namba for Slices. I know, I know. Mike and Vicki didn’t really come all this way just to eat food they could have at home, but it is one of my usual haunts and they didn’t seem to mind. They seemed to like it fine. It ain’t nothin’ compared to Lou Malnati’s of course, but it was a kind of “comfort food”.
We took them to DenDen Town thereafter, just to see what it’s like and what you can find there. Vicki bought an interesting looking flash drive in the shape of a squid, but for the most part everything else we looked at you could get in the states anyway. With the exception of the dark and light blue DS Lites. It seems I’ve corrupted Yoss a bit into buying one.
Kuya took his leave after walking around with us for a bit; then the three of us headed to Umeda so I could show them one of my favorite haunts: Kinokuniya. We roamed around there for a little and then decided to get a snack before returning to Shoji. We were going to try and go to a Kobe beef place, but the timing just didn’t quite work out for us. I think we ended up eating McDonald’s and watching Gilmore Girls. I had introduced them to Mos Burger the night before, and while they seemed to like it, McDonald’s just seemed like a better prospect.
Saturday I had work, but afterwards Mike and Vicki came with me to meet my students and they had a chance to see what teaching was like for me. Granted, it wasn’t really teaching much, it was more or less giving the students a chance to practice with native speakers on a one-on-one basis.
Sunday, I worked again, but then Yoss and VoW came out for Firefly Sunday. We went to all-you-can-eat yakiniku, an experience they seemed to enjoy. Heck, it’s probably one of my favorite dinners we have here. Then again, I love me some dead aminal. Everyone, sans Steve, came back to the house and we watched Dodgeball and played Super Munchkin. It was pretty cool. I think if we all met, the folk from home with my friends from Japan, we’d get along all right.
On Monday, much like when my parents were here, we went to Nara in the morning. It was kind of a pain waking up as I think we were all pretty happy sleeping instead, but this was once again one of the nice days so we wanted to try and make something of it. We caught a semi-rapid, which was pretty shiny, so we didn’t have to make any transfers.
The first thing we did when we got to Nara was seek out a pagoda. Vicki didn’t have much on her list of things to do, but see the deer and “pet a pagoda” were on there. The deer aren’t hard to find, so as we walked towards the pagodas, we found the rapscallion critters. Mike wanted to feed them, and much like with my mom, he got attacked by deer. The same thing ended up happening to both Vicki and myself. It was grand.
The pagoda was blocked off, so Vicki had to content herself with seeing them and taking a perspective picture of her petting it. After walking around that part of the park, we headed to Todaiji. It was funny walking with Mike and Vicki ‘cuz lots of the school children would say hello. That didn’t happen so much when I was with my parents. One of the things about blending in, I guess. I told them that the next time they’re greeted, they should respond with “What’s up?” to see what happens. (We got blank stares.)
As we were leaving the temple, there were bunches of souvenirs for sale that were actually kinda cool. We chipped in to get something for the Halfway House. We’re not sure yet if Chris and Mark will be happy about it, or be wickedly creeped out by it, but we thought it was cool and somewhat fitting. Muhahahahahahaha….
Pretty much, the Nara trip consisted of deer feeding. Mike said he prolly spent about 1000 yen on the deer biscuits alone. Before we ate lunch, he still had some left over and we passed by the Turtle Pond; one of the few places I remembered how to get to from my first trip to Nara with Braden last year. The first time I visited the pond, there were really only a few turtles, this time about there was a plethora. Since we had the deer biscuits and it was unlikely we’d see anymore deer, we thought we’d feed the rest to the turtles. So, for those of you who are wondering, yes, the turtles will eat deer food. In fact, so will the fishies. It was pretty funny watching the critters duke it out for the food. Mike particularly enjoyed the little turtles who scrambled on the backs of the bigger ones to get to the food, or the huge-ass ones who seemed to come outa no where and take the food down, followed by a passel of other turtles.
We took to the main street, which would take us to JR Nara Station. I was all kinds of proud of myself for remembering this and also that we could get to Kintetsu Nara Station if we went down one of the side streets. Of course, I can’t claim it was all due to memory — I had McDonald’s as a landmark. We found this great little Japanese restaurant; okay, so there are lots of great little Japanese restaurants down the shopping street, but this one in particular seemed to have decent prices. I was wicked proud of myself for being able to read bits and pieces of the menu. The lady asked us if we wanted to point to the window, but I think we surprised her a bit by ordering off the menu instead. Woo.
The ride home involved sleeping on my part. Since getting Miho, I’ve been playing lots of Puzzle Quest on the train rides and such, but I was pretty darn tired. I guess Mike was, too. VoW contented herself to writing in her book, and taking pictures of this little beetle. At one point I woke up, and looked around. I was a bit fuzzled, but eventually recognition registered and I realized we were stopped at Fuse. We quickly disembarked from the train since I didn’t know how long we’d been stopped there. It wouldn’t have been so bad if we missed our stop, just turn around and the like, but getting to Fuse is a matter of taking the right train, so I was glad we avoided that.
The afternoon was pretty quiet. Mike and I were pretty tired so we took naps, and Vicki amused herself writing postcards or some such. She and Mike have actually gotten pretty good at navigating the major places around here; Mike was able to get himself to the sushi place, Vicki could make it to the post office and the like. After I had showered and got ready for work, I even wrote her directions to Kinokuniya.
No games for us after I got home from work. I think we watched us some Gilmore Girls and then it was to bed for me. I was still kinda bummed that I couldn’t get the Tuesday off like I’d wanted (I had TOEIC training so the swap didn’t get approved), but it was a split so it wasn’t gonna be a total loss. I agreed to meet them for lunch at Slices and we were trying to plan seeing Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End after work.
Yup. They were definitely managing since they were there waiting for me at Exit 25 when I got done with the first half of my split. Mike and Anna were in charge of finding ticket information since Matt forgot to do so the night before. Rob met us at Slices and it was a decent afternoon. Not as rainy as Friday. I think I ate too much, though ‘cuz afterwards alls I really wanted to do was go home and sleep or chill, but Yoss needed to go back to DenDen Town for some stuff. I lead them back to Nippombashi, and it turned out that that was pretty much all that was needed. Mike said he’d meet us back at the house, and that was that.
It turned out that we wouldn’t be able to see the movie Tuesday night after all since the times didn’t quite coincide with our work schedule. It was no major loss, but it left us with an open night. I invited my Kuya and Anna back to the house for a bit. Much to my horror, when we got there Yoss and VoW were watching Tru Calling. They were amused by watching it with the subtitles, as they pointed out some of the strangest things like “tense music” and “tense music intensifies”. I hafta admit, that was kinda amusing…but still. It’s Tru Calling. And yes, I know. I own the whole series. *sigh* Admittedly, if they had been allowed to continue with the show, I woulda been interested to see where they took it. I still maintain that Jason Priestely sucked the life out of the show; and it prolly didn’t help that in season 2 there were like four cast members. Anyway…
Wednesday was pretty lazy. I guess Mike and Vicki stayed up pretty late watching Tru and the former didn’t stir until about noon or so. Vicki has had this thing about getting donuts from Mr. Donut, so I’m pretty sure we had some of those to munch on. We weren’t supposed to meet Matt and Steve for the movie until 3, so of course, there was more Tru to be watched while I sat in the corner and played my DS.
The movie wasn’t bad. It was Ladies’ Day, so VoW and I only hadda pay 1000 yen, so that was definite bonus. Honestly, I’m not as invested in the Pirates movies as everyone else I know. It was a fun movie. I didn’t have to see it in the theater, but it wasn’t bad. I was slightly disappointed by the two movies I have seen in Japanese theaters so far; hopefully Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix will make up for it.
Matt and I took them to a 280 afterwards so they could get that experience out of the way. Not like it’s the greatest of experiences or anything, but it’s certainly living in Japan type culture. We were gonna try to find a Kobe beef place, but Mike said he could get that back home.
When we got back to the house, of course, they put in more Tru. At least there were at the end of the season so it wasn’t long before we could play us some Citadels. I think it’s funny that I always forget how to play the game; I mean, I have some vague memories of what to do, but I’m never really confident about ‘em. ‘Twas a good round. While we were playing, I remembered why I had been bummed about leaving home in January. I miss my friends. I had mentioned earlier that I really didn’t want to permanently go home any time soon ‘cuz there wasn’t anything there for me. After I made my observation about how I missed everyone, Mike chimed in with, “Maybe that’s reason enough to go back. Chris could probably get you a job at 211 as a T.A. and then you could try for England.” I hafta admit, it’s not a bad suggestion. But I can see myself being pressured by my parents to stay. I think it’s better for me now to stay in Japan, at least until I’m positive about what I’m going to do next.
It was gettin’ kinda late, and for whatever reason, I was kinda tired. So I made some shells and cheese for Mike and left them to finish watching more Tru. I still shake my head about it.
Wednesday consisted of packing and a brief walk to Mr. Donut for breakfast. Like I said, Vicki seemed to enjoy it. (It was between Mr. Donut and Starbuck’s for breakfast mostly. I got Mike onto the cinnamon scones.) After that, it was to OCAT and the bus.
They hid money in my wallet for utilities. I knew it was useless to try and get them to take it back, so I hadda keep it. They said they had a good visit, and I’m glad they came. It was a fun week.
When I got home to the empty house, I was kinda bummed. It was nice to have it full of people and such, especially good friends.