2004-03-20 - 6:21 p.m.

"Are they good?" I smiled, and he shrugged and gestured for me to take one, and as I reached over I said, "They look mealy." I tried it, and it was, and so I said, "$2.99 a pound seems a bit much for mealy pears." And he smiled and I went on my way. A little later, I was standing in front of the olive oil when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around, and there he was, stooped over a little bit. He pushed his glasses up so they were sitting on his forehead, thick black horn rims, they were, and he said, "How did you know they were mealy? I went back and looked and looked, and I just can't figure it out."

Heh.

And this morning, I went to the post office to get stamps for the invitations. I had her weigh the sample, and then give me the stamp cost, and then asked for 40 of them. She looked at me, cocked her head, and said, "What about the reply envelopes? Do you have reply envelopes?" I laughed and thanked her, asked her if she wanted to come to my house and address them for me, as I was clearly not up to this task. I spent the next ten minutes listening to her tell me stories of wedding invitation mishaps, and then she and the clerk next to her told me some gossip about the couple that had just left. Like we live in Mayberry RFD.

I really do love this place. The only thing missing is my family. If I could pick them all up and move them to my neighborhood, I would do it in a second. I miss having my family around me, miss being able to stop over unexpectedy at my Mom's for coffee, miss being able to attend all the little things for my cousins, the impromptu family dinners. This seems to me irreconcilable. I can either leave this city that I love so much, or leave those things. I do what I can, of course, but it's not the same. And I feel split down the middle on it. *sigh*

But anyway, today was beautiful, not very warm but blue-skied and sunny, and I had a very productive day, took some clothes to the tailor, bought a pair of boots (it's still winter here, dammit, and I cannot bear to buy strappy sandals that I won't be able to wear for months) got quarters for laundry, ran into an acquaintance at the market, cleaned up my place, and ventured over to L0ehm@nns. I can never buy clothes in those big discount stores, I can't bear the crowds and the disorganization and the digging through the racks. And oh, the crowds. Their shoe department is actually amazingly good, designer shoes at less than half their prices, and in season as well. But there are only one or two small benches, and the aisles are narrow, and everywhere you turn people are squeezing by or hitting you with their bags, stepping right in front of you at the mirror or waiting impatiently for you to move. I did, however, find a fabulous pair of mules and a camel coat, a jacket really, originally $400 and mine, today, for a mere $80. I felt a little thrill when I saw that unexpected third discount ring up, the triumph of finding a treasure among the garbage. It was the last one, wedged between two shearlings, and IN MY SIZE. Score. One of the buttons was a bit loose, and so I took it by my dry cleaner (shutup, so I can't sew on a button) who tightened it up for free! So all around it's been a damn good day. Except for the fact that I'm broke and should not be shopping to begin with. Other than that, though.

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