I feel the need to blog...

So I just said to Ingrid, "I feel the need to blog." I am, incidentally, using two hands for this one, because it IS just that good. And I realize that there is no one yet reading this, because I have not kept up with my blogishness for quite some time, and have only just recently (last night) decided to begin to keep it up again as I will be traveling for quite some years very soon (Sept) and this might be read by someone other than Ingrid once people start reading my blog. Either that or it will simply melt into the oblivion of an internet-recorded interesting day....

It all started with Noah's Bagels. Innocently, I asked the cashier if I could get an empty cup with a lid in which we would pour one of the girls' milk so she wouldn't spill it. The cashier, ostensibly dumbfounded, asked, "a cup?" "Yes," I replied. "Just an empty cup with a lid so that the little girl over there (gesturing toward our table) doesn't spill her milk." "You mean like this?" the cashier asks, holding up an enormous soda cup. "Um, no, do you have anything smaller?" "Um, I dunno. Let's see..." The cashier stepped back and began looking under the counter for several minutes. "Why don't you give her one of the small coffee cups," a lady in line behind me suggested. "There are lids by the soda fountain." "So, like this one?" the cashier asked, holding up a small empty cup. "That will do juuuust fine," I said. WOW. And "Can I get a cup with a lid?" has now entered our family vernacular for sales people who apparently have no idea how they happened to end up behind a counter wearing a bright yellow hat. Needless to say, Ingrid gave them a pseudonym instead of "Ingrid," fearing that its Scandinavianness would overwhelm the poor girl.

From there, we (Ingrid and I) went shopping. Somehow, we lost all sense of reality and just stood in the aisles and STARED at baubles and tops in the Sixteen Dollar Store, Target, and the Buffalo Exchange. Did I mention that it was at least 70 degrees out, on the 23 December (a.k.a Christmas Adam, thank you Chloe)?! And speaking of reality, when we visited Starbucks to purchase Brewing Equipment, we met Reality, who is another member of the "Yellow Hat Club." We went from him not having a clue which machine was which, what the prices were, how to find said prices, whether we could put something on hold, and then leaving with a "see you later then," from Reality.

So in the land of fantasy, we met Ingrid's neighbor, Dave. A 52-year-old quasi Hippie ex-truck driver who has "roof access" and the greatest view of the sunset over Long Beach harbor and Catalina EVER. He took some of his "medicine," then regaled us for quite some time with stories and insights into life as we watched the sun dip down and the moon turn full and bright in a purple sky. Any day with Dave is a fun day, perhaps because he has no idea what day it actually is. He asked what day it was, and if it was Christmas or not, and then confessed his dark secret that he deeply loves Broadway musicals. Picture a chain-smoking, incessant-coffee drinking, mismatched ex-trucker confessing a love of musicals. And once he put it together that we were sisters (we later specified the air by clarifying step-sisters), commented, "Your mom must be HOT." Ah Dave...

We did go back to Starbucks, incidentally, but Reality was not there. It was all Fantasy. Or, more correctly, Jason, who asked if the machine was all we were getting this evening. "Not unless it happens to come with free drinks!" I flippantly quipped. "For you, anything." So, we got free drinks, an invitation to San Fransisco (he's moving there tomorrow...in about 6 hours, actually), an email address, and a HIlarious walk home. So now, we sip our beverages, the machine needs to be wrapped, and we're watching "Uncle Buck," a.k.a. the greatest movie EVER!

Merry Christmas and Happy Return o' the Blog!