Monday, March 19, 2007

Here I sit, on a grey Sunday afternoon, contemplating the things men contemplate when they take a rare moment for introspective reverie. Everyone is asleep, and I should be, too, but alas, I value a certain amount of self-time. In fact, there's nothing more peaceful for me than reading a book or sitting at the computer when the rest of the house is under the spell of a deep and restful slumber. Times like these are rare now, and I treasure them.

So. It's just after 3:00 on Sunday afternoon, and I'm already starting Monday's blog posting. How about a recap of the fantastic weekend we had? Okay.

Friday. School, again. But hey, only 9 more classes left until the end of the semester (9 sessions of each class, that is, for a total of 36). No, wait, I just checked my class schedule and there are only 8 more classes left, because Good Friday is thrown in there. And no, I haven't stopped looking forward to it yet.

Nothing spectacularly exciting went on; my sister accompanied me to the afternoon sessions, which was fun. We were, as usual, trading witty banter throughout the first class, which made a boring class a lot more enjoyable. Good times.

On Friday night, it was Slurpees and Carcassonne again--the usual Friday night fare. I lost both times, but that is the way of things, I'm afraid. It is my lot in life to lose at board games, and that's okay. I win every once in a while, just enough to keep me coming back for more.

Saturday. Big day, with many exciting things happening. Our main task was to take Laura to the airport for 3:30, which meant leaving here right after lunch. We also wanted to make a stop at a mall beforehand. I needed new sunglasses, you see, and hey, I wasn't getting an argument from either of the ladies for going to a mall.

Off we went, then, to the Deerfoot Outlet Mall right near the airport. Good times. I found my sunglasses, and Steph found an item she's been looking for for quite some time now: a nice winter coat. Actually, saying that doesn't quite give enough emphasis to how arduous this search was for her. As you know, she's quite small, and finds it difficult to find off-the-rack items that fit her. Added to that difficulty is the fact that we don't have much money to spend on things like clothes, so the ones that might fit her are way out of our price range. For the entire winter, she had been searching, but with no luck. I told her that we should just suck it up and pay more for a coat that will last, but she, in her shopping wisdom, told me that it was possible to get a coat at a reasonable price that would fit her if she was diligent enough (a statement made by someone with clearly more experience than I in such matters). I'll never doubt her again.

Evidently March is the time to clear out the stock of winter items, so it was good timing for sales. She found an amazing wool coat that was originally $160, marked down to $39. Oh, and it was also 25% off the last sale price. It's an incredible coat--looks really great on her, and fits like a glove, right off the rack--and at that kind of price, you can't lose.

Here's the thing, though, that bugs me about that. I'm no communist; I believe that capitalism is not a bad system. Yes, it is often abused, but as they say, the solution to abuse is not disuse, but proper use. Or at least, that's what I say. Anyway. This coat started off at $160, and six months later, it's suddenly worth a quarter of that? Why? Did the wool decline in value? Will it never again be cold enough to wear a warm coat? Does the whole fashion of coats change so dramatically year over year that this coat will be hopelessly out of style next winter? No, to all of those questions. Why do people ever buy full-price items, anyway?

Again, I cite my lack of any reasonable shopping experience to find the logic of shopping itself. Perhaps I need to study things a little bit more closely to understand the motivations of full-price buyers. It's one of those things, I think, that us males will never be able to comprehend. My idea of shopping is derived from the ancestral hunter-gatherer motif--identify what it is you need, locate it, purchase it, and move out. Swift, sure attacks, that's what I'm about. Oh well.

And, I must mention, I hold no ill regard for those who choose to pay full price as a regular habit. If you have the cash to do that, then good for you. In fact, please continue, because it's your season-specific shopping that allows poor people like us to take advantage of the fantastic sales in off-season months. Keep it up, then.

After the mall, we did manage to drop Laura off on time, and I'm assuming she made her flight because we haven't had any harried phone calls that she had the wrong day or some such thing. All is well, then.

On the way back home, we hit the Superstore, again. Used the new self check-out, as we were only looking for a few items. I don't know why I enjoy making them do less work, but there's something gratifying about checking out your own groceries. Okay, maybe it's just me. But it was fun nonetheless.

In the evening, I was treated to a rare delight: my Canucks were on CBC. It hasn't happened much this semester, for some reason, but it was good to see them again. Beat the Wings 4-1, so it was even a good ending. Steph fell asleep near the end of the game, a fact that I only discovered when I made a comment about the game and was greeted with silence in return. Awkward, but not the first time I have had a conversation with myself, especially during a hockey game.

Sunday. That brings us to today. This morning, we went back to the church we went to two weeks ago (it meets in the elementary school just down the street from us) because Prairie's Ambassador choir and Jubilation wind ensemble (which sounds like a euphemism, but isn't) was doing a program in the service. Really talented bunch, those guys, and fun to see. The only thing that bugged me was that a couple of the winds (the alto sax and clarinet) were somewhat out of tune, but only on some notes. But when it happened, it was pretty blatant. I also remembered one thing I need to do before I die: direct a choir. There's something about choir directing that makes me happy. But that's just me.

After church, it was time for lunch, and then naps, which takes us up to this exact moment. This afternoon, I'm going to a barbeque (yes!) hosted by one of my teachers and his wife, which seems like it would be weird but isn't, considering he just came out of 22 years of youth ministry and having people over all the time. I admit, it does blur the line somewhat, but that's okay because he's such a cool guy. And you can tell he's from BC, because he'll barbeque any time of year. I'll give you the full update when we return in a few hours.

Later. Back from the BBQ. It's funny to go to a social event with people you don't really know at all, save in the context of your 3 hours-per-week interaction in the classroom. Things got off to a bit of a slow start, but warmed up near the end. There was a pool table, so that's where the guys got to, and the ladies, well, they're actually good at starting conversations. Good times by the end of it, like I said.

One thing that didn't disappoint: the burgers. It's really comforting to eat a barbequed hamburger when it's snowing outside. There's something, I don't know, irreverent about it. Personally, I could eat BBQ hamburgers every day, and I haven't had one since, well, last summer is probably when it was. Back in BC, I'd be BBQ-ing weekly; here, we don't even have a BBQ to use. It really just made me want to go home.

With that, welcome to another week--I'm glad you stopped by, and I hope you'll be a regular visitor over the course of it. See you tomorrow.