Day Off

I took the day off yesterday. I figured that leaving work on a stretcher day before was an automatic green light for a sick day and I would be stupid not to accept the opportunity. After calling in around 8*, I went back to sleep until about 11. I spent a little time deciding what I wanted to do, then I put on some clothes and set off for the art store. Along the way I leisurely browsed a couple of shops** and got some lunch.*** Then I got a little lost**** but found my way again. I bought my supplies and headed home. On the way, I stopped in a few more stores.***** Since my neck was really stiff, I treated myself to a massage.****** Then I bought food for dinner and made dinner,******* which we ate while watching a movie.********


*even though I knew they weren't expecting me.

**a used CD and used clothing store, did not see anything I liked.

***I passed by Piroshky's, a small cafe that sells nothing but piroshky (bread with filling), so I went in because I like piroshky. The piroshky I selected combined three of my favorite foods: bread, mushrooms, and cabbage. Of course it was delicious. They have many meat-filled options too, so I'm going to take David there sometime. It's next to the Jamba Juice, so he won't complain.

****I ended up walking past the same hospital I was in the night before. Some guy was canvasing and asked me if I had some time to talk with him about the Democratic Party. I was still eating my delicious piroshky and was on a mission, so obviously the answer was no. He said something snarky as I passed. What sort of jerk canvasses outside a hospital and makes rude comments when people ignore him? Of course no one is going to have time to talk with him. People entering and exiting hospitals have other things on their minds. "Excuse me, do you have a couple of minutes to spare to learn more about Barak Obama while your sick loved one waits inside and could possibly die while you're out here listening to me talk about something Obama will do for you if elected, which he probably won't do anyhow since he's a politician and most of them will say anything to get elected?" No.

*****A pet food store: left with catgrass seeds and two free samples of cat food. A shoe store having a going-out-of-business sale: replaced my worn-out gym shoes. A craft store: bought a pamphlet of sock patterns. I was passed by a policeman on a segway: if I had been thinking clearer, I would have taken a picture. It reminded me of Robocop or something.

******I can't really afford it and feel guilty about having spent so much money in one day, but my neck really hurt from falling and stress, and the massage parlor had a half-off offer to first-time customers.

******* I found a recipe for a brown rice and garbanzo bean salad in a QFC handout. It was really good! I made some substitutions and halved the recipe and ended up with this: 1/2 cup cooked brown rice, a can of garbanzos, a fennel bulb (I might use celery next time), 2 chopped green onions, 8 chopped green olives, 1/4 cup dried cranberries, 1/8 cup chopped pistachios, and feta cheese over mixed greens, tossed with equal parts balsamic vinegar and honey. Lamb was on sale, so I (over)grilled some of that for David and grilled some tofu for me. Dessert was grilled peaches and plums topped with honey and vanilla ice cream. Picking up on a theme? My mom gave me a panini press, and I've been having fun grilling things.

******** "In Bruges": good movie! The characters are all well-developed, and even though they are all killers, you don't dislike any of them; even the "bad" guy is quite likeable.