My week has been very busy with various sorts of shopping. The primary sort is for books...but this time I actually got them! My last cocky deal-related post was premature, as it turns out, because only one of those four deals actually came through. I was beginning to develop a complex. But this week I bought 3 books, two of which are quirky little originals I thought I wouldn't be allowed to bid on.
One of them is set on a ranch in eastern Washington, and opens when a riderless horse appears out of a snowstorm on the heroine's land. She saddles up and goes to look for the fallen rider, who turns out to be an Mexican ranch hand on the run from immigration. The two of them start up an unlikely friendship that blossoms into romance--and there's tons of horsey stuff to keep me happy.
The other is a novel set in Brooklyn, and is about a single mom who discovers an ATM that gives her extra cash, with the onscreen admonition to "Use It Well." How she spends it, and what that does to her life, is surprising...particularly when she has to figure out what to do with a $10,000 bill.
The last was the easiest deal, because it's the third book from an Irish author whose first book, PACK UP THE MOON, has just come out in the U.S. It's doing very well already, especially at Target. Of course I'm happy when any of my books do well, but it's always a plus when you love the book, and this one is special. I recommend it wholeheartedly.
The other shopping was for Gordon's birthday, and was slightly less successful. He asked me for a car converter for his iPod, but he wanted a very particular kind...which they don't make any more. So I got the slightly different kind, and will have to exchange it if it doesn't work. But I think I've been to every Best Buy in the city--all of them are equidistant from my office, it seems, and I have time to hit only one in a lunch hour, so it was taking forever. Amusingly, at Thursday's Best Buy, they clearly used to carry the item but had sold out. The sales clerk helping me told me there were still some in the Chelsea store, and to help me, he ripped the plastic tag with the SKU number off the wall! It's in my purse now, and I'm sure I'll forget all about it until I replace this bag and think, "Did I steal something from Best Buy?"
OK, I'm off to complete my glamorous week by cleaning my disgusting house. I've crossed "cat box" and "sweeping" off the list, but have been utterly unable to face "laundry," "wash kitchen floor," or "work room." Where's a fairy godmother or a magic broom when you need one?
Garden Fresh in Mountain View, that is. I've flirted with Merit Vegetarian, but I still prefer Garden Fresh. Even when it's 100 degrees out, and they don't have air conditioning.
Somehow on Wednesday I ended up meeting a friend for both lunch and dinner. It went reasonably well, from the vegan point of view, except for what I would have to admit is my biggest bugaboo: I usually don't think about asking if a restaurant's pasta has egg in it until I'm writing these daily food diaries.
I'm feeling sort of recursive.
We always had crazy birthday cakes when I was growing up. My mother appears to have graduated to cupcakes. Here are the sleeping kid cupcakes she made for the kids for whom she's babysitting tonight. Where's mine?
Hakuho and Koto'oshu won to stay undefeated. Toyonoshima lost to Takamisakari, leaving them the only leaders.
Asashoryu and Kisenosato won to stay one back, and Kisenosato faces Koto'oshu tomorrow.
Kotomitsuki and Kaio won, but Chiyotaikai lost.
6-0: Hakuho, Koto'oshu
5-1: Asashoryu, Kisenosato
4-2: Kotomitsuki, Ama, Goeido, Roho
3-3: Kaio, Chiyotaikai, Kotoshogiku, Asasekiryu, Futeno, Takamisakari, Homasho
0-6: Baruto, Tochiozan
Match of the day tomorrow: Koto'oshu vs. Kisenosato
