Today was (surprisingly) fairly productive. I went to my morning one on one class and we spent the hour and a half talking about family and showing pictures to one another. That was nice. I was beat from staying up late so when Christine called me to say she had a migraine and couldn't meet me to go to Raj (the shopping center we have yet to go to), I was somewhat relieved. Being sick has really done a number on me too. So, I took the opportunity to take a 4 hour nap. I woke up and had the rest of my homemade chicken soup and caught up on emails. I called the temp agency back home. Ironically, the only thing they have at the moment is in Risk Management (my old department) at Paychex. Of course. Well, they said they'll keep their eye out and I'll just have to stalk them for something when I get home. I have been writing a lot lately and am thinking that I might want to start working on something that might actually have the possibility of getting published in the future. I'm not sure if I could do an actual novel, as I'd like to, but maybe a short essay or short story for a literary magazine. I'd be super psyched to be published anywhere right about now.
So, after relaxing and fiddling on the computer, I decided to force myself out into the world of Polish speakers and go shopping for pants at Carrefour Galleria (near my house). But when I finally ventured outside, the cold air hit me and I felt a much-needed surge of energy. So, I decided I was going to try and take the bus to Raj on my own. I bought a ticket and somehow, I made it there fairly easy.
I shopped like a mad woman. I wanted to buy a nice tie for Jon but realized quickly that I have NO idea what a good tie looks like. I wanted to find something different but was afraid I might accidentally buy something clown-like and he's got such a good heart, I know he'd still wear it. I couldn't do that to him. So I bought something else instead but know he'll like it. I also got a little something for his niece and nephew for Christmas. Then, it was all me. (My family got stuff last year.) I bought a pair of (totally unnecessary) biker chick boots like my friend Viv was sportin' last year. I love them. And I bought the pair of dress pants I wanted to get for tomorrow. Well, now that I put it down in writing, I guess that's not too much but for some reason, I felt like I couldn't stop spending money. (Probably because I stopped at the Zakopane kiosk three times before I actually got the gifts I was thinking about. That poor girl was having to get up every time I came around looking.) Oh! And so odd. I used my credit card to buy the dress pants and when I showed it to the girl (she knew from before that I didn't speak Polish), she smiled and was trying to tell me that I had to go down to some other store to use it. Weird...I had to take a little piece of paper with the name of the store and the amount and bring it down to some children's clothing store a few doors down, take the receipt and then return to the original store to claim my pants. That was definitely something new to me.
On my way "home", I decided to boycott the bus and walk. It was only twenty minutes or so but it felt great. I haven't had a good long walk by myself in a while and I think I sorta missed it. I stopped in a church on the way back but it was too busy and I felt weird with all my shopping bags. I figured I went to Mass on Sunday and will go again tomorrow; I can wait. (I don't know what is with my recent obsession with attending church...)
As it stands for this weekend, I'm off to Rzeszow tomorrow to celebrate All Saint's Day with my family. I bought candles for my great grandmother's grave and another for my great aunt's husband's. On Friday, the plan is that Christine is going to meet me in Rzeszow and we're going to head off to the Ukraine to meet up with one of the participants of the summer program last July. She's a sweetheart and I'm very excited to have her show me her country. I do hope that works out.
So above is a picture of my candle purchases. The two on the left are for my great grandmother and the one on the right is for my great uncle.
No comments:
Post a Comment