The drive

I'll just start off by saying that I legitimately didn't have to run today because I did get my period for real, so I don't feel like such a wanker for missing the run, though I will try and make it up at some point this week. Even though my next four days are booked in the evenings. I laugh when I remember being concerned that I would be sitting around with my thumb up my ass once I moved over here. But we're not here to talk about my menstrual cycle, unless you really want to.
Checked in with Michael as I was en route to Abbotsford to see how the whole running in pajamas/pancake breakfast went. He said that he put on his pajamas over his running pants and then watched ten people pile into the store - none of whom were wearing pajamas - so he ducked into an alleyway and took off his pajamas and saved them for after the run. And then the post-run pancakes didn't go so well because the guy could only make a couple at a time and when you've got a store full of hungry runners... well, the chef was lucky he lived to talk about it.

An hour later I'm in Abbotsford. I haven't been in years, and when I had been it was to go to what my brother refers to as "Old Abbotsford". This would mean that my brother refers to the area in which he lives as "New Abbotsford". Are you with me so far? Okay. The place reminded me of Nanaimo. It was nice: every store, restaurant and coffee joint that you could want was no more than a ten minute drive away. He lives in an upscale area with a lot of development going on up the hill and he says his neighbors are friendly. He's on a quarter of an acre and his house is, well, it's a house. He has tenants in the suite in the basement. He has a Hallowe'en ghost hanging in the living room. Quite evidently he bought this to celebrate Hallowe'en (it only cost fourteen dollars, he told me repeatedly), so I was somewhat perplexed as to why it was still hanging in his living room, replete with a Santa hat. Apparently he's named it, but I can't remember the name. And the goal is to decorate it for each holiday (Easter's next), but the caveat is that the prior season's decorations cannot be removed. So come Easter, his Hallowe'en ghost will be wearing a Santa hat and will likely be holding a basket of colored eggs. This is what happens when twenty-six year olds own houses.
The main bathroom had a wallpaper border around the ceiling showcasing panda bears. I just don't understand how that happens. I've heard of fish and I've seen ducks (Jay's girlfriend Andrea explained the water connection), but I really don't get the whole panda/bathroom connection. I'm not opposed to it, and I like to keep an open mind and think that perhaps the interior decorator was just way ahead of his time and we'll have a lot of zoo-related bathroom motifs in the future. Perhaps I can incorporate aardvarks into my bathroom. You don't hear much about aardvarks these days.
His television is a 47", so it's bigger than mine, though it didn't look bigger given that his living room is pretty much the size of my entire apartment. Additionally, he has a fireplace and some pink carpeting in one of the bedrooms. Another room is his junk room. When you have a house you can have a junk room. I am maxed out with my single junk drawer and I frequently ask people to take their garbage home with them when they visit me.
It was a good visit. I returned some mats to the Home Depot there and we looked at a two person sauna, but decided against buying it. Then we drove through "Old Abbotsford" which I thought was quaint and I wouldn't mind investigating further some day. Had lunch nearby and I'm pretty sure Iggy Pop was at the table across from us. I stared at him a lot, and they eventually left. We went to this huge development up the road from him and they told us that they expect to build 64,000 houses in the next ten years to accommodate an additional million people or something and I coughed into my hand and said, "housing market crash says what?".
We said our goodbyes and I met up with T and L in Langley. I hadn't seen them for... well, for at least five months since T is five months pregnant. That freaked me out quite a bit. I know two pregnant people right now. I'm not childproofing my apartment! I feel old! Actually, I think the OIM was my "baby": months of preparation to prepare me for a few hours of unbearable agony, the pain of which has subsided from my memory and allowed me to, stupidly, embark on the whole process again. I even have the happy, post race photos to proudly show anyone that's interested.
It was great, as always, to see T and L. We all have such busy schedules and it's hard to connect sometimes, but I don't think any of us are going anywhere. And they both looked fantastic. Sometimes I'm amazed that we graduated together in '94 because, in my mind, they still look remarkably the same.
And now I'm home. A big day. A big, big day. Sleepy. Partially due to the extra-strength Ibuprofen.
I still like my condo. I think the only thing it's missing is some fucking ridiculous wallpaper in the bathroom. Big D was saying that he wanted a couple of objets d'art for his place that espoused a little whimsy or humour. I think aardvark wallpaper might just do it.