I imagine it's pretty rare to have the occasion of your car breaking down be the catalyst to a pretty great day. Especially when your car breaks down after you get off nightshift and you're heading back home in -25 degree weather. But that was the case for me today. Luckily I recognized that LGJ was feeling sick before I headed out onto the highway. So I pulled over just in time- my little car's alternator decided to retire after 352,000 kms. Fair enough- I would be tired too. So I called my buddy Robin who lives nearby and also just got off nightshift. No answer. But Tim is home and has not yet jumped in the shower to wash off the night's coal dust, so he comes and tries to give me a boost. No go so he drives me back to my Hinton home where I make arrangements with a repair shop and towtruck. But then Robin calls and says he saw my car and knew I was in trouble, and would I like a ride to Edmonton? Hell yeah!
Turns out he and his wife and little baby were going to Onoway for the day, so Robin comes gets me, hooks up a spare battery so we can get to the shop, and off we go! So I spent the day hanging out with my good friends.
Even though Edmonton is hardly a big city it is still a different world than Hinton, and there's nothing like hanging out with some Hinton folks in Edmonton to remind you of how different. Robin and I overheard the following snippet of a conversation: "And then it was so cold I had to warm my hands with a venti macchiatto when all I really wanted was a grande somethingorotheratti."
Anyways, if you are reading this and you are married to me, you must stop reading now. Everyone else can continue by highlighting the invisible text.
So, Michelle told me what book she wanted me to get her for Christmas so we went to the bookstore to get it for her. Robin bought some books too and he was telling me what they were about. Then he asks me what the one I bought was about, and since I had no idea either I
flipped it over to read the back cover. "It says here it's about this woman who had everything a modern woman could want- a great husband, a beautiful home and a fulfilling career. But she still wasn't happy . . . and . . . uh . . . "
I trail off and look at Robin.
"Uh oh," he says.
Anyways, these are the things I love this weekend:
1. Friends like Robin and Tim
2. Firefly and Serenity. Actually Michelle and I had a huge Firefly marathon last weekend. What a great show and why did no one ever tell me about it before?
3. The Park by Feist and Fly by Nick Drake
4. NOT shovel 5!