Today's accomplishments - Saturday errands

Dragged myself out of bed and it was only 9:30 - not bad.

One load of white laundry, one load of dark, and got all the dishes done, including the things that have to be washed by hand.

Turned off the TV - trying to have a TV free day, the exceptions were some home decorating programs while exercising and a little bit of Fast Times at Ridgemont High while eating dinner. Next step is Facebook free day, and I will have so much spare time I won't know what to do with myself.

Exercised at the little gym in my apartment complex - a bit of treadmill, a bit of hand weights. Definitely did not push myself to the limit but it's been more than a week since I last met with any professional trainer since my last one chucked a spazz and quit the gym I've been going to - he left a phone message to see if I was interested in training privately, but I don't know if his regime is what I'm looking for, and it doesn't really make sense for me to pay extra when I already get gym membership for free at work, and another gym membership that is already paid for.

I did realize that exercise, especially pretty intense exercise that you do in a serious way, is good for the ego. I've been walking around with the knowledge that I'm going in the direction of being fit and strong with lots of cardiopulmonary stamina. This makes me feel like I merit attention. I admit it, and I think I've talked about this before - if the stereotype of men is that they think about sex every three seconds, then the corresponding stereotype of women is that they worry about their attractiveness every three seconds, and I had to admit it but I think it's true. And so, when every three seconds the worry would come up, then I could rest back with satisfaction on the knowledge that I was becoming babe-like and did not need to worry. Now I do, again. I was at lunch and reading a book and felt my sides being a bit muffin-like over the top of my jeans, and wasn't able to rely on my intense training regime for comfort that it would soon be under control. So I may have to rethink this whole thing yet again. But at least today I got out there and did something. Did find my lungs burned after only 10 minutes of treadmill intervals, and I think it's still just fall allergies - maybe even just from bonfires of fallen leaves. So, for that reason I'm looking forward to the first snow, and we'll see if things are better. So much to manage. Sigh. But I'm working on it.

Went and bought fancy wine for my party tomorrow, at the fancy wine shop near me. Since I had been there a few weeks ago, I knew exactly what reds to ask for, most of them by name. For the whites I knew what grapes and what combination of flavors (dry, smooth, citrussy, etc), but had him recommend the particular bottles to me. I love, love, love knowing what I'm talking about when I'm in a fancy wine shop. Most of it you pick up just from living in Australia, like knowing about cricket and Parliamentary models of government. But then some of it was hard work from going to fancy restaurants and special event fancy meals with fancy menus, and days spent tooling around wineries and then reading that James Halliday book on varietals in the evenings before going to sleep, as if it was a novel. It goes in. I love that I can keep that knowledge with me, and immediately start talking the talk in a brand new shop in a brand new town in a brand new country. I love that I knew that it mattered that they had Reidel glasswear, the first time I went in there. It makes me feel old, and experienced, but also like I have been living my life well in some respects and have something of value I can take away from my travels.

I was aiming for the grocery store right after this to get the rest of the stuff for the party, but hadn't had lunch yet, and so was aiming for the Tom's Diner for a hamburger on the way, but you can't turn left into the road that goes past Tom's from Kensington any more, so I turned left on College Ave and was aiming to circle back and go to Tom's the right way, but found myself headed downtown. Ah well. I went down a road I'd never been down before, Talulah St. I remember last time I was in Tom's for a late afternoon hamburger, I noticed a street sign on the inside of the diner, and photos of their original location, which was somewhere on Talulah St. So I drove up it to see if I could find the spot. Did not, because it was all residential, with 60's boring ranch style houses down near me, gradually becoming more historical square wooden Wisconsiny farmhouse-houses. All the houses had mature trees, and all of them were all colors from canary yellow to orange to pink to deep red. I noticed how the leaves on the ground are the thing that is making the town look autumy. I saw a couple walking, the guy in a hooded sweatshirt, with leaves on the lawns all around them and it stabbed at my heart - this combination of aesthetic appreciation of the now and stabbing nostalgia for my childhood and the landscape that I've been away from for so long, and pining for a future time when I would be on a walk in these leaves with someone I love and missing them now. At one point I crossed a familiar road on the diagonal when I thought I had been going parallel to it. I knew enough to pick my way back to a road that crosses the river and then goes up a hill into town.

I parked where I always park, down the road a bit from the park and just out of range of the parking meters, which are still active on a Saturday. It was cold, especially walking on College Ave itself with the wind whipping straight at you from somewhere near Missoula. I regretted not bringing a scarf, was glad I had brought some gloves, and thought back to weekend afternoons when I first walked this walk when I had just moved here, and what a startling shock the temperatures were. I took a shortcut through the independent bookstore and bought something on the way through. I headed for the groovy cafe where the college kids hang out, the one with the yellow awning whose name I never remember. There were so many groovy college kids that there were no tables free, so I left again and headed to my usual haunt of the Copper Rock.

But stopped at a gifty shop that seemed to have furniture that might be antique. I asked the very extremely nice proprietresses if they knew a good refinisher, and the one who did got the phonebook out and copied out his name and phone number for me. In a similar gifty store like this in Sydney, the clerks, although they'd probably be helpful, would also be full of attitude. After getting the refinisher's number, I strolled around the shop for a bit, and wanted most of what they had. Ended up just buying a scented candle, because they had one burning near the cash register - I thought it might be "pumpkin pie spice" and thought it would be lovely and autumny in my house, but it turned out to be "banana nut bread". Before putting it in a bag for me (a paper bag with little handles), she wrapped it in decorative tissue paper, so it was like an elegant present. What a girly thing to buy, but it made me happy.

The Copper Rock was packed as well - hanging out in a cafe is just the thing to do on a wet, overcast chilly October Saturday afternoon - but my timing worked out and I scored a booth all to myself. Tried to order a short black - I said "I'll have an espresso coffee" and made a little "short black" gesture with my hand. "A 'Rocky Mountain High'?" the little boy behind the counter said. "Um, ha ha," I said in return, and looked in puzzlement over my shoulder at their coffee menu on the wall. "A shot of espresso in a coffee? Just the twelve ounces?" Wait. This was a question they ask for long blacks. "No, just the short..." and I did the hand gesture again. "Oh, an espresso." Turns out an "espresso coffee" is a long black with a short black in it, or a long black made with coffee instead of hot water. Not what I wanted, although I keep it in mind for the day when it's what I need. I explained to the little boy that I'd lived in Australia for a long time and all the coffees are called different things. This was an easier conversation that it usually is, and I was glad that I explained my space-alien-ness to him. He said that Sydney is someplace he really wants to go. I hope he gets there, but he probably won't remember what all the coffees are called.

Read a book, drank the short black/espresso when it arrived, had a fabulous sandwich called a "Mussolini" which is chicken and sundried something or other on a grilled panini with some other stuff melted in it. Tried to feel fabulous and not worry about my attractiveness. Felt quite at home, which again is a change from the first few weekends when I was hanging out downtown. Stayed until it was actually about 5pm.

Made it to the grocery store to shop for the party, and bought all the same things I used to have for my birthday parties in Surry Hills. I don't know how many people will attend this party tomorrow, might be as few as three or four although I invited 40 and included partners and children. I have enough to feed an army. I always get stuff I like in case there are leftovers. I got some crappy wine at the grocery store to supplement the fancy wine. I brought it in my car to the venue where the party will be held, and kept having flashes of being part of the family who's getting ready for a wedding the next day. "Are you all going over now? Should we take the stuff over tonight and set it up? Sure, I can just run get ice in the morning. Will it be alright overnight? Sure, we've got the only key, what would happen?" It was a delightful feeling.

I was reading a friend's blog recently (hi, Bunny), and he gave a shout out to his favorite time-management guru, and I went to the said guru's website and read the first chapter of his new book which is online there. Naturally all the really helpful secrets are in the book itself and not available for free online, but the little nuggetlette of wisdom that I took away from the intro was when he was talking about our irrational brain. The rational brain can make all sorts of plans or long-term objectives but the irrational brain classifies activities into threats or delicious treats, and then avoids them or spends too much time procrastinating doing them, in turn. I usually hate grocery shopping and sometimes avoid it for weeks even though I have nothing but dry rice noodles and a few sugar packets in my cupboard to eat. However, shopping for a party that I'm throwing is a delicious treat, and I loved it.

Now I'm home doing iPod management in anticipation of setting up some playlists for the party. I got a new set of Klipsch iPod speakers just for the occasion, and I'm excited to be able to DJ, but there will be some hard decisions to make - "What kind of music will work well with this crowd" is just as puzzling a question as "are these enough dips?", when you haven't hosted a party for this particular crowd before.

Tomorrow will tell. More later!