Snail's Pace

Been in a strange state of 'surreal' lately. As many of you know, school finished last Monday, so I haven't been going into Carleton every day. I've been working at Coles and Counterpoint, and it's going well. But it seems that I'm just in this suspended state, waiting for something to happen.
I suppose, I have my History of France final on Monday, which is 'something'.
What else?
Last night, on my way home from work, Rachel called, and wanted to know if I could go shopping at the Rideau Centre with her.
Well, of course I said yes, even though it was 4:00 and I had been out of the house since 8:00 that morning.
Because of the weather (and because she drives like a snail**) it took her almost an hour and a half to get to my house.
It then took us an additional hour and twenty minutes to get to the Rideau Centre.
We looked around, went to Chapters, came back to the Rideau Centre...I spilled my completely FULL Starbucks all over the Yogen Fruz counter (I felt terrible....not necessarily for the mess, but for the $5.00 coffee that was wasted. If I had a straw, I might have sucked it up) and then we went to the Body Shop.
Now, we were looking around - Rachel's friend Sarah needed a gift for her fiance's sister. We were wondering why the salespeople were watching us so closely. It was bordering on bizarre.
I stood there, at the counter, and finally asked what time the mall closed.
"At nine," the girl said.
Yeah. It was nine-twenty.
I felt evil. Especially because when people are browsing through my store when we're CLOSED I get very angry.
Then it took us an hour to get to the Boston Pizza in Barrhaven, where we ate dinner at 10:30.
I got home and crashed.
But I got a new book!

**not that snail driving is a bad thing, Rach. You know....it just....takes awhile.

Personal Assistance

So, as you know, I work at Coles bookstore. My catch-phrase of choice is "Hi, is there anything I can help you find?' or "Hi, is there something specific you're looking for?' Generally this is met with 'Yes, I need_______' or 'No thanks, just looking'. Occasionally, it's met with a 'Do I look like I can't find my way 'round a damn bookstore?' To which the answer is always 'Obviously, or else I wouldn't have asked you.'**
But last night, I received a much different response.
So, I was on break. Walking through the mall, cup of coffee in hand, rocking out to the Christmas tunes. As I rounded a corner, I saw a lady looking arund confused, as if trying to locate something. Before I knew it, my favourite catch-phrase fell out of my mouth.
"Hi, is there anything I can help you find?We have lots of great promotions on tod-"
And then I froze. I was in the middle of the food court. The lady was deciding what to eat. We WEREN'T in Coles.
I smiled. "You know, uh, looking for a particular store?" Nice cover, Alicia. Real smooth.
"No," she snapped.
I ran away. Quickly.

** I''m not actually allowed to say this, believe it or not. So usually it's a 'All right, well, let me know if I can help'. I promise.

Snow Day

Yesterday marked the very first snow day of my university career. I woke up, all set to go to my last day of classes (before the Christmas break), and there was 24 cm of snow on the ground. Now, in Barrie, this wouldn't faze anyone. But here, it seemed like the city shut down. Buses were cancelled, there were millions of delays, and nothing seemed to be running properly.
So, rather than attend class from 10-4 and work from 5-11, I stayed home, cozy in my pyjamas, baking cookies and muffins, and writing like mad.
Today was much the same. I ventured out to work with Leo at Counterpoint, but other than that, I've been warm and snug in the house.
Only twenty days until Christmas.
And it's my boy's birthday tomorrow.