Lunch with Anne

Lunch with my friend Anne this weekend, at the Middle Way Café, served three purposes.

The first was to finally meet her new boyfriend, Sam. He is a very nice guy = I approve! I’m sure she needed my approval, and would have dumped him on the spot had I not approved. And yes, I’m being sarcastic. Thankfully, we’ll never have to test that particular hypothesis because I do in fact like him. I am also very happy for her in having found what seems to me to be the last decent guy in the entire state of Alaska – but that could just be my 20+ years of frustration speaking. We won’t go in to that at this time.

The second was to exchange Christmas gifts. I had found a few models for her; in the hope that it might be something she would enjoy doing. She is very crafy and is always coming up with unique and off-the-wall art projects for herself. These models, of various famous buildings around the world, may prove to inspire a few more crafty ideas: who knows? In return, she made for me some of her absolutely scrumptious chocolates! Thank goodness she only makes them for the holidays; otherwise I would be a much rounder person than I am. She also included in my gift bag some German chocolates sent to her by her parents, which I will have to hide from my cat Djuna who apparently REALLY likes German chocolate (who knew?). I also received a book on Living Green, which will come in quite handy as I continue on my personal quest of reducing my carbon footprint, thereby reducing my heating & electricity bills in the process.

The third purpose in meeting with Anne this weekend was to discuss my 20-hour layover in London this coming November. I know – I have many months ahead of me to get things planned out. But, I am SO EXCITED I could just spit. Anne has been to London many times, and knows exactly where I should go in my limited time, so has lined me up with a walking tour and a list of things to check out (see previous posting on this blog).

After lunch, and after Sam left to get his car worked on at the garage next door, Anne and I retired to the bookstore to browse the travel section. We pulled just about every London Travel Guide they had and sat down in at a corner table to go over them. We chose the perfect one for me; a pocket sized one containing not only a map of the area, but also a map of the underground as well as a listing of possible hotels and places to eat. Added to my purchase was a travel guide on Kenya as well as the book “Out of Africa” and we parted ways.

It was a good day.