Strongly Worded

Today, the World is Flat.

On Friday morning, R. and I ditched work to pick strawberries at a farm not far from the city. R. always brings me joy and comfort, and she bolstered my self-esteem by insisting that the guy weighing produce admired me, despite my unwashed hair and sweat-streaked T-shirt. It was so restorative to chat with her and hear the low buzzing of the lawnmower and watch kids on summer vacation toddle around with strawberry-stained fingers.

I hosted a dinner party on Saturday night, and I executed the menu successfully, especially the leek and celery pie. The lovely guests included E. and A., along with two new friends, and A.'s husband, who has just started a blog which I will link to once it becomes public. This sparked one of many hilarious and intriguing conversations. The dinner took a long time to coordinate, because we are all busy and overscheduled, and I'd been looking forward to it for ages.

Then, on Sunday morning, R. and J. and another new friend came over for brunch, which had also taken weeks to schedule. And that was hilarious, too. We talked about our public restroom habits, Americans' use of foaming bath products, and marriage. R. and J. brought me fresh herbs from their garden. Arranged beautifully and tied with a maroon ribbon.

On Sunday afternoon, my mom arrived for an overnight visit. We went out for Ethiopian food, watched Transamerica, and spent this morning condo-shopping. We saw a $259,000 unit in a brand new development. According to the developer, the microscopic bathroom sink (seriously, six inches across) is "European-style", and the narrow hallway that goes nowhere (but is counted as part of the 550 sq. feet of livable space) is a "gallery". The condo has no closets because "stand-alone wardrobes offer so much more flexibility". Plus, upon closing, the developer explained magnanimously, the buyer gets a $100 gift certificate to Ikea. Then he pointed out the skylights. My mom got all Israeli on him; she asked whether his own house has closets, or whether he has personally opted for stand-alone wardrobes. "A skylight is very nice," she said, "but it doesn't make up for the fact that there's nowhere to put a TV, a coffee table, or a bottle of shampoo."

She left town after we saw five places, and we were both convinced that it will take a very long time before I find something both affordable and acceptable. So now I'm sitting here all tired out, all flat, and sad that my lovely, social, 4-day weekend is almost over.

Posted by Dori at 4:59 PM