September 23, 2008 - Tuesday

Sunny but cooler.

Yesterday was a great day. After Katie went off to school I had a bit of time to relax at home. Then, Van drove me and Zachary to Edmonton. Van wanted to do a bit of shopping in The Running Room, but she needed someone to keep Zach under control while she tried things on. That was my job. I didn't manage to keep him still, that would take an army of aunties standing by, but he did stay fairly cheerful. Van did a lot of shopping which was really good for her.

When she finished there, I headed off downtown. I caught a bus and got off at the City Center mall. I did a little bit of looking around and had a bit of lunch. It was terribly un-healthy, but it's not like I can eat poutine in Japan is it? And yes, it was good. Very good!

A bit after 2 I went over to the library area to see if I could find the meeting place for Susan and I. I did. While I was waiting for her, I had coffee and wrote a postcard to my hubby. When Susan came, she had coffee too, and we had girl chat.

After a while we went shopping. We looked in a souvenir store, I'm looking for omiyage for my students. The prices for the stuff on the plane were just over the top. I didn't buy anything, but did get some ideas.

We shopped a bit and I talked myself into buying one of my favourite French films on DVD, Diva. It was a bit expensive, but hopefully worth it. I haven't seen it in years. Susan and I oohed and ahhed over the DVD boxed sets. Both of us love UK TV, but sadly, the sets are still really expensive.

We headed over to Whyte Avenue and met up with Steve, Susan's husband. We did a little bit of window-shopping then went to Yannis. Steve wasn't sure it was open, but I had checked the website and they didn't open until 5 so he probably got there just before they unlocked the doors.

We had a great meal. We decided to have the entree for four people, and then Susan and Steve would take the extra food home for their lunch the next day. We had a feast. The food was so good. Why is it that Japan hasn't discovered Greek food? It is amazingly tasty and fresh. We even finished with dessert each. It was an expensive meal, but a very good one.

We hacked around Chapters bookstore after. None of us bought anything, but it was so nice to be in a bookstore again that really does books in a big way. I saw a Shetland Sheepdog calendar and nearly started crying, so obviously didn't buy it. Upstairs the bookstore was really hot, so I asked if we could leave. I was getting uncomfortable to the point of being sick.

Susan and Steve drove me home to Beaumont. They didn't really know where it was, but luckily Van had given me directions that were simple. We said goodnight and then I went inside.

I helped Katie with her homework for a bit and then Van, Joe and I settled in to watch the premiere of Heroes. It was on for two hours. It was good, but I've missed an entire season, so I didn't really know what had happened to some of the people.

I went to bed afterwards, except I stayed up and watched TV! When there are so many channels it's hard to know what to watch. I finally turned off the TV after 1am. That's the latest for me in ages. The jetlag is beginning to pass. Hurray.

Anyway, that was my yesterday. I'll catch you tomorrow most likely. Bye.