Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Annual Lunch With Susan

Yesterday, I had my annual lunch with my wonderful friend, Susan Waaga.  We met in college around 20 years ago and have been besties ever since.  But it's been over the last 5 years or so where we've made it a tradition to meet up a few weeks before Christmas and about a week before school holidays start.

This year, we decided to meet up at the Logan Hyperdome... um, where?  I haven't been there in about a decade!  So, when I caught the Hyperdome bus, I didn't sit and fiddle with my iPod like I normally do on a bus, I looked out the window as though I was a tourist.  I was amazed at how much this area had changed!
Once I arrived to the Hyperdome, I found that the bus stop area hadn't changed all that much; but once inside, it had.  There was so much about the center that I didn't recognise; and so I had to follow the signs to the cinemas and ask for directions from people.  But I did find my way to the main food court quite easily, but I couldn't find the cinemas; not until I got outside!  I didn't know they'd been moved out there!  
Outside there's a garden, with a huge television screen and speakers where I saw Darren Percival singing on the Morning Show with another singer.  So, I took photos of that for a friend, and photos of the garden and started fiddling with my iPod as I sat down to meet up with Susan.  But I wasn't there for long when she showed up and asked how my little budgie was.
For those who don't know, Little Miss Stevie suffered a stroke early Saturday morning and she's been a little lop-sided since.  For the first 24-48 hours, I was worried sick, but she is really bouncing back well.  She's eating well, drinking her water, I've kept her cool, exercising her and making sure she gets lots of love and attention.  So, even if she doesn't make it through the New Year, she knows I've done my best as an owner. 
Well, we chatted about my little bird and she felt sad, but we tried not to let that interfere with our day.  First thing was lunch!  We ate at an Italian place where I ordered the most delicious pizza!  It was vegetarian and small, but I just couldn't get through it. So I asked for a doggi-bag and ended up with it for the rest of the day.
During the day, we looked at books, clothes, went through The Reject Store, and chatted about everything and anything.  Then, I spotted the ice-skating rink and wanted to do the craziest thing and get onto it!  Well, it's funny when we get together - Susan and I - we do weird and funny and crazy things!  This kinda thing has been happening since we've known each other; and it seems, nothing changes!  So, I bought a ticket at the Concierge desk and signed the release form and went ice skating on plastic with oil on it.... well, okay, I tried!  I clung to the sides of the rink as though my life depended on it as I slipped and slid around while two little girls under the age of 10 scooted around chatting to me saying it was easy - yeah, right!  I wondered where my balance had vanished to!  I had paid $7.00 for half an hour and within 5 minutes, I was back on the safe land (or the waiting area where Susan was laughing at me) sweating, panting and asking if I'd had enough.  Well, I wanted to get back out there, but I didn't want to break my ankle, so I said it was time to take off the skates and put on my shoes again.  Yes, it had been waaayyy too long between sessions of ice skating for me!
Too soo, it was time to pick up her two girls from school.  So, we had to leave the wonderful comfort of the Hyperdome air-conditioning and find her car.  We drove around and picked them up and drove to my place where they found my place tiny, messy and yet cool.  Susan found that Little Miss Stevie was looking better than she was expecting; and her two girls were sad at what happened to her (as one of their birds had passed away recently).  Then, they saw I was an artist, loved my garden.  And then, Monique was blown away at how many books I had in my office!  The further she stepped into my office, the more she was amazed.  I showed her my most rare book and found one other book her Mum was after to read over Christmas, while her little sister sought through the boxes of books next to the window (she was looking for books from the 'Twilight' series).  We all chatted about school and Susan and I told her stories of things that happened in school when we were young; which amazed Monique - at how rebellious we were when we were younger; well me anyway.  She found a lot of my stories funny and that the teachers didn't do anything but watched on was amazing.  I said that doing that taught us cos consequences to our actions.  Before long, it was heading to 5pm and time to think about dinner.  What a great day it was to hang out with my best friend for the day and to hang out with her two girls too. Until my next post, take care keep safe and warm and remember, I'm always here.        

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