Can You Hear Me Now?

I had such a lovely weekend! I didn’t do ANY work, really. I mean, Pam came over and I did her tax return, but it’s not like work when you’re with a good friend and it doesn’t take hours. And, true to her word, while I worked on her taxes she trimmed my cat’s claws. Most of them, anyway. What she wasn’t able to do then, she did later. Sometimes it’s a process, one paw here, one paw there.

My kitties really like her though, that is obvious. When you leave and they both run to the patio doors and stand on their back legs to watch you, anticipating your immediate return, it’s a sure sign.

After tax duty, (we’re still unable to file them online, the CRA must have had a big problem, although they swear our “data and personal information is intact” and it wasn’t due to a hacker, but even if it was, do you think they would tell us??) we went to the Olive Garden for an early supper. We got there before 4:00 and before the Big Saturday Dinner Crowd and were seated fairly quickly. I had a $40 gift card, so even with a glass of wine each, we only had to put in a few dollars plus tip. Woo hoo!

Then it was back to my place so I could get on my scooter and we headed to Wal-Mart. I wanted to pick up some decaf coffee, because I would like to drink a latte in the evening once in awhile, but never do because of the caffeine. It was around this time that Pam informed me, that I, incidently, do not make lattes if I am using regular coffee. “You need to use espresso”. But… I thought espresso was just really strong coffee, and that by using the amount of coffee you do, and the smaller amount of water, you are making espresso… “oh, no. You actually need to use Espresso Beans. What you are making is a Cafe au’ lait, which is coffee and milk. They serve that to children in Italy!”. I thought they were the same thing? I remember drinking cafe au’ laits in my 20’s, it was my introduction to fancy coffees in a big bowl. I honestly thought they were the same thing. “No… you haven’t been reading your Coffee Geek, have you!”

Okay, so, I just wandered around that site a bit when I went to get the link, and it says that the latte and the cafe au’ lait are like cousins. That the cafe au’ lait is the French version of the latte. It also says that the latte is something you would serve children in Italy! Haha! Latte = a little bit of espresso, lots of milk. Cafe au’ lait = 50/50, strong coffee (but not espresso) and milk. Close enough! I like what I’m making, anyway, and isn’t that all that matters? That didn’t stop me from picking up Espresso beans the next day, however.

When we got back here, we watched “Happy Feet”. I know, you’re wondering… how is that possible? It’s not even out on DVD yet! Yes, well, Pam works in television production, and ’nuff said. The movie was cute. I guess I expected it to be better, but I admit it almost had me in tears at one point. Those “you GO!!” when you’re rooting for the underdog kinda tears.

After she left, I set my clocks ahead. I’m still feeling that hour loss, and I want it back! Before I went to bed, I pulled my wheelchair out of my storage room for the next day. Because it shares a room with cat litter, it was pretty dusty, even though I keep it covered with an old sheet. But getting it out was enough of a struggle, (everything has a place in that room now, but it isn’t necessarily easy to get to!) so I decided to leave the wiping it down for morning.

The next morning I got up and wiped down my wheelchair and all it’s parts before taking my shower and making my latte/au lait whatEVER. While doing my usual net surfing/coffee drinking, I came across a piece of celebrity-related gossip I found quite interesting and forwarded it on to Perez Hilton on the off chance he hadn’t seen it yet (yeah RIGHT). Within 2 minutes he e-mailed me back:

Yes.
Tahnks.
P

Tahnks! Loves it. That guy has more typos on his website than anyone, and now I have my very own personal one from him. Hee!

Anyway, around 11:30 my friend Michelle picked me up and loaded my wheelchair into her trunk. We were heading down to Eau Claire Market, and with it being such a nice sunny day, planning to buy food and bring it down to Prince’s Island Park for a picnic lunch. I knew I wouldn’t be able to do that much walking, so luckily Michelle was willing to help me with my chair.

We arrived at the mall and the first thing we did was head to the food court to choose what we wanted for lunch. I already knew I would be hitting up Cedar’s Deli for some tabouli and falafels. After getting our food we headed outside behind the market, towards Prince’s Island Park. The warm, sunny weather recently has melted all the snow and ice on the roads and everything, but the river is still icy and there are little snow banks around it. The grass in the park isn’t quite ready for summer activities. We chose a bench overlooking the river and downtown, it was quite beautiful and I am kicking myself for not having my camera with me! We took off our coats and basked in the sun while eating our lunch. That, ladies and gentlemen, is a picnic, so I get to cross that off my list. Seriously, it’s been years since I’ve done that!

After lunch we headed back into Eau Claire Market and wandered around, looking in a few stores. I picked up a package of (organic, free trade) Espresso Beans at the coffee shop. That market is really dying. I don’t even think they have anything upstairs anymore! The entire middle of the market area is gone, replaced with comfortable chairs and sofas. There is still a smaller version of the food market over to the side, and the wine market just moved into one of the spots many of the other stores have moved out of. It’s such a nice location, but I know the rent is insane so places keep closing. Cajun Charlie’s is the latest victim, and that restaurant was there for so many years! The big building out back that started out as a Hard Rock Cafe and then became a Brewster’s Pub years later, is even empty now. Oh well, as long as the weather is nice, there will always be people in the area, and lined up at the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream stand. Including Michelle and I, we got ourselves a cup of ice cream and went back outside to eat it. SUCH a nice day.

The cutest dog ever was hanging out with his humans near our bench. So, so, so, cute and I demanded Michelle get one IMMEDIATELY. She had to admit, he made the whole “waiting until Im done teaching for the summer before I get a dog” thing pretty difficult!

Anyway, we headed home around 3:30. What a lovely day. And if I didn’t have two cats and my building allowed small dogs (no comment about the people upstairs that DO have one), I would so be trying to hook up with a Bijon/Shih Tzu cross right about now.

P.S. I made a latte this morning using freshly ground espresso beans, and really? Not much of a difference, just a stronger coffee taste. But now, I have options for people… espresso? cafe au’ lait? latte? mocha? espresso macchiato? decaf cafe au lait with an extra vanilla shot? Heh.

Baristah!!!