rachel’s blog

Need a haircut? Grab your headphones, close your eyes, and listen to the sounds of this Virtual Barbershop. The audio is so incredibly realistic that I could almost believe Manuel and Luigi were walking around in my house. I’m not exaggerating — it’s amazing!

By the way, the Starkey Cetera is a hearing aid. If I ever suffer from significant hearing loss, I’m getting one!

This is what we looked like 28 years ago. I think I’ve changed more than you have, Mom.

And this is what my Mother’s Day artwork looked like a few years later…

Contrary to what you might think, the blue letters in the bottom right corner do not spell “MY MOM.” I was trying to write “MOMMY,” but I obviously ran out of room. Oops! Nothing like a little creative problem-solving!

When I walked into my office at 8:00 this morning, I found an unusual gift on my desk.

Clever, eh? It’s from my boss. I’ve been working on a big project and there is a major deadline tomorrow, so the past couple weeks have been pretty intense. The good news? There IS a light at the end of the tunnel.

The bad news? It’s off.

I always love a bargain, especially when it seems like the price of pretty much everything is going up. And a good deal is extra good when it comes as a complete surprise.

Occasionally I stop in at a funky little grocery store on my way home from work. It’s mostly a surplus-type store, but they also sell cheap, fresh, sometimes-semi-local produce. It’s run by a Ukrainian family and has a very straightforward name: “Save and Prosper.” The store isn’t far from my house, so yesterday afternoon I went there to buy an 89-cent avocado and a big 69-cent bunch of cilantro.

While the cashier was ringing up my items, she looked at me and said something I didn’t understand.

“What was that?” I asked.

She held the avocado in one hand while she pointed towards the produce and said… something. I had no idea if she was speaking English or Ukrainian, but she was clearly waiting for a response from me, so I raised my eyebrows and blinked. Brilliant, Rachel.

What happened next is still a mystery to me. The cashier walked over to the produce, picked up another avocado, and brought it back to the cash register. She only charged me for one of the avocados, but I guess she wanted me to have two. I thanked her, she told me to have a good day, and that was that.

Other good things in my weekend:

* holding beautiful five-day-old Madison Esther.

* walking to the farmer’s market with Lisa.

* enjoying fajitas, guacamole, and limeade on Rebecca’s deck.

* falling asleep last night… in spite of the rap music that someone else in the neighborhood was enjoying.

* seeing a “Beautiful British Columbia” license plate in the church parking lot… and remembering my vacation in BC last summer.

* bowling in a smoke-free bowling alley.