the 28th week

from the Loth House

Monday. I hugged Rob bye on my way out the door for work: he’s heading back to Oregon. DeJuan and I opened. I was home by 1:15, napped till about 5:00, and spent the evening with the Usual Crew at the Loth House. John and Brandy were gone, of course, honeymooning in the Dominican Republic. We watched Billy Madison and I cureld up on the sofa with Clover to do some reading. I was reading A Short History of World War II by Stokesbury, but I left it on top of Ams’ car the other day and she sped off with it. I searched the roads leading to the highway but didn’t see it. So I’ve been reading a not-so-short history of World War 2 called Inferno. I’ve been consuming it with passion: the German and Russian blitzkrieg of Poland, the Russian invasion of Finland and the German assault on Norway; the Fall of France and the establishment of the French Vichy government is fascinating. The Battle of Britain was covered nicely, and now I’m reading through the North African and Greece campaigns.

Tuesday. I opened with DeJuan who was 1 ½ hours late. I headed up to Amos’ after work, and we ate some gourmet mushrooms and played video games. I didn’t get home until 11:30 PM.

Wednesday. I worked till 2:00. A super cute girl was in the café all day. I flirted with her but I’m pretty sure she didn’t catch on. Damn: I need to hone my skills (or at least acquire some). My afternoon was spent (a) watching Dexter and (b) reading ‘bout the Axis campaigns in Greece and the Middle East. After some Mario-Kart at the Loth House with Amos, Ams, and Andy, I spent some time in good, honest-to-God prayer. I’m not “good” at prayer, so it was nice.

The Last Day of Spring. Sarah F. and I opened together. I did some writing after work and then met up with Amos and we went to the Hilltop Café at C.C.U. to hang out with Karen and Andy, who were working, and to chill with the Tomeo’s: Fact or Crap, wrestling with Lennon, and murdering my legs playing ping-pong against Eric in my classic, erratic fashion were the highlights of the evening. I was home by 10:00 but didn’t fall asleep until 3 AM. Insomnia kept me up, and I utilized the time to pray and think. Often I ask myself, “Where did my intimacy with God go?” The answer is simple: when I started questioning prayer itself and then stopped praying altogether. A plant withers without nourishment.

The First Day of Summer. Also: my 2-year anniversary with Tazza Mia! I was going to celebrate it at work (is this something one should celebrate?) but the day was far too crazy for it: Sarah called off sick, so I worked both Food Prep and shift supervisor. We ran out of spinach and eggs and people were in foul moods. On a positive note, Tibbles came in with the Tiblets, and it’s always fun playing with them. Mom dropped off a dryer on her way home from Kentucky (ours crapped out). My evening was spent at Frank’s, hanging out with him and Rebecca, and Brandon stopped by, too. We played GTA IV and Frank made cheesy rice and chicken.

Saturday. Such a boring, droll day. Highlights: coffee from UDF, Birds of Steel, and a DiGiorno Supreme Pizza for lunch. Ams came over and we watched documentaries on the birth of the earth and the pre-Cambrian explosion. I was enthralled, she was bored out of her mind. But she let me watch the shows anyways.

Sunday. I ran downtown to do the food order and ran into Tibbles. She told me they got a puppy and Eric’s fanatical about it. The man loves dogs, and I totally understand: I love Sky and am in an illicit love affair with another dog, Clover. I spent the morning drinking coffee, cleaning, writing, and reading: the German invasion of Russia, the failure to take Moscow, and the siege of Leningrad (modern-day St. Petersburg). Blake came home and we played NBA Jam and I fixed brown rice, “cinnamon chicken,” black-eyed peas and hushpuppies for dinner before going over to the Loth House to hang out with Amos and Ams: Call of Duty and Lord of the Rings on cable. John and Brandy rolled in around 2 AM, it’ll be good to have them around again.