[Dating Papers]

Last night, I had an assignation with a bald, Chinese man (hey, that’s how he described himself). On a dark DC street, I handed over a stack of documents and he bowed and thanked me. It was Pele who pointed out the spy-like quality of the meeting. Oh, if only it were actually interesting.

Over the last week, I’ve received a few dozen final exams. No, I’m not teaching a class–my friend, Spesh, is. He lives in Israel and is teaching an online class, but the students have to take the final exam in person, with a proctor. Then, they mail the exam to UMD. Then, instead of sending the finals to Spesh, in Israel, they send them to me, in DC. I am Spesh’s US address, but this is ridiculous. In an effort to get the exams to Spesh in a reasonable amount of time, I made the plan to meet a UMD professor (?) in front of a liquor store near the Van Ness metro and give him the exams. (Yes, I could have mailed them to Israel, but it would have cost a fortune.)

Mission accomplished!

After the hand off, Pele and I met CK for dinner. We went to 2 Amys, which I’ve wanted to try forever. I liked the food, though it was noisy (too many hard surfaces) and the place was packed. The pizza didn’t meet CK’s Boston standards, but Pele was in my camp–pro pizza, with the exception of the half-burnt crust on one pie. Still, a big yum. A couple of leftover slices made for a very tasty dinner tonight.

Today, work was pretty much a bust. I bugged out a little early with Nancy to see a movie. But, instead of that, we shopped. First, Staples, to get a date book for me for next year. I left it to the last minute and couldn’t find exactly what I wanted, but it’ll do. Then, Target, for lots of presents for Nancy’s kids and a few odds and ends for me. Last, the grocery store for the potatoes I need for Sunday. The traffic was terrible, but it gave us lots of time to talk in the car–always a good thing.

My cold seems to be receding, which is a relief. I wasn’t sure how long it was going to take me to feel better.

I’m also in a much better mood because I heard from Owen. It’s not like he’s busy working or anything so I didn’t know what to make of his silence.

Last night, after a glass and a half of wine, I called him and left a message. I didn’t hear from him until this morning when I got a rather long (for him) email. The email put my mind at ease. He explained why I hadn’t heard from him. It lifted my mood. High enough, I think, to get me sufficiently cheerfully through the rest of the weekend.

Grateful for: improved spirits.

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