Today I walked down to the beach (from my mom’s, not from home) and strolled along the (incredibly windy and cold) waterfront, got drenched on the pier (the waves were crashing against the west side and spraying up all kinds of… well, spray, I guess), and walked home along the Waterfront Trail (which in that area is mostly sidewalk through a neighbourhood).

It was a nice walk except for passing packs of annoying, underdressed teenagers (there was a big regatta going on) on the way down and at the beach. I hope they got frostbite in their tanks and short-shorts — I was cold in a T-shirt, hoodie and jeans. But my route back avoided all the people (the main reason I don’t go outside that much) so that was good.

My new shoes seemed to perform fairly well on their first off-road walk. Not that it compares to actual hiking.

Now I’m doing laundry at my mom’s (all my “hand-washables” — in the machine!) and rooting through the crap collection in the basement. I still have books and stuff here that I need to take home. Not that I have room for them.

Raining again, but I wised up today and kept the window shut so I drove home from my parents’ in a leisurely fashion about an hour ago. The shopping was only semi-successful today. I got the camera case and the watch, but the messenger bag eludes me. All I have found is a leather one at Roots — too fancy, not to mention too pricey. I have done all the malls (that I can drive to in under an hour) so now I need some advice. I’m such an amateur at this crap. Where should I look?

I feel like such a fool tonight. I went to my parents’ after work (and after driving across the city twice on stupid but inescapable errands) and made spaghetti for supper. Oh, and I should mention that I stopped at home first, where I opened the bedroom window wide because it was SO SUNNY AND NICE outside. So I’m eating dinner on the couch at Mom’s when suddenly (and unsurprisingly) I spill spaghetti sauce all down the front of my (brand new, of course) jeans.

Luckily I had brought a set of workout clothes so I changed into the shorts and threw the jeans in the washer. The sauce seems to have come out just fine. But not long afterward, as I relaxed and semi-enjoyed an episode of Departures, I suddenly heard the sound of rain beating against the windows. It was pouring. Picturing my bed getting drenched, I dashed out to the car (unshaven legs and all!) and drove home, anxious to get that window closed as soon as possible.

The bed was bone dry when I got there. Although I did drip some rain onto it from my jacket as I jumped up to slam the window shut.

I have another big shopping weekend ahead, I think; I still need a lot of new clothes, plus some other stuff for my trip. I want to get a canvas (or similar) messenger bag to use as my carry-on and as my purse-type receptacle while walking around SF. I also need a watch and a case for the new camcorder. How fortunate that Visa has recently upped my limit.

There was some fog around the escarpment today… A little preview of what I’ll be enjoying in 27 days?

My throat finally feels better today and it doesn’t seem like I’m developing my usual post-sore-throat cough, so yay. Yesterday I made some very delicious carrot-prune-bran muffins. On the docket tonight: dishes, workout, Departures, X-Weighted, and maybe ironing. I need to get the apartment cleaned and super-organized this weekend because for the next two weeks I’ll be back and forth to my mom’s a lot in the evenings, and things tend to fall behind here when I do that. Since things are already way behind here, this could be a recipe for disaster if I don’t get my act in gear (to quote my mom) this weekend.

I’ve had a wicked sore throat the last two days. It’s not helping with all my unfinished business. Had lunch with my mom today and speaking of unfinished business, she hasn’t got anything to wear to Ireland. And she leaves the day after tomorrow.

I need to do a complete inventory of all my clothes this week, to determine exactly what I still need to get before my trip. K tells me they’ve had some hot days there so I’m once again thinking I need to bring more than one pair of shorts. Basically I need to be prepared for a wide range of temperatures, so I need to have lots of options and things that layer.

I ordered some US cash today and also a higher-capacity battery for my camcorder. I plan to make daily vlogs and take as much footage as possible of everything I do and see, to be compiled into a travel video when I get back. (I hope the constant recording doesn’t bother K; some people don’t like it.)

Work-K lent me her luggage-weighing gizmo so I won’t go over the limit and have to pay a fine. I’ve never packed a suitcase before (not as an adult; not unless you count the two weeks I lived in a hotel with my family while my parents’ house was being built) so I need all the help I can get.

Busy weekend. Did the Rankin “run” (we walked it), went to three ball hockey games, spent a buttload of money on clothes, did laundry at my parents’. I’ve fallen way behind on both workouts and household chores, will be playing catch-up all week.

My nephew’s team lost in the semi-finals; my niece’s team was eliminated in the first round, even though they scored their first goal of the year. I hope I have put my sports-watching time in for a good long while because it’s a very stressful experience for me. Not because of the games themselves, but because of the tension among fellow watchers.

I got hiking shoes today, my first pair, and I am super psyched to break them in. Even more psyched to wear them on an actual hike, but having not wrangled someone into hiking with me yet, who knows when that will be?

So my brother and his family are doing the Rankin Cancer Run tomorrow, and I happily pledged them some money. Then this evening, when I was at my nephew’s ball hockey game, my sister-in-law asked if I wanted to walk with them. I feel bad because I’m not registered and I didn’t collect pledges, but I still want to do it. Next year I’ll get pledges. So I’m getting up early tomorrow to do 5K with the two younger Ns (the oldest has another hockey game).

I’d be in bed already except I’m killing time until my camcorder battery runs out, so that I can charge it from zero. Shooting video during the walk should be good practice for touring around SF.

I didn’t work out today (because I didn’t get home until 10) but I did carry Julia around on my back for ten minutes, and she weighs about a hundred pounds so that has to count for something.

Last night I dreamed I was watching a movie that starred Queen Latifah as a down-on-her-luck singer forced to clean houses. The Queen was in denial about her attraction to a flirty Asian FTM transsexual (pre-op) who turned out to be pregnant. And all this took place in the 1930s.

I also dreamed K and J worked at my company and we all had to go into the office on a Saturday.

I can already tell I’m going to have trouble packing when the time comes. I’ll want to bring clothing options for every possible scenario, which will lead to exceeding the weight restriction. K said one pair of shorts will be sufficient and that it’s entirely likely I won’t even need them. But I have a fear that I won’t listen and I’ll want to bring two or three pairs — you know, just in case.

Meanwhile, my parents leave for their trip next week, and they have their own worries. My dad’s never been away from work for 16 days in a row before and it’s eating him. My mom is facing 16 days of serious walking on an arthritic knee, with no treatments. She jokes that my dad will have to push her in a wheelchair through most of Ireland (as if he’s capable) but I’m concerned she won’t enjoy herself much if she’s in pain.

Tonight after work I have to go be sociable (hard to imagine, I know) at another function for the recent retiree. Which means I’d better plan on going to my nephew’s ball hockey game on Friday because apparently he requested that I attend at least one before the season ends, and this is the last week.

I’m so sick of malls but I had just enough success shopping to make it worthwhile. Now of course I’ve left all my house-cleaning tasks till today and I have absolutely no interest in doing them. Or laundry. Or anything, really. I was barely motivated enough to pour a bowl of cereal for breakfast.

I just want to sit on the couch (or possibly in my zero-G on the balcony) and read SF books.