Grocery Shopping

A week ago Sunday I went to the grocery store. If that's all that happened, I wouldn't have much of a story. But as I parked and walked inside, I noticed something: one of the few cars in the parking lot looked familiar... too familiar. After grabbing a cart I immediately started scanning for someone, and I found him. Ken was just inside the entrance glancing at a magazine. Of course I had to spout some unintelligible mess about us being there at the same time.

And so the two of us proceeded down the cereal aisle, the coffee/tea aisle, the frozen food aisle, etc. Each of us studied the other's picks, questioning when surprised by a choice. For instance, when we passed the boxes and boxes of tea, Ken wondered why I hardly glanced at them. I explained that I tend to buy a bunch of tea at the same time and store it at the house, taking a few out each time I run out of my current selection. Since I still had several unopened boxes at home, I didn't need to buy anymore just yet.

After gathering all of our items, we checked out... self-checkout style. Arriving at the same time gave us a chance to race each other. (I was racing him, but I don't think he cared.) Even though I had several more items than Ken, I still won by a few seconds. He claimed his slow time was greatly affected by the fact that some of his lighter items were not recognized as being "placed in the bag." Excuses, excuses.

What might this occurrence prove? That Warsaw is a small town? That Ken and I think alike? Or did this prove nothing?

Ice Skating

Ken and I went ice skating on Saturday. Overall it was a good experience, but now I'm sore from slamming into the ice. Amazingly I didn't fall more than I did. (The counter stopped at 3.5 falls--the half representing my ability to catch myself on the wall.) And the only people to see me fall were Ken and a bunch of strangers.

I have the opinion that if you have to make a fool of yourself, it's best to do it in front of close friends and family or strangers. Your friends and family already know you're strange, so why would you care if they witness one more unflattering thing. And strangers will probably never see you again, so you're covered there. But don't cause yourself embarrassment in front of acquaintances. They know you enough to recognize you again, but they don't know you enough to hardly care what you do.

Assessing the Damage

So... I met a bunch of Ken's family a few days ago. The verdict? I'm still alive. They're very nice people and made me feel welcome.

Ken's family is more into Christmas than my family is, as can be expected. For example, opening presents with my family at my house Christmas Eve took 2 (maybe 3) minutes. Opening presents with Ken's family Christmas Day took all of 3 hours. It was good, though. It actually felt like Christmas.

Meetin' the Family

This Christmas will be a little different for me. I won't just be spending it with my immediate family. I'll also be spending it with my boyfriend and his family. (For those of you who don't know, I recently started dating Ken - aka "kenji".) I'm looking forward to it, but also wondering what disastrous event might occur.