splendid

today, by all accounts was splendid. i got to spend most of it with kate. we met on the bus from downtown to school, sat next to each other and ended up running errands all over town.

i told her there was a six-year-old's birthday party going on at my place and i told her i didn't want to go home. she invited me over to her apartment for dinner. so i accepted and away we went.

it's funny. usually there are things that bother me about people after spending a whole day with them but i didn't get that at all with kate. she's cool and easy going. she's a christian too and we have that in common.

after class, we went to get our police records checks done and walked 10 minutes back to college where she had to meet with someone for her student loan. then i had to wait for the registrar to sign my form for an international student ID card. then we went downtown to the post office to get her loan processed but she didn't have her void cheque so... she couldn't get it done today. we walked 6 blocks to the train station to get my int'l student card. walked back to the bus terminal and went back to her place. we stopped at the dollar store to pick up a few things and went to zehrs (superstore like) and picked up some frozen dinners and a salad.

we walked back to her place and sat and chatted and made our dinners in the microwave. we listened to switchfoot. i left her house at about quarter after 6. it was 11 hours in each other company and it all went pretty smoothly. so all together it was a great day.

when i got home, caleb (the six year old who had the party) was distraught because his older sister had misplaced a tiny toy car and he wanted to play with it. i got on my hands and knees and tried to help him look for it. i put my face on the carpet to look under the couch but nothing. finally katy, (the older sister, second youngest in the family) came and showed him where it was. it was in the proper compartment of the case and it was the only place we didn't look. as i prepared to go downstairs, sarah (the oldest daughter) hands me a letter. it's in that familiar handwriting and i don't believe my eyes. it's from one of my best gf, penelope. she sent me a card.

i kept saying 'no way, no way'. and there it was a card and letter from her. i was so touched i started to well up and get all teary-eyed.

i spend the next hour and an half writing an 8-page letter back to her. the stamps are fitting. they're the one's with the queen. i'm sending it to her in england. ha ha.

one of my classmates, ed, who is near and dear to me, has fallen ill and it doesn't look good for him. he's not doing so hot and i am scared for him. i hope he does better. he has a wife and daughter and i'm sure they're worried. his birthday is in 2 days. sigh.

ed is a quiet leader. he is quiet in big crowds but knows how to joke and laugh. on orientation day, it came out during an icebreaker activity that he did not like cats and had put a cat down because it was vicious to his lil' girl. well, the head instructor of the program is a cat lover and made a note on her paper next to his name - hates cats/cat killer. we all had a good laugh because he was in hot water in a fun way. he's had it rough the last couple of weeks. the stress of the coursework and the hostile group environment is not great for his health. i pray that the doctor's are knowledgeable and that his body will get itself corrected. if he's out for too long, he won't be able to complete the courses and if worse comes to worse, he'll have to drop out. that's the last thing i want to see happen.

so on that sad note, i go to rest my eyes.

now a shower and then to bed.