Panda Likes to Eat

Happy first of August! For those of you who don’t know, the first of August marks the first day that you can use the 40%-off-one-item coupon at the  Nautica outlet! The first of August also marks the eve of the senate vote on whether or not America should raise its debt ceiling. Today was also Coral Diver’s first day of school, and Darling Jabib (my roommate from junior year)’s FIRST KISS to her fiancée! 

First, let me recap yesterday by saying that nothing happened. I had breakfast with an old friend from high school, and it was incredibly nice to talk to someone normal after having to serve egg rolls to drunk ladies from Burger King all summer. Then I got the night off so I could read the rest of chapter 5 for BLOCK 0 (ugh). 

I took the day off today from studying, since I only have chapter 9 left to read. This sets me a day behind schedule on reading, but since I have been answering questions while reading, I think I can still finish the questions by Thursday. And then I have arranged to meet with some other kids in the program the night before the pre-course starts so that we can go over our answers together.

Today, FreishNess and I met up again to go shopping at the outlets (I should be hired as Tanger’s official spokesperson)! Before we met up, you know Padre and I had already perused some stores already (and had lunch at a buffet). We popped into Polo Ralph Lauren for the first time in a few years, and Padre found a suit (jacket + trousers) for $109! I also found a jacket, but it was $45 for essentially a cotton cardigan, so I thought better of it. But Padre probably felt guilty about splurging on himself, so remediated the compulsive buy by compulsively buying mine as well (you know I can’t complain). Since I used to work at Polo, I recognized the cashier and the manager, and got $20 off my purchase from a coupon they offered (I was originally going to use the 20% off coupons from the outlet, but Polo doesn’t accept them anyway)! It was still a good deal after all, although the jacket was a bit pricey, especially after Padre already dishing out $811 this morning to pay my rent (for the apartment in Atlanta, which I STILL haven’t moved into yet). 

Anyway, Padre left after FreishNess arrived, and it was nice shopping with someone my own age (and gender). I can’t believe I’ve been in town all summer, and only this past week I’ve started hanging out with people…I completely forgot what it was to have friends at home! And on Thursday, I am meeting with another friend to have breakfast. I found a recipe for Panda Bread last night and sent it to both Coral Diver and FreishNess. FreishNess has her own baking blog, so maybe I’ll gain some fame for being in a loaf!

I stopped by Goodwill on the way home and bought a Phillies tshirt (my first one! The Boyf will be so proud) and another salmon-colored knee-length jacket. Salmon (the color, not the fish) seems to be in excess in my wardrobe for some reason, but I suppose it does flatter me so that is fine. 

After returning home, I helped out at the restaurant for two hours (it wasn’t busy at all, and thank goodness Padre told Bird Lady not to come in today. She’s so senseless that she never gets the point of anything unless you bluntly yell it in her face). Today was also Hair’s day off, but he usually helps out during the day when it’s busy and just goes home earlier at night. 

When it gets really hot, the air conditioner just doesn’t do justice. Here, a picture of Hair combatting the humid heat in the restaurant (98 degrees with the AC on!). Come visit Peking and give us a tip for working so hard despite the risks of heat stroke!

 

Around 7pm, we both got off work and went to dinner at Applebees, where we had beer, ribs, wings, salad and ice cream on a brownie. So needless to say, today was filled with eating=HAPPINESS.

The real reason why Padre and I have been shopping so much this past week (apart from the coupons) is because Cabbage is returning from China on Wednesday. And because she is a control freak, she likes to micromanage everyone’s finances and tell them what they can and cannot buy (they can buy things for her, they cannot buy anything else). And while my relations with Cabbage are certainly improving, she still has a fickle temper that I’d rather not deal with. So Padre, Hair and I have been spending lots of dough recently in order to stock up for the time that Cabbage towers over the household expenses (hibernation, if you will).

I tried convincing Hair to check out the Panera dumpster after dinner today, but even after drinking an entire pitcher of beer, I could not persuade him to come with me. Maybe I will convince Big K to check out the dumpster in Atlanta to see if we can find anything scrumptious. And I also have a whole mess of new clothing that I need to sport once I reach the city! I invited my Ho-burger and Pedro Cottontail to come to Atlanta, with a disclaimer that they must bring me cheese from Wisconsin (where Ho-burger works) in exchange for free lodging and tickets to a Braves game. 

Tomorrow I am going to get a head start on my reading, and maybe record a cover of Adele’s “Someone Like You” (I-slash-Padre bought her new album today! And The Boyf’s mother and sister were in the checkout right behind us, but I couldn’t make contact for fear of Padre having an aneurism). The other day Doctor Professor submitted an article to Biomaterials for publication, and I’m listed as fourth (or third, I forget) author! It is my first authorship on a paper, even though it’s minor. I don’t even really think I deserve it, since I only contributed a small part to the entire project, but I am really grateful that Doctor Professor remembered me. I guess it’s been a long journey since my days of being grilled in Doctor Professor’s office to my first publication…

Good night!  I’m so pooped for some reason; it must be all those jackets just waiting for me to wear them that my constantly having to assuage their fears is extremely exhausting!