Funny coincidence this morning: I read Une Femme d’un Certain Age’spost in which she mentions preferring Aidan to Big (a Sex and the City reference for those of you who never watched the show). Then while I’m out on my run, I pant past a house under construction just as a ruggedly good-looking fellow in perhaps in his mid-30s walks towards me, away from the construction site, concentrating completely on his cellphone conversation. He’s saying, “Look, either we move in together or we break up.” And I can’t help wondering if there’s a still-confused-about-Big young woman on the other end of the phone. Of course, my inner Pushy Mother is also thinking, “Hey, if she makes the wrong choice, I have a recently available gorgeous daughter you should meet” — Kidding!
Anyway, yes, I ran this morning — just 45 minutes, but I managed a 40-minute run on Tuesday, and I’m hoping to clock 90 minutes tomorrow and see how my feet do on the paved streets in Vancouver (I’m so lucky on the island — dirt roads all the way, although repetition gets to be a problem!). I’m still hoping that I’ll be able to run the UBC Fall Class in November, and I think if I can get something like 15K this weekend and then add a kilometre a week ’til the end of October, I should be able to manage.
I’m packing up a big stack of student writing to mark and heading to Vancouver this afternoon. In between marking, I’m going to meet my daughter for dinner and shopping this evening. I was so tickled to get her e-mail earlier in the week saying she’d put a deposit on a coat and was now having buyer’s remorse now and questioning whether it fit right. Her husband liked it, but she wasn’t sure, and, in her words, it seemed “like a lot of money to spend on a coat without some sort of divine intervention, or at least an endorsement from your mother!” — Isn’t that great? I’m right up there with divine intervention (okay, I admit, I’m an “at least” version, but still). So of course I’ll be there — plus the coat’s at Aritzia where I can always find something for me as well. I checked it out on-line already. I love it, and if she hadn’t found it first . . . It’s actually quite similar to my knee-length brown winter coat, also by Mackage. The trim you see is leather.
And in case you’re only here for the knitting, well there has been some, but I agree that it’s pretty slow. Here’s the Cabled vest I’m knitting (from the fall Simple Knitting) in Rowan Scottish Tweed. Not at all sure about the fit/pattern, although I’ve got gauge, no problem, and have adjusted to smaller needles to try for a smaller size. Suspect it’s going to be one of those comfy, round-the-house items.
The colour is much truer in the photo below. And yes, if you’re attentive, you can see a cable going in the wrong direction — testifying to my knitting personality, which doesn’t always demand frogging and repairing!
Buyer’s remorse is a horrible feeling.
Hey son — something you want to talk about? or just recognizing Bronwen’s pain?
oh thanks mom! i hadn’t seen this when we went to view my coat on friday. i’m feeling much better about the purchase now and looking forward to the colder weather so I can wear my new coat.
Buyer’s remorse is such an interesting phenomenon, I think: when we consider whether to acquire an item, consciously or unconsciously, we so often ask ourselves (or our mothers) whether this thing accurately represents who we are/want to be, whether we’re really worth it, whether the purchase signifies a torrid but empty spur-of-the-moment affair or a long-term relationship…and in so doing we perch on the edge of exposing our vulnerabilities.
Thank goodness for the encouraging word from a mother. It’s a kick-ass coat regardless of whether it signifies a commitment or a fling (and sometimes a fling is just the thing!).