happy Diwali!

This weekend Erik and I had a great time with my parents. We went out to eat, had some delicious Mexican food, saw part of a World Series game. My mom and I made an apple crisp out of apples from the backyard tree. We sat in the backyard swing and just talked. We went to K-Mart looking for barrettes of the certain type I require and found the mother lode.

Then on our way home yesterday Erik and I went to Berkeley. We ate at our favorite Indian-Pak place. We got bread at Acme. I found a fabulous stationary store called Elmwood Stationers. It's my dream store. I bought notecards, a notebook of narrow-ruled pale green paper, a handful of different colored ultra fine Sharpies, and three pens "Le Pen" which are from Japan--I hadn't seen any in about 15 years and loved them as a teenager. I finally spent the birthday money that my grandma sent me.

Today Erik went jogging for the first time in about seven years. We went to McKinley Park, where I walked. Then I ran into my friend S and her dog Buddy. We talked. Then I sat at a picnic table and wrote a letter to my friend J who's in the hospital in New York.

Tonight was Kali puja. Erik attended, which is a rare treat. We walked around the grounds in the dark. I introduced him to my friend R, and they talked about teaching and John Dobson. At first, we were told not to eat any prasad because there wasn't enough--the people who come to the center all the time were asked to abstain so there would be enough food for the visitors. But after a while, we were told to come take plates--there was enough after all. So Erik got his samosa.