freeze frame (whoo!)

For almost a year I occasionally teased my friend about owing me a birthday/Christmas present from last year. I didn't really expect one, but he kept telling me he was going to get something for me when he found the right thing. When he was more financially flush, he was hours away from buying me a KitchenAid mixer in a colour of my choice, but I felt like that would throw off our friendship balance because I can't ever even out that kind of financial karma. I nixed his (absolutely thoughtful) plans and we haven't talked of it much since. Except for my occasional teasing.

A couple of weeks ago while chatting on MSN, I sent a link to a new camera Lomo had just sent me an email about. A brown Fuji Cheki instamatic, I thought it was pretty cute but out of my current financial reach. He asked me a few questions about it, leading me to wonder if he was thinking of buying it for me, but he changed the subject and that was that.

Last Thursday we went to a nooner at Nat Bailey and when I went to pick him up he led me to his kitchen table and there was a present. The camera! Glee!

The nooner was the longest regulation time baseball game I've ever been to, coming in at just over 4 hours. The first two innings took forever because the pitchers were throwing balls like crazy and had to be replaced a couple of times. The game was pretty slow and dull for most of the innings, but something happened after the 7th inning stretch. The Canadians were down 2-4 and a new pitcher came up to throw to them. Suddenly there were people on the bases and another 5 points! The game was much more exciting toward the end, making me snicker thinking of all the people who left early when nothing was happening. The other team is the worst team in the league, but it was still a bit of a nail biter. I've got a couple more game appointments this summer before the season ends.

I've been to a few parks the last few days, first to David Lam to have a mini picnic with a couple of girls on the anniversary of the first day of the strike, and then yesterday to hang out with some little friends and Rachel. I also finally got to Portobello West on Sunday with visiting friend Alana; it was great to hang out with her and hear valid reasons why I should move to Toronto. This weekend I'm going to see my parents and collect some fruit, so I'm pretty thrilled about that. Then the househunting begins.