Noteworthy moments & BC09 continuation

Ladies and Gentleman of my readers, I present to you a brief summary of my past two days:
- While at the post office, a man shipped 43 boxes. Literally, 43. He had to use those big orange roll-carts that postal workers use to collect mail to get all his boxes from the car and to the shipment desk. And you know how USPS has their new "if it fits, it ships" flat-rate boxes? This man definitely utilized that to its fullest extent; most of the boxes were bulging BIG. What a good Christmas for his relatives.
- While parking at Borders, I stopped my car to let a woman cross in front. First she smiled and held her hand up in thanks (standard)...but then she stopped in front of my car, met her hands in front of her chest (meditation style), and bowed to me as she said "thank you." She wins the most unique way someone has thanked me.
- The day before, I exited Borders after my book purchase and slowed in front of the store as I fumbled with my purse/keys/wallet/etc. A man was standing outside it, smoking and talking on his cell phone, and I overhear this part of the conversation: "Dude, just give him the 20 grand and be done with it! Don't do it again!" I did not stick around.

- While perusing the toy section at Target in search of my 8-year-old cousin's Christmas present, I saw two men, probably late-20s, crouched over one of those learn-the-ABCs baby toys that says the letter and a word that begins with that letter when you hit one of the keys. And they were so into it I had to stop and watch them for a few minutes (like a creeper, yes). What also caught my eye is that one of the guys was wearing the pink Princess Santa hat you see at the side there. Is it weird I wanted to introduce myself?
- While on the military base, I saw my fourth man in 2 visits at the jewelry counter picking out an engagement ring. As much as I find Christmas engagements cliche, I still have to smile at the thought of what a lovely Christmas it will be for those 4 couples.
- My mom made apple crisp. I don't care if I die fat, I will die happy.

Jumping ahead because the next two days are packed with a friend's 25th birthday celebration (clubbing! Haven't done that ever in San Diego) and two separate Christmas parties with two very separate groups of friends, the Best of 2009 Blog Challenge continuation:

Day 17: Word or Phrase. A word that encapsulates your year.
2009 was heart-wrenching.

Day 18: Shop. Where you spent all your money this year.
Seriously? Target. When I lived in Orange County, I had 4 Targets all within 5 miles of me. It was a one-stop-shop for all my needs! On a serious note, I started going there my first year to escape my dorm and all the hell that was happening. Target is an odd haven for me, somewhere I can go and be assaulted on all my senses by everything and forget whatever is going on. A side effect was leaving all my money there, that's all.

Day 19: Car ride.What did you see? How did it smell? Did you eat anything as you drove there? Who were you with?
Tall Andrea (An-DRE-a) was driving; it was the first time I'd been in a car with one of the foreign exchange students driving. The Italians and I were celebrating Tall Andrea and Giulia's birthdays. Myself and Katja (our Swedish-Italian) were in the back, Nadia up front. From my apartment to Newport Beach, I remember the blur of passing lights, talking with Katja, watching Nadia and Tall being awkwardly couple-but-not in the front seat, and laughing. A lot. I remember smelling a mix of salt and vague barbecue, since we were by the ocean and we'd had our pool party earlier in the day. We were headed to Rudy's (one of our frequent bars) to meet up with Fabio, Emiliano, Endria, Other Andrea, Francisco, Riccardo, Red Michele, Roberta, Giulia, Yun, Alberta, Max...and a whole slew of others I no longer remember (thanks two Long Island Ice Teas and part of one Adios MotherFucker!). I believe the reason it stands out is because it was the first time I had ever gone out with the Italians without another friend (who I will refer to as "R"). R was the one who introduced me to all the Italians, and I refused to go to anything unless R would be there. But this night was the first time I'd been without R, and it solidified my friendship with the Italians. Up until that point, I'd always feared that I was just tolerated; but that night I was accepted. And I absolutely LOVED it. Even the part when Emiliano discovered I was strong enough to carry him and he drunkenly made me give him a semi-drunk piggy-back ride to our cars at 2am when we were leaving.