Renewed Inspiration

First post in this blog. What got me started blogging again? Perhaps it was yesterday's geek-filled pub night with the IT dudes I used to work with, some of whom I haven't seen in more than 2 years. They are exactly as I remembered them 2 years ago. Geeky. Smart. Ambitious with crazy ideas. The conversations we had last night were enlightening to me even though at times when the geek lingo breaks out, I only understood less than half of it. These guys use big words. They use a lot of profanity. They tell dirty jokes. Although the topics seemed random and irrelevant, they were interesting and mind-boggling. Inspiring. I woke up this morning with an urge to write. Even though I don't write terribly well. And I absolutely don't write half as well as Andy haha. By the way his Dirty Laundry short story is pretty funny. But I'm sure it's just that much funnier to me and those who know this six and a half feet giant personally. The story can be found at http://www.everydayfiction.com/dirty-laundry-by-andrew-leblanc/

Anyways I was very happy this morning! I still am but just to a lesser degree now as the happy moment has progressively died down since then. There was a Kids Craft Fair at the community center whose gym I go to every Saturday to work out. They called it a Craft Fair but essentially it was a second-hand garage sale of old kids' clothes and toys. After my exercise, I had a quick stroll around just to check things out. I didn't even have my wallet with me as I was not intending to make any purchases. Just a quick look at the things on sale and to gawk at cute kids and babies. First corner, mostly kids clothes. Not interested. Second corner, some old kids toys. Slightly interested so lingered a bit at each of the tables but nothing really caught my attention... until the third corner - a giant MIFFY!

The blue-shirt bunny was sitting in a baby stroller and I just had to ask the lady how much she was selling it for. $1 was the answer. One dollar! I could not believe it! I had expected somewhere between $20-$30! I told the lady I'd be back and she smiled and nodded. Just then Steve called me. He was done with the gym and was wondering where I was. I couldn't hold in my excitement and asked if he had a dollar with him. He didn't. I explained that someone was selling a big Miffy for $1 and I just had to get it! So we walked back to the car for me to get my wallet and we went back to the Craft Fair. As we entered, I saw the lady taking the Miffy to the back behind the table and my heart dropped a little. Had somebody else claimed the giant bunny?! I pointed out to Steve where the bunny was but because there was such a big crowd, he couldn't really see the bunny. I hurried to the table and asked the lady if Miffy was still up for sale and she said yes! She had only put it to the back FOR ME! I was so happy! We exchanged monies and bunny and just then, Steve waded through the crowd to see me holding the giant bunny that was half my size. I knew he had expected something much smaller and I knew that had I described just how big it was, he wouldn't have let me come back for it.

I was beaming like a little kid! $1 for a giant Miffy with a blue outfit and orange scarf. This was the same size as the one I took from my cousin three years ago in London. He had the same Miffy, only in the original yellow sweater, and when I visited London while on exchange in Belgium, he had offered it to me. I was ecstatic and accepted without a second thought! It was a hassle to bring it back to Belgium on the Eurostar but I made it through. But coming back home to Vancouver was the issue. I had to leave it behind in Brussels at a friend's house and I believe he has now taken her to his countryside home where his parents reside. I've been missing that yellow Miffy for three years and what luck, I have a blue & orange Miffy now! I'm not a terribly big fan of stuffed animals but if they're gigantic and/or associated with a famous cartoon, I've just got to have it!

Left: My new Miffy
Right: The Miffy I left behind in Belgium