Monday, April 21, 2008

An Unexpected Party

Yes, last night my home was invaded by a dozen dwarves and a strange old wizard, who dragged me off on grand adventure. With added trolls.

Alternately, last night proved to be rather more exciting than expected. Since my car has had to go into the garage this morning (possible brake pad problems), and since I couldn't be sure of getting it back today, last night I had to visit Tesco on my way home from church to get a handful of things to see me through the week.

Shockingly, I found that the key road through Cumbernauld was closed for no apparent reason, and moreover that Tesco itself was closed, giving the lie to their claims of 24 hour opening. So, I went to Asda instead. This was not the most exciting part of the evening, however.

Asda proved to be rather a disappointment. For some reason, although Cumbernauld has two very large supermarkets within half a mile of each other, they each manage to have a smaller range of stock than the (much smaller) Tesco in Falkirk. In real terms, this meant that I wasn't able to acquire mushrooms, a key ingredient in the lasagne I'm planning on cooking this week, and I had to go for the "family size" jars of lasagne sauces, rather than the more sensible 'regular' sized jars. This, however, was not the most exciting part of the evening, although I was tempted to blog about it when I got home, complaining that the universe is out to get me.

So anyway, the plan was to head home, watch "The Bionic Woman" (which remains dire), and then gradually mosey off to bed. But things rapidly took a strange turn when I arrived home to find a posse of girls outside my neighbours' flat having a smoke. (This in itself is not hugely uncommon - I don't think they're allowed to smoke in the flat either, but unlike myself they actually do smoke.)

So, I nodded 'hello', and made to head indoors, but was surprised to be addressed by one of the group. She explained that they were having a party to celebrate the Christening of the baby, and they apologised in advance for any noise. Okay then, said I, at which point she said "and you're more than welcome to come in for a drink if you want..."

So I did. After all, given the choice between listening to bad karaoke while trying to watch bad TV or partaking of the same bad karaoke in the company of half a dozen drunk girls (and one guy), I choose to sing. Specifically, "Mack the Knife".

It felt a bit strange inserting myself into a party filled with people I don't know. And it definately felt a bit strange only now being properly introduced to my neighbours, some two years after moving in. But, a surprisingly successful evening, all told.

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