July 29, 2002 - 10:49 a.m.

i never played hooky in high school, unless you count "senior ditch day." if everyone ditches, though, is it still naughty? i think not.

i skipped a few college classes here and there, but nothing major. i have yet to ditch work for an invalid excuse... until today.

let me backtrack a little. simon and i had the most fabulous weekend. we didn't do anything extravagant, but we both had the weekend off from work. this meant we were able to sleep in late, bake homemade vegan banana muffins, catch up on some movies (italian for beginners and bend it like beckham, both superb and highly recommended) and get some wedding stuff done. it was incredibly nice just to have the time together and not worry about being somewhere or getting something accomplished on a tight deadline.

anyway, i had run through a list of places we could get married and rattled them off to simon. i suggested the zoo, at which he sniggered. (he claims i poo-pooed his suggestion of the zoo. hmmm.) in either case, i received an e-mail from sherry on saturday morning that listed a bunch of wedding options. "you can even get married at the zoo!" she added, which made me laugh. so i called them up, and we got a last-minute appointment.

the place was perfect. they are reasonably priced, and nearly everything is included in the package, so we have little to worry about. the function room was very pretty and surrounded by an aviary. the actual ceremony will take place in the japanese gardens, which will be full of newly bloomed cherry blossoms right when we are getting married. after we make the down payment this week, it will be official.

getting that sorted out lifted a huge weight for us. the rest of the weekend was a piece of cake. then i listened to the answering machine. there was a message from the modeling agency, saying i'd been specially requested to attend a casting for a yoplait yogurt commercial worth $8,000. they're going for an "amelie" feel, apparently, and i fit the bill. the casting was supposed to take place monday at 2:40. i tried to figure out a way i could get out of work, but with my lunch break and the travel time, it just didn't make sense.

simon said it probably wasn't worth going because i wouldn't be able to get out of work for the filming anyway. then i explained that if i got the commercial, i would quit my job. that's when simon came up with the hooky idea. i've been really tired lately and haven't been able to get anything done during business hours (like banking, sorting out address changes, bills, taxes, etc. over the phone), so it made sense to have a day for that, too. it wasn't very thought out, but i felt that if i didn't attend the casting, i would regret it.

now all i have to do is figure out what to wear.