July 01, 2003 - 7:32 p.m.

simon and i went to usa foods on sunday and purchased the following much-loved and much-missed items:

6 cans of cherry coke
6 cans of a&w cream soda
white cheddar cheez-its
cream of wheat
twizzlers
graham crackers
kc masterpiece barbecue sauce
bounce fabric-softener sheets

i drove from usa foods to simon's parents' house. it was good to see them, especially under such relaxed conditions. it was very different to when we schedule something in advance. we got to be lazy and even accompanied them on an errand or two. i like it when we're treated like family and not special guests. it's much more informal.

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the cat saga continues. i took miko to the vet AGAIN last night. the vet gave up and ended up calling an eye specialist today for advice. the specialist's guess? miko might have -- get this -- chlamydia and herpes!!!! yahoo!!!!! yeah, they're completely different in cats, but who the heck can say that? it was a bit interesting to call simon at work and let him know.

the vet apologized for things getting so complicated, but my view is that we're pretty lucky, as long as we don't have to discuss injections or suppositories, etc. i want to her to get better, but i also know how much worse it could be.

really, we don't have much to complain about. miko is very happy, tons of fun to be around and just a fantastic contribution to our house. she still eats her pills out of our hands and likes to be brushed every day. she is friendly to strangers (as many satisfied visitors can attest) and does not scratch furniture.

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today was my last day of training at the bank. the highlight of the past three weeks would have to be the counterfeit money provided by the head of the fraud department. we saw fake 50 and 100-dollar bills, as well as fake checks/cheques. only one bill looked suspect to me, but the rest were brilliant. i never would have noticed, even after having watched "catch me if you can".

another distinct memory will be of the training videos we watched. the worst were those starring "sir david rabbitborough" with a terrible toupee and equally terrible safari outfit, comparing my bank with "bankus ordinarius" as if on a nature program. awful but funny, like a local tv commercial, i suppose.

tomorrow i'll be answering phones and starting at my new time, which means i won't be getting home until 7:30 or 8 each night. let's hope hubby is prepared to cook something delicious.