SAFFRON DANCING WITH THE EUTHANIZED PITBULL

It's tminus 6 days and counting and I have a headache, and have for days. I just can't get it to go away.

I have so many things to tell Oz readers, but I think I'll just start with these things. I have new neighbors! (Bob doesn't know yet). It's a mom, and her two teenaged kids (who look so much older than teenagers, I thought perhaps they were a married 20-something couple with their elderly mom living with them). I remarked to one of my friends how neat it was going to be having the cool arty indie punk rock neighbors living next to us now.

But then I saw their decidedly UNCOOL dog about five minutes later. A PIT BULL. Not cool at ALL! They can leave now. I have a theory that Dogs Bite, because well, they do. And in my theory, Pit Bulls give the commands to all other dogs "BITE, Bite!" So how sad when the next day arty indie punk rock girl comes up to our door and says with the look of a little girl whose dog had just been run over by a speeding train, "I know we just met yesterday and all, but I was wondering if you could take me to the Animal Shelter. My pit bull got loose today and picked up by the pound, and then when he got home, he tried to snip at me a few times, so, we have to take him to the shelter."

Seriously, I know I don't like dogs and all, but that's kind of sad. So I told that I personally couldn't driver her, but if she could get directions, my mom would. Oh, and she's only 16 (and her husband isn't her husband - it's her brother). They had the dog put down, and my mom said that the girl cried a lot.

And then last night for my bachlorette party, we went to Cafe Istanbul (among other things ;-) ). It's a Turkish restaurant here in Columbus that I've wanted to go to for a while. (This was actually a really well thought out and thoughtful place to go - Bob and I have tried two different Turkish/Middle Eastern restuarant in Columbus, so now this makes three). i still had my hip scarf with my from the night's earlier belly dancing lesson as we walked through the restaurant. No sooner had we been seated, than a female manager came and talked with us. She said to me, "Are you to be married soon?" And I said, "Yes, next Friday, how did you know that?" She said, "Where I am from, in my country, if you wear one of those scarves, it means that you are to marry, only it would be red. And you would wear it around your face during dinner with your friends, and then you would cry. And that would mean you would be married. And then you would tie it around your waist, and you would dance. Like this...And you would take off your shoes and dance on the table."

I just loved it! I loved that this woman came up and talked to us about the customs in her country! And she kept coming back and talking to us over and over again! I wanted to just sit down with her and say, "Will you tell me more?" She was actually FROM Turkey. And THEN, come to find out, that our server was getting married week, too!, but he never told us where he was from.

Isn't that fantastic!?