SCAN and Jasmine Thai

It turned out to be another full week--fine by me.
Attended Dr. W.'s Friday lecture at SCAN--this one less interesting than others, to me, anyway. The topic was "living in the moment," which seems to be the catch phrase/cliche du Jour around here. The whole talk was on a free-wheeling tangent, incorporating meditation, the power of mind over matter, and--annoying to me and maybe others in the audience--the importance of his brand of fundamentalist religion. (Oh, Lord, spare me this.)
However, Carol and Doris were there, along with 93-year-old Jean, and later, Dolly. The latter has an extremely irritating habit of constant coughing, clearing of her throat, and other, equally distressing noise-making. Maybe she has some kind of malady, such as nasal drip, but if so, I wish she'd get it looked at. Sue didn't get there; I didn't really expect her, as she said she wouldn't if she had to wait at home (the sailboat) for some kind of part for the T.V.
We got out at 4:00, so I had time to stop at Wal-Mart for face scrub and stuff before I met Leatrice for dinner at Jasmine Thai. She got there shortly after I did, and looked smashing in a pale aqua, long-sleeved shirt and a beautiful scarf--pink with little embroidery-like things hanging from it. She said she got it in London.
We settled in to read the menu and there arose a problem. Leatrice is very attractive, with a slender--not skinny--figure, and her diet is surely the reason. She does not eat meat--naturally--but nor does she ingest any oil or a lot of other things. She asked the waitress if something could be cooked without this or that--I don't quite remember what was on her taboo list--but the young woman came back and said it couldn't be done. (Actually, it may have been a language problem.) Leatrice then asked to have a bowl of plain broccoli and bowl of rice, which she ate along with a glass of water.
However, we got to know each other a bit. Leatrice is not, she says, conventionally religious, but she's "spiritual." (The next time I hear that, I'll jump up and down and scream.) Anyway, she follows Buddhism and has actually been at an ashram in India. She goes to classes at the Center For Spiritual Living in Ventura, which I've passed many times. I'm impressed with its size and soaring towers--always wondered what it was.
Leatrice is from Boston and has virtually no family. She and her husband did not have children (she's been divorced 30 years) and she had only a half-brother, who died years ago. She has a niece and nephew back east, but has no contact with them. She has a graduate degree in occupational therapy and works two days a week at an assisted living facility in Oxnard. She finds it very stressful, but presumably needs the money. Anyway, we had a pretty good talk. She's one of the people with whom I don't have an enormous amount in common, but I like a variety of friends, and want to keep in touch.
Got a beautiful roseola plant for Mother's Day from Singapore son, Mike, and family. It's inside right now, but I'll probably actually be able to keep it on the patio later.