Is knowing your future worth $22?

Today was a day that I did not want to be alone. Happily Shane's not out of town (unlike seemingly every other person I know!), so he obliged and came to pick me up.
We went for lunch/supper/lupper at The Garage Burger Bar near Grant Mac, ate our meat (if you like mushrooms and onions, get the Garlic Mushroom Burger!) and wandered out with skittles from the skittle machine.

It was a beautiful afternoon, so we walked (truthfully, we limped, we're both gimped up currently) down to get ice cream after burgers and wandered around getting yelled at by kids in a converted fire truck with a hot tub in the back.

God, I want to rent one of those things.

As the firetruck rounded past us a second time I avoided walking into a pole while watching spellbound, and some guy came out of the grocery store, looked at Shane's Oilers jersey and exclaimed:

"Hey! Are you Ethan Moreau?"

"Hey! No I'm not", Shane replies and we continue walking.

Yes, Edmonton's in a hockey frenzy.. I didn't keep count, but I believe we were somewhere in the 10+ count of people honking or yelling things out their car windows. Still doesn't give them rights to not use their brains.

Armed with ice cream, we went up Jasper Ave, stopped in at the Wee Book Inn, and then I saw the sign outside of the Russian Tea Room for fortune reading.

I dragged my (not so) willing accomplice in, got the pricing and sat down with some weird middle aged guy named Larry (Harry? Will? I dunno) to have my palm read.

Corina used to read it all the time in Jasper, armed with the palmistry book and a cup of Baileys and Hot Chocolate, but today, I really wanted to find out if things are really going to be alright.

It certainly didn't feel like it this morning when I woke up feeling really alone and hopeless.

Anyway.. the reading started out sort of strangely. He asked me to spell my name, and I did, and then asked my age, which I gave.

Then he spelled my name and asked me to answer 'Yes' or 'No' to the spelling, and repeat my age.. 8 times. That was odd and mildly annoying.

He says I have strong hands, which denote a strong, honest and earthy personality, so any man I'm ever involved with longterm cannot be a schmuck, and that although I'll fall for a schmuck more than a few times in my life, the man I spend the rest of my life with (and yes, he can only see one) will be strong, with on par intelligence to my own, with his own opinions and his own life.

Evidently I'll have 2 children.. on first note, he said 3, but his face sort of grew dark and he ammended it to two. A boy and a girl.

I'm not jealous, but naturally inquisitive and suspicious about my surroundings and people I surround myself with, and would expect who I'm with to be forthright and honest with me about what he does.

I have a need to travel, but home is immensely important to me and is my refuge, and he told me I shouldn't invite people into my home if I don't feel comfortable with them.

I'll have a healthy life, although I should worry about back and shoulder problems and look into getting regular massages. He is right about that.. I carry all of my tension in my upper back and shoulders, but he could also have assumed that from the way my posture is.

I'm a leader, not a follower, and will thrive in a position where I can dispense wisdom and expertise. Something supervisory, or my own company or freelance, where I can call all the shots.

I'm a dominant, and I don't want a submissive type. I want an equal, and because I'm picky with who I want to be with, I won't settle for anything but. I'll go through 'throngs' (his word) of men in my life, but the person I'm going to be with I've known all along. His name contains the letters 'M' and 'A'.

I take on a lot more responsibility than I should take on, and should spend a lot more time outdoors, as it's my 'element' apparently, and the best stress relief for someone with my personality type.

I came out slightly disappointed, since I don't think he really answered any questions I had lingering, but for $22 I guess finding out that I'm going to have a happy relationship and a good, honest life is enough.