Whenever I visit my grandparents, I feel virtuous

[lodessa]

Yesterday I had a very productive day. I didn't have to go to work due to the Veteran's Day holiday, but I got up at my usual time (7:15), made sure Jeremy had food for his leftovers, got a delicious Pumpkin Chai (seriously they put actual pumpkin in it and it's the best thing ever), dropped Jeremy off at work and was on the road by 8AM. On the way there, I listened to Regina Spektor and Tracy Chapman and there were flocks of BABY MINI PONIES for me to admire and wish I'd brought my camera.

I made good time, despite slow motherfuckers on 37 and got to my grandparents' at 9:30 (I had told them 9:30-10). Both of them and the dog seemed very happy to see me, and my grandmother seemed touched by my bringing her a copy of Beowulf (not in the original Old English) because she'd mentioned she'd never read it. She made me coffee (I usually don't stack my caffeine but what the hell) and gave me pumpkin pie and we chatted for about two hours and she showed me her current projects and was telling me about a joint thanksgiving thing her church is having with the nearby reform synagogue. I sort of wish I could go. Also, apparently my cousin Nate got engaged to his really great girlfriend and my uncle proposed to the woman he's been with since I was a child. My grandfather is still depressingly out of it, but he did seem to be enjoying his football at least.

It was almost a quarter to noon by the time I left their house for hobviously's new place. I made one wrong turn getting there, but all in all it was okay. I got to hang out in the cupboard under the stairs while she cleaned up a bit (sort of a tradition). Jeremy called to tell me he had an interview for the inventory manager spot at his old general manager's new store on Wednesday (if he gets it we will have car issues for a while but it will like double his income). Then we went for a walk and had Thai food. We were both adventurous and didn't get out usual dishes. She got Mock Duck instead of Tofu Sate and I got Emerald Green Chicken Curry instead of my usual Yellow. They gave us complimentary potato leek soup(!) and some sort of tapioca dessert consisting of little jellied balls that looked like fish eggs or something and a custard like foam on the top.

After the Thai food, we went to the record store. Initially I was feeling overwhelmed and actually had a fit of dizziness and thought I was going to fall over or something. Then I found an $11.99 copy of Reveling/Reckoning and hobviously pressed Joanna Newsom's Ys into my hands and told me I needed to take a leap of faith and just buy it even though I hadn't listened to it at all yet. I was thinking about getting some legitimate Mirah but then we started looking in the $4.99 bin and I went for 3 of those instead of the same price. In the end I bought:

Ani Difranco's Reveling/Reckoning - $11.99
Joanna Newsom's Ys - $9.99
Ani Difranco's Swing Set - $4.99
Lily Allen's Alright, Still - $4.99
Kayne West's Late Registration - $4.99 (hoviously also got Kayne's The College Dropout for the same price)

With tax it was still under $40 and I felt quite victorious.


We then returned to hobviously's for a special project and I left at a little after 6 to head home.

I was home by a quarter to 8 and Jeremy and I were going to go to the workout room but there were people in there (I hate people!) and they were using the treadmill and elliptical so we went back to the apartment and he did yoga with me(!). It was about 9 so we made Annie's Shells and White Cheddar (with peas) and I reorganized our CDs to accommodate the new acquisitions.

At about 9:30 my brother called and asked if I minded him dropping my sister off at my place because mom's boyfriend was in a mood and she didn't want to be there. After the CDs were done I went into our guest room/office and tried to get her to open up to me but she wasn't really. Luckily one of her friends called (back early from college due to issues) and wanted to see her. This brightened her up a ton, since she's been feeling really friendless and abandoned and I was glad because I actually like this friend unlike the one she was spending all her time with until said friend betrayed her.

Of course then the cat decided to be my friend all night long which meant I slept badly.



Accounts of the rest of the weekend, possibly to follow.

Also I have not forgotten the promised Ani uploads.

Or the RPF...

Comments

[spectralbovine.livejournal.com]

I had Thai food yesterday too! I had pumpkin curry.

And, dude, you got the Lily Allen CD for five bucks? Where??

[lodessa.livejournal.com]

YAY.

The Last Record Store. It was used.

[hamsterwoman]

Pumpkin Chai sounds delicious! Is that at a coffee chain, or a local place?

Flocks of tiny ponies!!

[lodessa.livejournal.com]

It's a local grocery store chain Nugget Market (http://www.nuggetmarket.com). They are seriously the best of both worlds in that they have a lot of specialty/gourmet quality stuff but they also have regular groceries at regular prices. If you ever end up east of the bridges I would suggest stopping by one.

I've been considering trying to recreate it at home, since obviously it's a seasonal thing there. They list the ingredients as: pumpkin pie filling, spiced chai, and milk. If I get the proportions right I will definitely let you know. It's awesome because it's a drink but it also serves as breakfast much better than most because it has real food in it.

They are so ridiculously cute. Seriously seeing them is the best part of my already scenic drive and one of the many reasons I am an advocate of highway 37 over highway 12.

[hobviously.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed your visit, guy!

[lodessa.livejournal.com]

Me too guy! Yay for visiting!