24: Strawberry (Past ≠ Present)

Gosh, I could be doing just about anything right now. Tidying my desk as has been requested. Cleaning the kitchen. Cleaning the basement. Applying for jobs. Writing something that might actually make me a buck. Diddling in my phone. But instead I'm doing SWP, lucky you.

We've got a nice, gradual slide into cool fall weather going on right now and I am into it. Having experienced this summer from home, I can say the hot days were hot and the cool days aren't too cold yet, and I'm glad about it. I'm mostly walking Hank around 8:30 in shorts and a hoodie. Weather uncertainty is one of my bigger stressors in life... you know I hate to be caught without appropriate clothing.

We've had a few weekends since my last post, and boy were they. Mel had Friday off so we went to Mandarin, which was a reasonably nice experience and definitely better than the last time we went to that location. Saturday we took Nonna out to lunch at Mo's, which we had been planning for a while. That was a nice outing. The place lived up to its reputation for huge portions, and we walked out with enough schnitzel to feed us dinner as well. We spent a long while with her afterward, playing cards and sitting in the garden.

We saw her again the next day, for what was supposed to be Unc's birthday at Mama and Papa H's, but sadly he had to spend the day at the ER with Sophia, who was running a fever. Because she's on antibiotics they take a bit more care with her. So we just sat around the backyard and ate cake anyway, because what else are you gonna do? Then had a game of Farkle. We had left Hank with Dad and Deb, which they were happy to do, but I forgot to bring back dad's keys. This is one of the lesser examples of my haplessness and forgetfulness screwing me over lately -- and not even the only one that involves keys -- which I don't want to dwell on.

I think about that, though. There's so much between my own bad planning, natural misfortune, and outright malice, that really screws a person up sometimes. 

Monday was dinner at mom's which would have been peachy except she revealed just as she was plating dinner that she was feeling sick. Apparently her apartment just makes her feel sick all the time. Suboptimal, considering how much stress went into getting it and getting rid of her old place. It would be a perfect spot for her too, otherwise. Wah.

Who the hell knows what is going to happen with that. Otherwise it was nice to see the guys and play MST3K with the Stingray Retro music videos, featuring not one but two appearances by Capt. Lou Albano in Cyndi Lauper vids. (Mel: "What's that on his face?" Brandon: "A rubber band.") We left early, after fruit tart.

During the week, Mel went to see Freakier Friday with her mom and Laura, giving me the evening to do not much.

This past weekend, we took our long-awaited Guess Where trip. Was it worth the hype? It was certainly a drive. We went places, we saw things, all of which we would never have done otherwise. It was a tough morning getting into gear, so while I was definitely prepared not to make the suggested 9:30-10:30 window, we didn't hit the road until about noon, including a U-turn when we forgot something at home in the chaos of getting ready.

First stop took us out to the Lucy Maud Montgomery gardens in Norval. Although the roads getting there were some of the worst I have ever driven on, it was a nice little place to poke around, and there were some trails we might have explored had we had more time. Next stop was to the hamlet of Glen Williams for lunch at a dog-friendly pub (albeit only at one of two tables out front) where Hank got lots of attention, then antiquing where we poked around a while, didn't see much of interest but I did pick up a few old X-Men comics from late in the Claremont run. The next stop was this old farm where a lot of shows and movies get filmed, which also had access to a long trail that we would have spent more time on except it was getting late. That was where I almost missed the site and had to turn abruptly, which I guess the guy behind us on the highway took exception to because he pealed off behind us then looped around to make sure he could call me a racial epithet (??). Hey man, that's his business, I'm just doing my best living life. It could have been a lot worse, though, which is what I'm burning about.

That kind of put a damper on the day, along with how late it was getting, so we elected not to extend the trip any longer and just go home, flop on the couch and have omelettes for dinner. 

Was it all worth it? Well, I can definitely tell you that it was better that we didn't go on that cool, gray May day we were originally considering. I don't see why we couldn't have gone on my Birthday earlier that week when it was sunny and warm though. Ah well. Mel rated it a 3.5 out of 5, I gave it 4, possibly partly as a way of easing her mind.

Sunday, Mel had a nail appointment and I got my hair cut, although I don't think I would request that barber again. The vibe was off and the result is different from what I usually get, brushed to the opposite side. She seemed indecisive, and so was I because I'm not used to giving much in the way of instruction. Then we went to Homesense to look for gifts and maybe an ottoman we're in the market for. No luck on that last score but we also didn't buy any cheeky treats for ourselves, a rarity

Now it's just back to life, whatever that is. The nonemployment situation is starting to wear on me... what do I do, who do I be, how do I give back to the house.

Time will tell. It has to.

Keep on rockin

-Scotto