![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
"Surprise, Mom!"
Jul. 9th, 2008 07:18 pmaka "You wouldn't believe how long it takes to hitch hike from California"
Wherein, my sisters and I plan a surprise visit for my Mom's birthday and I make my aunting rounds
So, we planned to fly me out to WL for my Mom's bday. And to keep it a secret. And it blew my mom's mind.
She begrudgingly agreed to let my sisters come over for potluck on her bday. Kristen and Kevin brought cheesecake...oh, and an unexpected daughter. We decided to play it low key, so I plopped down on the livingroom floor with Lucy while Sean was tasked to go say "Happy birthday, Gramma!" and lure her into the room.
So, Mom walks in and glances around. Something's off...but she can't quite put her finger on it... and then she finally notices me, and she lets out this wail and promptly cries on my shoulder for 5 minutes. We totally fooled her, she never suspected a thing. I even mailed her bday present to throw her off the scent, just in case. Heh heh.
The next day Anna and I let Dad take us out to see Wall-E. I want to have Pixar's babies. (Ok, so maybe I wanted to have their babies after Finding Nemo, Monsters, Inc., and Ratatouille... I guess I'll just be having lots and lots of their babies.) Then we made wiener schnitzel, from scratch! They turned out great, and we brought some over to Nina's on Tuesday. I went to Sean's swimming lessons, but his sister did more swimming than he did. But it's okay, when you're 3 and you're just learning how to swim bouts of irrational paranoia about water have to be taken in stride. I discovered, to my delight, that Sean uses the frog jacket I sewed for him as his swim jacket. =^_^=
The majority of the time at Nina's was spent watching movies, helping out with laundry (my god, does she have shiny, sexy laundry machines!), giving Sara multiple baths per day, and having long conversations with Sean about counting toys and animals and why you shouldn't run on linoleum with wet feet. Nina and I did some home spa treatments, parafin wax on the feet and lip exfoliant. I dubbed the experience "Spannenberg" and Nina was totally ennamored with the portmanteau.
Btw, marshmellow cokes---a fountain coke with marshmallow cream---are apparently a popular treat in Kokomo, and quite tasty!
(I can't explain "mouse ears" though, as I didn't have a chance to sample them.)
But, that's okay, cuz I just made deep fried Oreos the week before! My strange-Midwestern-desserts quota for the month has officially been met.
I also spent a few days at Kristen's. Anna and I surprised Cameron by agreeing to play Rockband with him... and proceeded to make fools of ourselves on all of the instruments.
And, OMG, Anna kicks ass at the Glados "Still Alive" song. 100% on vocals everytime, baby!
I myself do a pretty mean "Creep," but trust me, you don't ever, EVER want to hear me repeat my "Mississippi Queen" performance. It made Kevin laugh until he teared up though, so I've got no regrets.
I got to try Kevin's awesome red curry with tofu, and Kristen and I exchanged ideas about some recipes. Kristen and I have similar tastes (both in art and cooking) so I always love to talk to her about food.
Thursday, all my sisters, nieces, nephew, and mom and I went to the Indianapolis Zoo. (I've got some pictures from the Zoo up on facebook.) And we also hit the butterfly garden next door afterward.
Lucy took a nap on me Saturday morning, and Kristen was able to clip her fingernails (hard to do when your child is awake and moving everywhere) and then we had sandwiches and tea at a little shop a few blocks from her house. That was followed by my flight and the World's Lamest Layover in Kansas City International. FOUR HOURS in a dinky airport where all of the food is on the OTHER side of security, and there are PA speakers seriously every 8 ft... I think I lost a small part of my soul there. O_o; Jeremy picked me up, and he totally admitted to having missed me, and I fawned over his new blue hair. The ride home was really rough because I was exhausted and stressed out from 11 hours of traveling, but Jeremy persevered and brought me home and I pretty much crashed.
I recovered in time for gaming though. Which was great, because Sunday I had a really kick-ass session of D&D. Just imagine a 3ft halfing chef trying to stare down a priest while standing on a counter, clutching a little dagger in her hand while screaming "VENGEANCE!". Hee hee.
Just Monday Jeremy and I went to Ikea and finally got a bed frame. (It BAAAAARELY fit in Scott's station wagon.) Yesterday I dropped Jeremy at the airport so he could visit his family and friends in Michigan, and then Lance had dinner with me and we started to assemble said bedframe. We hit a snag with the metal struts and had to stop assembly, so currently my mattress is just sitting on the floor INSIDE the bedframe. I went to the hardware store today, and figured out that with a 10-cent nail and some elbow grease, I can enlarge the tiny hole in the strut and the screws will be able to fit.
All in all, I miss my sisters and their kids now that I'm back in CA... but I'm always happy to come home to Jeremy.
So, it's a pity he's left already for MI... I guess I'll have to use as few dishes as possible until he gets back. (Dishes = HATE!) And look forward to getting the photo playing cards he made from my trip photos in the mail, because he can be a real sweetie if he tries (or gets really really bored ^.~)
Wherein, my sisters and I plan a surprise visit for my Mom's birthday and I make my aunting rounds
So, we planned to fly me out to WL for my Mom's bday. And to keep it a secret. And it blew my mom's mind.
She begrudgingly agreed to let my sisters come over for potluck on her bday. Kristen and Kevin brought cheesecake...oh, and an unexpected daughter. We decided to play it low key, so I plopped down on the livingroom floor with Lucy while Sean was tasked to go say "Happy birthday, Gramma!" and lure her into the room.
So, Mom walks in and glances around. Something's off...but she can't quite put her finger on it... and then she finally notices me, and she lets out this wail and promptly cries on my shoulder for 5 minutes. We totally fooled her, she never suspected a thing. I even mailed her bday present to throw her off the scent, just in case. Heh heh.
The next day Anna and I let Dad take us out to see Wall-E. I want to have Pixar's babies. (Ok, so maybe I wanted to have their babies after Finding Nemo, Monsters, Inc., and Ratatouille... I guess I'll just be having lots and lots of their babies.) Then we made wiener schnitzel, from scratch! They turned out great, and we brought some over to Nina's on Tuesday. I went to Sean's swimming lessons, but his sister did more swimming than he did. But it's okay, when you're 3 and you're just learning how to swim bouts of irrational paranoia about water have to be taken in stride. I discovered, to my delight, that Sean uses the frog jacket I sewed for him as his swim jacket. =^_^=
The majority of the time at Nina's was spent watching movies, helping out with laundry (my god, does she have shiny, sexy laundry machines!), giving Sara multiple baths per day, and having long conversations with Sean about counting toys and animals and why you shouldn't run on linoleum with wet feet. Nina and I did some home spa treatments, parafin wax on the feet and lip exfoliant. I dubbed the experience "Spannenberg" and Nina was totally ennamored with the portmanteau.
Btw, marshmellow cokes---a fountain coke with marshmallow cream---are apparently a popular treat in Kokomo, and quite tasty!
(I can't explain "mouse ears" though, as I didn't have a chance to sample them.)
But, that's okay, cuz I just made deep fried Oreos the week before! My strange-Midwestern-desserts quota for the month has officially been met.
I also spent a few days at Kristen's. Anna and I surprised Cameron by agreeing to play Rockband with him... and proceeded to make fools of ourselves on all of the instruments.
And, OMG, Anna kicks ass at the Glados "Still Alive" song. 100% on vocals everytime, baby!
I myself do a pretty mean "Creep," but trust me, you don't ever, EVER want to hear me repeat my "Mississippi Queen" performance. It made Kevin laugh until he teared up though, so I've got no regrets.
I got to try Kevin's awesome red curry with tofu, and Kristen and I exchanged ideas about some recipes. Kristen and I have similar tastes (both in art and cooking) so I always love to talk to her about food.
Thursday, all my sisters, nieces, nephew, and mom and I went to the Indianapolis Zoo. (I've got some pictures from the Zoo up on facebook.) And we also hit the butterfly garden next door afterward.
Lucy took a nap on me Saturday morning, and Kristen was able to clip her fingernails (hard to do when your child is awake and moving everywhere) and then we had sandwiches and tea at a little shop a few blocks from her house. That was followed by my flight and the World's Lamest Layover in Kansas City International. FOUR HOURS in a dinky airport where all of the food is on the OTHER side of security, and there are PA speakers seriously every 8 ft... I think I lost a small part of my soul there. O_o; Jeremy picked me up, and he totally admitted to having missed me, and I fawned over his new blue hair. The ride home was really rough because I was exhausted and stressed out from 11 hours of traveling, but Jeremy persevered and brought me home and I pretty much crashed.
I recovered in time for gaming though. Which was great, because Sunday I had a really kick-ass session of D&D. Just imagine a 3ft halfing chef trying to stare down a priest while standing on a counter, clutching a little dagger in her hand while screaming "VENGEANCE!". Hee hee.
Just Monday Jeremy and I went to Ikea and finally got a bed frame. (It BAAAAARELY fit in Scott's station wagon.) Yesterday I dropped Jeremy at the airport so he could visit his family and friends in Michigan, and then Lance had dinner with me and we started to assemble said bedframe. We hit a snag with the metal struts and had to stop assembly, so currently my mattress is just sitting on the floor INSIDE the bedframe. I went to the hardware store today, and figured out that with a 10-cent nail and some elbow grease, I can enlarge the tiny hole in the strut and the screws will be able to fit.
All in all, I miss my sisters and their kids now that I'm back in CA... but I'm always happy to come home to Jeremy.
So, it's a pity he's left already for MI... I guess I'll have to use as few dishes as possible until he gets back. (Dishes = HATE!) And look forward to getting the photo playing cards he made from my trip photos in the mail, because he can be a real sweetie if he tries (or gets really really bored ^.~)
