Notes from the northern suburbs
Not too much about the wedding, as I'll let that sink in a bit and distill before I put it here, but everyone made it okay, my directions were impeccable (thank you, Google Maps), we had a nice ride there and back, those of us in the hotel barely slept, the egg frittatas were the hit of breakfast, and dad and I ran an errand on the way home that made him happy.
Dad and I left for home shortly before 10. Mom has this week off and was going to stay one more night with grandma at the hotel. Dad will pick her up from Grandma's house tomorrow evening. Grandma was like, do you want to pick her up halfway? Dad had to tell her, your house *is* halfway--you're so far north and east right now that there isn't a good midpoint.
The hotel, for what it was, was fine...but four adults, including two of whom are hard of hearing, and one of whom had too much coffee too late in the evening, probably shouldn't share one big room. Grandma also had leg cramps and ended up sleeping on the couch rather than the bed with me. She gets them when her legs get cold, but she wasn't cold last night; we think it was the combination of all the walking and stairs she did, plus wearing heels for hours. I told her, it might be time to stop wearing heels. I'm hoping tonight is better.
When dad and I had gone shopping on Saturday, he'd looked for marinated mozzarella balls; the brand we buy is Crave Brothers. Our store was out of them completely. He'd wanted to stop by the Woodman's in Carpentersville to see if they might have them, as his big boys' trip is next week and he wants to make them Caprese pasta. We did end up going there, after retracing our steps west from the hotel almost back to the ceremony site, then meandering west until we hit Randall. Dad was able to get the three containers he wanted, and they were on sale, so bonus.
After that, the two of us chilled at home. I got a couple loads of laundry done, unpacked my garment bag, and finally fixed the cosmetic bag I bring to work. It's cheap plastic from the dollar section at Target and the zipper was only heat-sealed to the plastic, it appears, so I took a needle and thread to it to make it last longer. I was able to access items in the bag without unzipping it, which doesn't seem good. Then, for dinner, I gave dad the night off and made cucumber salad and a tomato tart. Note to self: When using romas, don't just cut them in half and then put the rounded side down; they'll slide off the cheese. Oops. But considering how little sleep I got last night, it's fine.
It was a beautiful day, sunny and not too warm, but I'm still okay with missing the parade. That's right, I was supposed to march today but did not. I'm okay with that. I did a bit of dancing last night and I'm sure my legs would have been tired. Sitting is preferable. I still have a tough week of work ahead of me.
One last thing--my grandmother now has a smartphone and therefore the ability to text. Mom had texted dad to let him know they'd accomplished that task, and I texted mom about it, and the next thing I know, mom's passing along the new number and suggesting I say hello, so I did. And grandma replied. Welcome to the 21st Century, grandma! Only three years behind me there... (And yes. I voluntarily gave my grandma my cellphone number. Because she's my grandma. I'm now up to three family members with it. See, I'm progressing.)
Dad and I left for home shortly before 10. Mom has this week off and was going to stay one more night with grandma at the hotel. Dad will pick her up from Grandma's house tomorrow evening. Grandma was like, do you want to pick her up halfway? Dad had to tell her, your house *is* halfway--you're so far north and east right now that there isn't a good midpoint.
The hotel, for what it was, was fine...but four adults, including two of whom are hard of hearing, and one of whom had too much coffee too late in the evening, probably shouldn't share one big room. Grandma also had leg cramps and ended up sleeping on the couch rather than the bed with me. She gets them when her legs get cold, but she wasn't cold last night; we think it was the combination of all the walking and stairs she did, plus wearing heels for hours. I told her, it might be time to stop wearing heels. I'm hoping tonight is better.
When dad and I had gone shopping on Saturday, he'd looked for marinated mozzarella balls; the brand we buy is Crave Brothers. Our store was out of them completely. He'd wanted to stop by the Woodman's in Carpentersville to see if they might have them, as his big boys' trip is next week and he wants to make them Caprese pasta. We did end up going there, after retracing our steps west from the hotel almost back to the ceremony site, then meandering west until we hit Randall. Dad was able to get the three containers he wanted, and they were on sale, so bonus.
After that, the two of us chilled at home. I got a couple loads of laundry done, unpacked my garment bag, and finally fixed the cosmetic bag I bring to work. It's cheap plastic from the dollar section at Target and the zipper was only heat-sealed to the plastic, it appears, so I took a needle and thread to it to make it last longer. I was able to access items in the bag without unzipping it, which doesn't seem good. Then, for dinner, I gave dad the night off and made cucumber salad and a tomato tart. Note to self: When using romas, don't just cut them in half and then put the rounded side down; they'll slide off the cheese. Oops. But considering how little sleep I got last night, it's fine.
It was a beautiful day, sunny and not too warm, but I'm still okay with missing the parade. That's right, I was supposed to march today but did not. I'm okay with that. I did a bit of dancing last night and I'm sure my legs would have been tired. Sitting is preferable. I still have a tough week of work ahead of me.
One last thing--my grandmother now has a smartphone and therefore the ability to text. Mom had texted dad to let him know they'd accomplished that task, and I texted mom about it, and the next thing I know, mom's passing along the new number and suggesting I say hello, so I did. And grandma replied. Welcome to the 21st Century, grandma! Only three years behind me there... (And yes. I voluntarily gave my grandma my cellphone number. Because she's my grandma. I'm now up to three family members with it. See, I'm progressing.)