And if my day keeps going this way, I just might break something tonight.
Well, the weekend is finally just about over.
The trip up was not too bad. The drive was around 4 hours, and the weather was ok. We didn't leave until well into the afternoon, though, so it was getting late when we arrived. We had dinner at this little joint callled Buford's Kitchen. Father apparently used to love their fried mac and cheese, so he ordered some as a side. I found it to be... ok. My brothers and my sister-in-law didn't arrive until very late.
Saturday morning we went to a Eat'n Park for breakfast. It is like a Denny's with a different color scheme. While we ate we had a discussion about the whole laurel/yanny thing. We found out me, my father, nd my oldest brother all hear "yanny", while my mother, other brother, and his wife all hear "laurel". Since we wouldn't be able to fit all 6 of us in one car, we split into teams for the weekend based on what we heard. We spent a few hours driving around the town so that my parents could show use where they grew up and some interesting sights. They kept saying that we were showing my sister-in-law around, which kind of hurt a bit. I haven't been up there since I was maybe 12, which was well over half of my life ago, and I was never shown around the town. Before my maternal grandparents passed away my brothers would get to spend a whole week every summer with them, and they got to see everything the town had to offer, and even some fun places in neighboring towns. My grandmother died and I never had the chance to go, so I missed out on all of that. I don't remember anything, and I had asked to see some places, but no. They made it all about showing my sister-in-law around... I mean, I am glad I got to see some of it, but it is just one more moment with these people where I didn't matter.
Anyway, we met up with my aunts and their families at a restaurant around 3:30, and my grandparents showed up a few minutes later. They were definitely surprised, and were really happy to see all of us. I got shoved off to the corner of the table, with the one spare seat (we had an odd number of people and an even number of chairs) separating me from everyone else. I didn't pick it, my mother pointed and said, in her cheery voice, "You can sit there!" Thanks. The food was extremely overpriced and tasted subpar, with overcooked pasta, dry and actually brittle grilled chicken, and watery and over-seasoned marinara.
After dinner, we went up to my parents' old high school and took family pictures, because they really liked the walkway and gates for a photo backdrop. From there, we headed back to my grandparents' place. They haven't really changed the place much at all, aside from chopping down a few trees around the house. They have always left out food for the stray cats in their area, and at the moment they have three. I only saw two, and one of them was really friendly. It had to be a kitten still, and was all skin and bones. I made sure it ate some cat food while I was there, and gave it plenty of attention. I much prefered its company to that of the relatives. Apparently I missed heated discussions regarding the cakes my one aunt had made for the occasion. I ended up heading inside and conversing with my grandmother and my one aunt's husband. This guy has always freaked me out a bit, but now I know for sure my instincts as a child were spot on. He was very condescending, sexist, narcissistic, and so much more. I could not wait until he left.
My cousins were... Well, annoying would be the most polite way to put it. There is a HUGE age gap between me and them. They are all I think 10-13 years old. The girl, who is the oldest, was always in the way, wore a dress that was WAY too short for her and nothing under it (the fact that we could tell is horrifying), and kept interrupting every conversation to add her two cents when it was all very adult conversation topics. A child should not be involved in a conversation about sex lives and drugs (her mother used to do cocaine, for the record, and she acted like it was normal and everyone's mother did... Not mine, I can tell you that for 100% certainty). The boys were slightly younger than the girl, and belonged to my aunt and her creepy aforementioned husband. The older boy is... hefty, to be polite, while his brother is thin and frail. They are only a year apart, but look so much further. They act very... awkward, like sitting calmly for thirty seconds, then flailing their arms like pool noodles and making pteradactyl noises out of nowhere for ten minutes. I was never that kind of child, opting to spend my time reading since I was always banned to a corner somewhere, so their actions make no sense whatsoever and it was just awkward all-around.
The aunts and their families left around 7:30, but we stuck around a bit longer to chat and catch up. It felt much less awkward without the others there, but still had some tension in the air. Maybe it will fade with time, who knows. That is, of course, provided we keep in touch with them.
The drive back today was frustrating. At one point it was raining so hard that we could barely see three car lengths ahead. Terrifying when you're driving a 2-lane interstate with a speed limit of 70mph and semis every fourth vehicle. On top of that stress, I was eating pretzel nuggets on the drive back and a crown came off of my tooth. Again. Pretzel nuggets are not gummy and should not pull a cap off! This has happened both times I came back from PA, the first time being when I came back from my grandfather's funeral on Dec 31. This is now the third time this cap has fallen off. I'm tempted to just grab some super glue and do it myself because apparently they can't do it right! At least I already have an appointment for a cleaning on thursday, so I am planning to call their office tomorrow (they are closed weekends) and let them know. I despise talking to their receptionist, especially since the first time this cap fell off she decided that it was not an emergency and made me an appointment for a couple weeks out. The dentist who owns the practice nearly fell out of her chair when I told her! Because of the receptionist I had to have a gingivectomy before they could reattach it because the gums were growing back. ARGH! At least this time I don't have to schedule anything, I just have to tell her to let them know. Which she won't, but at least I will have done my part. Then hopefully they can reattach it thursday when I am in. They didn't charge me for the second reattachment, since it didn't stick, so hopefully they won't charge me for this, too. I'd like to not spend my savings on this kind of crap.
Hope you all had a good weekend!
The trip up was not too bad. The drive was around 4 hours, and the weather was ok. We didn't leave until well into the afternoon, though, so it was getting late when we arrived. We had dinner at this little joint callled Buford's Kitchen. Father apparently used to love their fried mac and cheese, so he ordered some as a side. I found it to be... ok. My brothers and my sister-in-law didn't arrive until very late.
Saturday morning we went to a Eat'n Park for breakfast. It is like a Denny's with a different color scheme. While we ate we had a discussion about the whole laurel/yanny thing. We found out me, my father, nd my oldest brother all hear "yanny", while my mother, other brother, and his wife all hear "laurel". Since we wouldn't be able to fit all 6 of us in one car, we split into teams for the weekend based on what we heard. We spent a few hours driving around the town so that my parents could show use where they grew up and some interesting sights. They kept saying that we were showing my sister-in-law around, which kind of hurt a bit. I haven't been up there since I was maybe 12, which was well over half of my life ago, and I was never shown around the town. Before my maternal grandparents passed away my brothers would get to spend a whole week every summer with them, and they got to see everything the town had to offer, and even some fun places in neighboring towns. My grandmother died and I never had the chance to go, so I missed out on all of that. I don't remember anything, and I had asked to see some places, but no. They made it all about showing my sister-in-law around... I mean, I am glad I got to see some of it, but it is just one more moment with these people where I didn't matter.
Anyway, we met up with my aunts and their families at a restaurant around 3:30, and my grandparents showed up a few minutes later. They were definitely surprised, and were really happy to see all of us. I got shoved off to the corner of the table, with the one spare seat (we had an odd number of people and an even number of chairs) separating me from everyone else. I didn't pick it, my mother pointed and said, in her cheery voice, "You can sit there!" Thanks. The food was extremely overpriced and tasted subpar, with overcooked pasta, dry and actually brittle grilled chicken, and watery and over-seasoned marinara.
After dinner, we went up to my parents' old high school and took family pictures, because they really liked the walkway and gates for a photo backdrop. From there, we headed back to my grandparents' place. They haven't really changed the place much at all, aside from chopping down a few trees around the house. They have always left out food for the stray cats in their area, and at the moment they have three. I only saw two, and one of them was really friendly. It had to be a kitten still, and was all skin and bones. I made sure it ate some cat food while I was there, and gave it plenty of attention. I much prefered its company to that of the relatives. Apparently I missed heated discussions regarding the cakes my one aunt had made for the occasion. I ended up heading inside and conversing with my grandmother and my one aunt's husband. This guy has always freaked me out a bit, but now I know for sure my instincts as a child were spot on. He was very condescending, sexist, narcissistic, and so much more. I could not wait until he left.
My cousins were... Well, annoying would be the most polite way to put it. There is a HUGE age gap between me and them. They are all I think 10-13 years old. The girl, who is the oldest, was always in the way, wore a dress that was WAY too short for her and nothing under it (the fact that we could tell is horrifying), and kept interrupting every conversation to add her two cents when it was all very adult conversation topics. A child should not be involved in a conversation about sex lives and drugs (her mother used to do cocaine, for the record, and she acted like it was normal and everyone's mother did... Not mine, I can tell you that for 100% certainty). The boys were slightly younger than the girl, and belonged to my aunt and her creepy aforementioned husband. The older boy is... hefty, to be polite, while his brother is thin and frail. They are only a year apart, but look so much further. They act very... awkward, like sitting calmly for thirty seconds, then flailing their arms like pool noodles and making pteradactyl noises out of nowhere for ten minutes. I was never that kind of child, opting to spend my time reading since I was always banned to a corner somewhere, so their actions make no sense whatsoever and it was just awkward all-around.
The aunts and their families left around 7:30, but we stuck around a bit longer to chat and catch up. It felt much less awkward without the others there, but still had some tension in the air. Maybe it will fade with time, who knows. That is, of course, provided we keep in touch with them.
The drive back today was frustrating. At one point it was raining so hard that we could barely see three car lengths ahead. Terrifying when you're driving a 2-lane interstate with a speed limit of 70mph and semis every fourth vehicle. On top of that stress, I was eating pretzel nuggets on the drive back and a crown came off of my tooth. Again. Pretzel nuggets are not gummy and should not pull a cap off! This has happened both times I came back from PA, the first time being when I came back from my grandfather's funeral on Dec 31. This is now the third time this cap has fallen off. I'm tempted to just grab some super glue and do it myself because apparently they can't do it right! At least I already have an appointment for a cleaning on thursday, so I am planning to call their office tomorrow (they are closed weekends) and let them know. I despise talking to their receptionist, especially since the first time this cap fell off she decided that it was not an emergency and made me an appointment for a couple weeks out. The dentist who owns the practice nearly fell out of her chair when I told her! Because of the receptionist I had to have a gingivectomy before they could reattach it because the gums were growing back. ARGH! At least this time I don't have to schedule anything, I just have to tell her to let them know. Which she won't, but at least I will have done my part. Then hopefully they can reattach it thursday when I am in. They didn't charge me for the second reattachment, since it didn't stick, so hopefully they won't charge me for this, too. I'd like to not spend my savings on this kind of crap.
Hope you all had a good weekend!