Another Drive. 10-25-11

On my way to Mom's, I tried to reach my aunt to have a late lunch. Unfortunately, her phone was off. So, I got some Chipotle, did a quick trip to Home Depot, and then stopped by Aunt D's. She was bummed that she missed out on lunch. We had a nice, quick visit, and I picked up a baby rocker that I left last time. With that, I headed on to Mom's and got Winnie situated. With all of the construction, I was running a little late, but so was S with the crazy bridge situation. I'll blame Mitch; she'll blame Barack ;) So, she, her husband, and I headed out to the Vietnamese restaurant. Her husband always orders the best stuff. I had a yummy noodle soup. It was nice to have a visit to catch up. I think S would make the best mom.
The next morning, I attempted my first German potato salad, which was not Mom's favorite, but I kept catching her sneaking bites of it. And when we started filling our plates at the reunion, it didn't stand a chance! The K family enjoys big meals and telling even bigger stories. It's so good to have a chance to have a time each year that we can all relax and enjoy each other's company. And I'm always happy to have a little extra time to spend with a cousin that I really haven't had a chance to get to know very well. For the most part, my family is so excited about my little Boop. There were only a few awkward moments. A friend of the family that I hadn't seen in many years asked me who the father was... I was a bit flabbergasted; it's one of those moments when you can hear the needle rip across the album. I'm going to have to do better in the future for Boop's sake. Other than a few bits of awkwardness, we had a beautiful fall day, catching up, and watching the coal and gravel barges meander up the river.
Sunday: homemade country breakfast at great aunt D's. I went by to pick up my great aunt A for breakfast, and Mom took over my milk so I could get special gravy and biscuits. I'm pretty spoiled that way :) I pretty much had to eat and run. At 89 years old, great aunt D made breakfast for over 50 people. She cooked all morning! And then I took the northern route back to my house. Big mistake. It should only be about a half hour longer (7.5 hours), but there was so much construction that it added more than an extra hour. I did manage to go to hit some of my fave groceries near my old house and to stock up on whole wheat cous cous and Asian noodles. I also got a bit of Turkish for lunch: eggplant and ground lamb :) I was pretty exhausted when I got home (9 hrs on the road). Fortunately, I'll have time to chill this weekend...