I just had a wonderful weekend visit with my parents. They arrived on Thursday and I took the afternoon off so I could be home when they arrived and so we could spend a little time together. We didn't really do anything exciting. Sat around chatting and watching crap on TiVo. Mom wanted Jake's so we ordered that and just chilled. Mom sacked out early and Dad couldn't even make it to 11PM so I had one of my earliest bedtimes in a while.
On Friday Dad was up early and walked me to the subway while he went off to get coffee and scones. He wanted to check out the place where Peter Braunstein was reportedly spotted. Though I think that spotting turned out to be wrong because he was someplace else at the time. But Dad likes to see my neighborhood places that he sees in the media. After that they did little chores around my house, popped by Jacques Torres and watched TV while I worked. Friday we also wanted some mellow family time and wanted to avoid the cold so we stayed in with Buddy's Burritos and a movie. Dad got it into his head that he wanted to watch a chick flick. And somehow was stuck on the idea of Under the Tuscan Sun. I really have no idea why. I have a huge crush on Diane Lane so I was fine with the movie choice and then we found out Sandra Oh was in it so Mom was down with it. But we still thought we'd rather have Walk the Line. Sadly that was all rented out at the store. So, it was chick flick night with the family. Not the greatest movie, but I got some Diane ogling and Sandra was funny and I now have more daydream material for when I one day make it to Italy. Overall a good night. Oh, and Dad now covets the Gay & Away hats from the tour group in the movie. Poor Daddy. Let me know if you know where I can get one. Father's Day is in a few short months...
Saturday we got up and decided to have brunch. We thought Muffy might be joining us, but as she's learning to be a doctor she was up and at work before we even put on pants. Alas. We hit Banania and all got eggs of the Benedict or Florentine flavor. While there we pondered the strangeness of Banania not having pepper on a single table. But there was pepper in our Bloody Marys so we know they had it on the premises. Strange... After the feeding we headed to Barnes & Nobles to do a little book shopping and then headed into Manhattan to visit Steph at his place of work. And my folks got to experience the joy of weekend track work. Taking two trains and experiencing lots of cranky people to go about two stops. Anyway... the wine shop is a really cute little place. I liked it. And Dad ended up getting a bottle for Oscar night. So it was a good visit. And now I can tell folks I know a wine guy. So I have a wine guy, a massage guy and a real estate guy. You need any of these guys just give me a call and I'll hook you up. Heh.
After that Dad wanted to wander down to our old 'hood to see what ever became of George's. When Dad and I moved down to the financial district there weren't a ton of places to eat outside of working hours. The area was still building itself up as a residential area. But George's was just down the street and had good diner food at really cheap prices. After 9-11 we were a little worried about George's, but it survived. And when I finally paid my first visit to Ground Zero I was with my folks and we stopped at George's after. To get something to eat and also kind of ground ourselves. I really didn't take the visit well. There are so many things to say about it that I'm not ready to talk about, but one of the strongest things I felt that this was my neighborhood for two years and now it was devastated and places that were part of my almost daily life were just gone. A large part of my life for that period was just ripped away. So going to George's was, in a cheesy and corny way, very soothing. It was someplace that was the same. And that was reassuring to me. But, not long after we were there they found a crack in the building and it had to be torn down. And last we heard they didn't know what they were going to do with it. So we thought we'd wander down there and see. And it's back. It's a little fancied up. And George's now takes up two stories (making Dad a little sad about the loss of the men's salon that used to be there). But it's back. And very much like it was, really. Which was good. Because I still don't handle being down in that area well. I have yet to get through it without some tears. So, it's nice that George's is still there to help me out.
After that we hopped on the train and headed back to Brooklyn, stopping at CVS for 'a few items'* and heading home to nap and sit around. Muffy finally freed herself from work and came over that night. We headed over to Hill Diner for dinner and had a lovely time. Lots of doctor questions for Muffy and other fun conversation that would probably have bored any other four people, but not dorks like us. Then it was home for more chillin' & TV and whatnot.
Sunday we were up a little early as Mom had to be in a car to the airport at 12:30. We were thinking of doing brunch but Mom couldn't handle another brunch. So we sent Dad off to Bagel World for breakfast. And then we just putzed around talking and getting Mom ready to head off to North Carolina. Then Dad and I napped, ran errands and tidied up a bit in preparation for the Oscars. Dad hadn't watched them in years and thought we should be a little fancy about it. Well, Dad said he wanted to have a gay Oscar night, I guess in keeping with the theme of many of the movies. But Dad's kind of a goof. So we had wine and cheese and crackers and crosti and such. As well as Reese's Peanut Butter cups and Twix. And Maggie brought us a pizza because she rocks. No one else showed, but Maggie, Dad and I had a great time. Maggie was thrilled with her husband's performance at the event and I loved Jon Stewart's hosting and Dad got to ogle Jessica Alba to his heart's content. A successful night for all I think.
Monday morning we sent Dad off to Indiana and I went off to work.
And now I'm sad and really miss them. And I can't stop thinking about where they are.
Mom went off to North Carolina because my Uncle (her brother-in-law) is having a kidney removed. Well, had it removed. Yesterday. The surgery was successful. And the tumor seemed to be encased in the kidney. They didn't see anything around it. Which is good. But they won't know more until after he's recovered from the surgery and they can see what else is going on. But Mom's there helping out for a little while. And Dad went off to Indiana. He was just going for a visit, but last Wednesday we found out that my great-aunt was having surgery on Thursday to remove part of her colon. She had cancer. The surgery went well, but they found that the cancer had spread. And it wasn't good. And last night she passed away. Just one week after my other great-aunt passed away. So, it's been a rough time for the family. And I'm trying to remind myself that Mac and Jean are probably better off dying now. Jean was having a hard time doing anything anymore and Mac was in for a lot of pain with the cancer. But, it's hard anyway, even knowing that. Jean was another connection to my Nana. And she was a really wonderful woman. And I feel like I didn't get a chance to say goodbye. And Mac was my Mamaw's last remaining sister. Mamaw is now the last of the four. And I know this is so, so hard on her. They were so close. And I'm going to miss Mac as well. She was a really nice lady and made one hell of a 7-Up Salad. And I'm worried for my Uncle. I'm hoping for the best, but as Dad says, the best case scenario here is he loses a kidney. Though I do know that if that does end up being all that happens we are very, very lucky. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed for that.
So I'm thinking about all of that and trying not to cry at work and so I'm writing a whole long blog entry about my lovely family weekend. And now I'll probably try and work on some other projects or read something entertaining at TWoP, cause it's actually a slow day for work and I need to keep my mind occupied. You know?
*Dad likes to leave the house once a day or more. He runs to Costco or the grocery store or to do something for his car or whatever errands he can find. So when he visits me he usually runs out at least once a day to pick up 'a few items'. We often make a list of these 'few items' for him each day. It's kind of a family joke. My family has a LOT of family jokes.
