rents
It was my mother's birthday on Saturday, and instead of spending it with her loving family, she opted to go out drinking with her new best friends, a lesbian couple who dock their boat near my parent's. Supposedly they are a riot. I have yet to meet them, but I have witnessed my mother's end of a phone conversation that had her in stitches.. and then tears. I've never seen her laugh so hard, actually. Aw.
So the couple took my mom and dad out on the town. First they went out to eat on Federal Hill, then downtown to some crazy overpriced bar for live music and drinks. There, they met up with another pair of my mom's girlfriends, and the six of them drank and danced their asses off until closing time.
I've only ever seen my mother drunk twice, once resulting in having to pull over several times so she could tbe sick. I've only ever seen her dance at the occasional family wedding. So it's hard to even imagine the scene. Never mind picturing my dad as the sole male among five drunken girls. He also danced, apparently. And had a fabulous time. Aw. Bless. The lesbians are threatening to repeat the festivities this weekend. Oh my.
And what did I do with my evening? Well, Sandy and I went out to lunch with Em and Kev, at this fantastic vegetarian cafe in an area of the East Side I had never explored. It was great! Afterwards, we went to Thayer Street for a bit of shopping, then to a wholefoods supermarket. We decided to make dinner and invite her latest conquest along so I could finally meet him.
She made chicken shish kebab and stuffed mushrooms, I made mushroom risotto - which she later relunctantly admitted was tasty delish. The boy came over and sampled the delights - also extolling the risotto - and we hung out drinking beer for a few hours, until my eyes were droopy with exhaustion. Pathetic, I know. But it was also getting awkward because the two of them were getting cosy on the couch and there was nothing on TV and not much to do and they couldn't decide whether to go out or not. So eventually I took her car home and was in bed before 11. Sad.
Even sadder was being woken from a deep sleep by the peal of the doorbell, ringing incessantly, at least five times. It was my parents, stumbling drunk, at 2am, with their drunk friends in tow. They had forgotten their house keys, and were giggling at the sight of me, groggy, half asleep in my pyjamas. I let them in, grunted, and padded back to bed, while they stayed up laughing and singing until god knows when.
Amazingly enough, they still managed to get up bright an early for the 8am Mass, and afterwards the entire family piled into my dad's new car to drive an hour an a half to IKEA. My parents had never been, and my mom was curious and announced it was how she wanted to spend her birthday. Hmmm. Ok.
It was very depressing shopping for lovely housewares, having no house to put them in. Once again, I was struck by how lucky my sister is to have such a gorgeous home all her own, to decorate and furnish as she likes. And of course my mother helps her do so, buying her loads of fun things... The two of them were oohing and ahhing over how inexpensive everything was, like the $400 sofas and tables and such. I can't even rationalise spending $40 on a table. Their lifestyle just seems so extravagent. I, in turn, felt shabby and poor and pathetic.
It's also a bit ridiculous. My sister spent nearly $40 on new shower curtains then realised she didn't have any suitable hooks. I remembered seeing three (THREE) different sets of shower hooks in my mother's cupboard, and suggested she take one of those. But she balked at the idea, scrunching up her nose and telling me they were not suitable. She needed SILVER hooks. Silly me, thinking clear plastic hooks sufficient to hold my sister's shower curtains.
We were there for several hours in all, and I was exhausted and miserable by the end. Then, on the ride home, squished into the car to accomodate my sister's new display shelf and my parent's four new kitchen chairs, they started to make fun of my cooking again. It's really getting old. And annoying. Just cos my sister took one crummy cooking class in college does not make her a culinary genius. But apparently she's helping prepare the Thanksgiving feast this year. When I said 'Oh, I was going to offer a few contributions myself' they all started laughing hysterically. What the FUCK? I was really insulted. Still am.
That reminds me... I've got to use up the leftover parsnips and sweet potatoes I bought the other day... soup anyone?
What else have I done with myself lately? Not much. I've been frantically trying to find work. I know it's only been a week but I'm worried and restless. Plus, with my voluntary ban on television, I've got loads of time to kill each day, and I'm running out of ways to fill it. I've already finished two books. And showered a lot.
I made a disappointing phone call to the newspaper. Was told they have no positions for me, but I forwarded te guy my CV anyway, just in case he's so wowed by my credentials he changes his mind. Right. Not fucking likely, but might as well try, non? I then called the New Haven Vital Statistics office to order official copies of my birth certificate, to get the whole marriage ball rolling. Yeah. Scary. Then I went to two nearby department stores to fill in job applications. Today, there's another temp agency/job fair on the agenda, and coffee with a former coworker. The excitement never ends.
