In which Merenwen battles a library self-checkout, her family, and high-sodium food.

For some weird reason, Blogger just posted as I was typing the title the first time. Odd.

So I went to the library to pick up my stuff, and I was having a hard time with the self-checkout machine. It was recognizing a manga as two items, which I don't understand, and then I selected 'finish' by accident, so I had to dig my card out again. I was having the same problem with other items.

And when I got home, my mom started bitching at me because I was supposed to bring two bags for the library stuff we were picking up (she said something about two bags, but she must've been mumbling or something). And then when I told her about my troubles with the self-checkout, she nattered at me to check my slip to make sure it didn't list it as two copies of each item. I told her it didn't matter, and she went into an 'it does matter!' speech. OMG. Seriously?! Duplicate items are the least of my problems! I got an e-mail at 10:49 last night from Stephen telling me that youth group would be cancelled until AUGUST 12TH, because he's in BATON ROUGE!!!

And now, more ranting about family, and a rant about high-sodium food. Because I can.

We went out for Chinese food on Monday with Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Brent, Justin, Uncle Brent's girlfriend Heather and her daughter Tegan, Aunt Patti (I flashed her a snide smile when she thanked me for passing her a menu, but I don't think she saw it), Jesse (Patti's son and my cousin), PATTI'S FRIEND LORRAINE (why she was invited, I still don't know) and Grandma's cousin Donna.

And now the rant. WHY THE HELL WAS LORRAINE THERE?! SHE'S NOT FAMILY, AND UNLESS SHE MARRIES A SECOND-COUSIN OR SOMETHING SHE WILL NEVER BE FAMILY! I KNOW SHE DOESN'T HAVE A FAMILY OF HER OWN OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, BUT THIS ISN'T A HOLIDAY DINNER, IT'S A FAMILY, A FAMILY GET-TOGETHER!!!!!

M'kay. That's done. Oh yeah, there was also the part where Grandpa was being his usual cheap self with the bill and the tip, Patti bitching about there being no shrimp left in the one noodle dish (I got it before her, and had to wait forever for it to come my way, so I figured I was entitled to the last shrimp!) and me having to wait a little while for dishes to be passed to me - I know it wasn't intentional, but a lot of people could see my plate and, thus, see what I had and what I didn't have on it. Oh, and on the car ride home, Dad said something about everybody having to pay for Patti's soup. Must be nice for her. I wanted to get won ton soup, but Grandpa was kind of rushing us, and I should have spoken up, but I didn't want to look ungrateful by saying that I'd like soup, too. But dammit, I should have asked for soup. Patti got soup, and almost everybody else got a spring roll or an egg roll. I hate spring rolls and egg rolls!

The food was pretty good, though. Not as good as stuff you can get at Mandarin, but still decent. But it was so packed with sodium that Mom and I felt like roadkill.

We might be going to Michaels this week. I hope we do, because we have a coupon, and I want to look at circular needles. And they have Vanna's Choice on sale.

Lunch at Grandma's

Well, let's just say that lunch at my grandparents' went eerily well. Still, it didn't stop Grandma from mentioning Aunt Patti, and Becca. Oh well, I guess some of her habits will never fade. Patti, Jesse and Becca will always be the favourites.

The lunch itself tasted good. Grandma made a casserole with chicken and Ritz crackers, and it actually tasted good. The macaroni salad was alright - Mom liked it, but as I'm not keen on raw red peppers, I thought it was just okay. There were also sweet potatoes, which were good, and bread to go with lunch. The only thing that seemed to spoil the meal was that, before I even sat down, Grandpa was asking me if I wanted wine. I told him I was underage, and he said something about it being up to my parents. So, when I was finished in the bathroom and returned to the table, I was offered non-alcoholic drinks. I had Pepsi. For dessert there was ice cream, which Mom didn't have, but I had some, and there were cookies too. I actually don't mind Grandma's cookies, because she makes these yummy ones with marshmallows and peanut butter (I think???), and another kind with chocolate and chow mein noodles. Mom said we can make the chocolate ones this year, because we have chow mein noodles. Sweet :)

Katie and Dan got their Christmas presents from my grandparents, too, because they won't see each other again until after Christmas because Grandma and Grandpa are going away on the.... 27th? I think? Anyways, the 27th is when Katie and Dan are coming up again. Nathan and Steph are supposed to come up on the 27th, too, and Justin might be able to come up that day, too.

Which reminds me, I still have to finish Justin's scarf. No pressure :p

I can't eat anything after 10:00, because I have to go to the doctor's to get my flu shot and to have my yearly physical, and because our family doctor has us go to have blood and urine tests done, I'll have to get stuck in both the arm and the veins. Whee. So that means I have to fast for twelve hours. I still have just under 20 minutes to eat, though. I did have a good supper though. My supper was:

The last of the leftover beef chow mein
A Nutella sandwich
A fortune cookie
The last of the awesome Newman's Own grape juice that we got at Costco
One of the chocolates from my swap package

Now I have 15 minutes left to eat, but I'm not that hungry. Toodles :)

How many orthodontists does it take to change a lightbulb?

I came up with htis little joke before leaving for my orthodontist appointment. It goes...

Q: How many orthodontists does it take to change a lightbulb?
A: I don't know, they're always overbooked.

Hehe :)

Actually, today wasn't too bad, for an afternoon appointment, although it could've gone by quicker if they didn't book so many people in the afternoons. I still have to wear that stupid partial retainer on my bottom teeth, the one that only covers the bottom-front teeth.

And why oh why do I always see cute guys in the orthodontist's office? There was one guy who was quite cute, seated in the other row of dentist chairs. Then he got moved to the chair beside his, and I was moved to his old chair, so that was pretty awesome. He wears retainers, too. Unfortunately, I didn't catch his name. Dammit!

Another upside to the appointment was, well, two things. The first is that I did a good deed - someone came in while I was waiting to be called in for my appointment, and a piece of paper came out of her coat. It looked like a bus transfer slip or something. I walked over, picked it up and asked, "Did someone drop this?" One of the young women who came in said it was hers, and thanked me when I handed it to her. The second thing was that one of the hygienists changed the radio station to that Christmas music station in Boston Buffalo... I think. Sweet! :)

In other news, I found out today that we - that is, me, mom, dad and Katie (I'm not sure about Dan) - are going over to my grandparents for lunch on Sunday. Now, as much as I dislike going to the Unitarian church now that Reverend Barrett is gone, I hope we can get to this week's service, because I think it's the inter-generational service, meaning that the Sunday School kids might be singing, or involved in the service in some way.

So... what should I wear to my grandparents' house on Sunday? My 'Dangerously Overeducated' shirt? I would break out my 'Things They Don't Teach You in School' shirt, but it has holes in it. Oh well.

Or maybe I could wash my 'Tact is for people who aren't witty enough to be sarcastic' shirt and wear that!

The Holiday Weekend in a Nutshell

I'm typing this using Dad's computer, because I can't get to mine. We put up an air mattress for Katie and Dan to sleep in, so Mom's elyptical workout machine thingy had to be moved to make room for the mattress. Said elyptical is behind my chair. A Rubbermaid tub is in my chair. I don't mind, I just find it funny that I'm not used to this monitor.

And now, the Holiday Weekend Thus Far. This section will probably be edited later to include dessert at Grandma and Grandpa's.

Saturday

As I mentioned before, Dad didn't bring up the table, so Mom and I had to haul it upstairs either during or after Letterman. Fun times. Mom also did some quick dusting. Dad did help clean before he went to work, but the floor still needed a sweep later that day.

Katie and Dan arrived first, because they had to pick up Nathan and Steph. When everyone except Dad was there (he was working that day, and came home around 6:00-ish), I put in disc 3 of SNL, season one. Nathan kept talking over it. He also asked me if I wanted their DS if he replaces it. I said that I was thinking there's more to it. He got all pissed off and changed his mind. When they went out later (to get bread so Steph could have a sandwich), I got upset. But I'm not upset anymore. Why should I be? I have a PSone. A piece of history.

We ate when Dad got home. I had to sit next to Steph, which I wasn't thrilled about. I told Katie that in private, and she told me to just sit through dinner. So I did. It wasn't so bad, until dessert. I was being goofy, smearing whipped cream on Mom's nose, and I accidentally got some on her glasses. She wasn't too mad about it, but that didn't stop Nathan calling me a jerk. So I went upstairs and ate my pie.

I'll add more later, I have to face the Grandparents. Yay us. Woo-hoo. I hope I get outta this alive.

edited for spelling

To Grandmother's House We Go...

So, we had to go to visit my grandma and grandpa today, to get the rest of my dad's birthday present. It turns out that my grandparents also wanted to give me my birthday present early. My dad got two Kit-Kat bars with Dale Earnhart Sr on the wrapper and a Dale Earnhart Sr DVD set. I got two tops - I haven't tried them on yet, because they're drying, but I'm sure that they'll fit because my sister was with them when they bought them. For quite some time, my grandma would buy me the wrong sizes in clothes, but I think that she's finally realised that I have, to put it bluntly, a bosom. I don't fit into a girl's large shirt anymore! But the tops are both in a women's large, so I figure they'll fit. I'll take photos when the weather's nicer and there's more natural light. It's been damp all day, and it was quite foggy this morning - my mom and I both had headaches today because of the weather change. I had aching shoulders too, but I might have slept oddly last night. Or it could be because of the change in weather. Who knows?