Visiting
Today we took a trip inland (I really don't have any clearer sense of the direction than that), to visit an elderly relative (a cousin of H's grandfather, aged 99, approximately). It was a full car- H's mom, grandma, aunt (by marriage), H, and I. We aimed to arrive around 10:30, and leave around 1:30, and I was half-convinced that that would be way too long a visit, given that H barely knows her, and I, of course, had never met her before.
As it turns out, once everyone got settled in (the beginning of the visit was a little awkward/repetitive), it was really quite lovely. We heard a bunch of family stories, saw a chest that H's grandfather made her as a wedding present (very impressive- especially considering that he made it at age 14, and still totally useable), I did up a quick family tree (that I now need to write over legibly- lots of relatives, and little snippets about them) from what she told us, and we had a lovely lunch of the quintessential 1950s style.
Lunch was all set on paper plates in the fridge when we arrived- each person got a tomato, cut into quarters, but not all the way through, topped with a scoop of tuna salad, which itself was topped with an olive. This was put on a bed of iceberg lettuce, and had a cut boiled egg and some canned asparagus on the side. Then there was chocolate pudding pie for dessert. It was pretty fun, just as food.
The whole visit turned out to be quite a bit of fun. Tomorrow, we really dig into the real, serious, packing (we've done most of our books, and I've gotten rid of all sorts of unnecessaries- but there's the other stuff...)
As it turns out, once everyone got settled in (the beginning of the visit was a little awkward/repetitive), it was really quite lovely. We heard a bunch of family stories, saw a chest that H's grandfather made her as a wedding present (very impressive- especially considering that he made it at age 14, and still totally useable), I did up a quick family tree (that I now need to write over legibly- lots of relatives, and little snippets about them) from what she told us, and we had a lovely lunch of the quintessential 1950s style.
Lunch was all set on paper plates in the fridge when we arrived- each person got a tomato, cut into quarters, but not all the way through, topped with a scoop of tuna salad, which itself was topped with an olive. This was put on a bed of iceberg lettuce, and had a cut boiled egg and some canned asparagus on the side. Then there was chocolate pudding pie for dessert. It was pretty fun, just as food.
The whole visit turned out to be quite a bit of fun. Tomorrow, we really dig into the real, serious, packing (we've done most of our books, and I've gotten rid of all sorts of unnecessaries- but there's the other stuff...)