over the river and through the woods

last night i came home from a long weekend in the mountains with grandma. i was hoping that the weekend was going to be light and fun - full of goofing off and some chores helping out grandma.

it turned out to be a bit more hectic than anticipated. to sum up my weekend:

• i now know where the county jail is thanks to my uncle. i was waiting in the lobby while grams was visiting with him. i didn't have the car keys, so i couldn't hang out in the car. i was bored, so i read this sheet that outlined the rules for visitation. among my favorites were "the visitor shall not perform sexual acts to him/her self or display one's body sexually during the visitation."
• we (accidently) took the long way home from the airport (my bad, i was driving.) and ended eating at a mex restaraunt. the food was not that great, but the time out was very nice. as soon as we got back on the right road, grandma said, "we knew exactly where we were going. we just wanted to take the scenic route home. we were curious about the afternoon traffic in folsom. yeah, it's pretty bad." i couldn't stop giggling.
• you know you're in the mountains when you're having a conversation with a 20 something yr old guy who's missing a front tooth about what constitutes as actual incest and what's just "creepy". apparently 2nd cousins hooking up is creepy and not really incest, as well as a woman who has 3 kids from 3 dads, and they are brothers, ie, his sister. we bantered about what those kids would call each other. "this is my brother who is also my cousin." i asked about uncles and nieces and was given a raised eyebrow. i'm still not sure what he meant by that...
• i almost finished cutting out the spaces for some vents in the workshop. i don't think i'll ever understand battery operated heavy duty tools. manufacturers shouldn't even bother building them. screwdrivers, yes, but a battery powered jig saw or circular saw is ridiculous. the battery just can't hold enough juice to complete a decent sized job. you end up haviong to recharge the damn thing in the middle of the job, which can be annoying, or have like 3 batteries on reserve, charged and ready to go.
• i love cooking for grandma - she rarely gets cooked for. my new nickname was "the slave". the fridge got a good cleaning - grams forbade me to clean anything else and she promised to "stop fussing" over me so much.
• we went to a nearby winery and drank wine with a picnic lunch of bread, basil, cheese and ham. it was very nice. hank the dog sat next to me with his head in my lap.
• i didn't get to take as many pics as i wanted. i'll post what i can on my flickr acct later..
• i was able to see and old friend, joe, who lives about a 90 min drive from grams. his new girlfriend doesn't seem very pleasant. at all. and lisa is... well, lisa i guess. we missed each other, but at least i was able to see their son. he seems to be doing ok for a 13 yr old who lost a brother so young.

i spied:

• the BEST smoothies ever! grams makes 'em so good.
• mistletoe EVERYWHERE!
• two sets of the bluest eyes i think i've ever seen. the woman's were so sharp it was oddly unnerving. they were almost cat-like. when she talked to me i couldn't help but wonder if her parents had participated in some sort of genetic experimental thingy, like in "firestarter".. i'm sure they weren't contacts. i've just never seen such blue eyes.