We didn’t get up too early this morning, but as soon as I did, Mom called and wanted me to come shake salt on the steaks for dinner. I tried making the case that it could be done later, but she insisted that I was the only one, and that I should drive across town to do it immediately. I did that and then promptly left so I could complete my own prep work for dinner.
I stopped by the cemetery on the way home to get the tripods that Dad forgot to grab when he got the flower pots last night. Then I went home to shower. Summer had gone to the gym and mentioned possibly going to Walmart by herself to get the things we needed. I suggested we should go together, but then she took the initiative.
When I got to her house, she had a few potatoes soaking in the sink, but not nearly enough for all the people that were coming to dinner. I immediately ran out the door and raced to Walmart to get a bag of potatoes rather than hand picking loose ones, and also got some extra butter just in case. When I got back to the house to start cleaning them, my aggravations were compounded by the fact that she was watching some loud, competitive cooking show on her phone while she was making broccoli salad. I shoved my earbuds in and got to work.
We left the house nearly an hour later than I wanted, because I kept getting pushed back. Eaddie’s friend Eli was at the house and would be joining us for dinner and a swim. I tried my best to rush everyone out the door, and we got to my parents’ house just after everyone else had already arrived. Luckily Dad already had some charcoal started, and the heat of the day got the chimney burning in short order.
My parents bounced around the kitchen as though they had never hosted a large gathering ever before in their lives. Dishes I had probably only ever seen once or twice in my life came out of the cabinets, only to be put back up in favor of disposable ones. Places were set, but then scavenged so everyone could serve themselves buffet-style. It was a cluster that I was almost happy to avoid by sweating in front of a hot grill outside in the humidity.
The one thing we got right was that steaks were the only thing Mom had for me to grill. The charcoal burned out quickly, but I finished the steaks. I got them inside after Dad broiled my twice-baked potatoes, and everyone ate their dinner. Fortunately it wasn’t miserably hot outside, so I joined Summer and the kids by the pool. Then I joined them for a swim after we ate.
Summer was the first one to get out of the pool, followed by Eaddie and then me. Eli was down to float around a little longer, but we did eventually have to get him home, and Eaddie wanted her dessert. We cleaned up outside and then went in for some banana pudding and pumpkin bread. Bác Trân had Radford on the phone when my parents walked out, so he passed the phone to me. I was really happy to catch up with him for a little bit, since I’ve never once had an adult conversation with him in my life. Years of maturity and perspective make all the difference, and it was great getting to share a moment with him. Eventually my parents came back in and took the call. The girls took Eli home while I was on the phone, so they were ready to leave by then.
We wrapped things up and said some partial goodbyes. I planned to be back in the morning before their flight back to Houston. Summer went straight to bed when we got to the house. Eaddie went to her room, and I sat on the couch for a while. I’ll be happy to see next week when my parents can stop overdoing absolutely everything.
Outta the way!