January 26th, 2009
A weekend with Barb and Steve
On Friday I decided to drive down to visit my parents for the weekend. It was a last-minute decision and I’m really glad I went. We had a great weekend just hanging out with no big events going on…fun fun fun. It was a nice quiet time with them and I feel I should document it.
When I got there Friday, a bit later, my dad was still up and my mom had made dinner. (My dad went to bed shortly thereafter – even though we watched a little gymnastics on the Big Ten network prior – you know him.) My mom had made “roast fingerling potatoes” which were amazing!! I am still thinking about them, pretty cool. She also had a roast chicken and broccoli. Pretty fancy and totally delicious. We hung out eating candy and watching TV (kind of, mostly reading the paper). Finally crashed around midnight.
We got up Saturday and all went to the gym together (our new favorite Mason Madison pasttime!). I got to meet my mom’s personal trainer lady, Ashley, and of course their other gym buddies were there. They have the best Anytime. On the way back to the house for the appliance delivery (they were arriving between 11 and 3 but my parents thought we should be back by 10:30 in case the people called), my mom mentioned that they were supposed to take down the old microwave before the delivery guys came. OH MAN. Huge ordeal followed. First was breakfast – my dad offered to cook it up. He makes the best eggs! Eggs, bacon, toast ensued, a very nice meal and their last time using those appliances.
Then came the microwave dismantlement. It was hell but it was also amusing. I had to relay it to Jeff, Jenny, and then my grandparents on Sunday, who all laughed. My poor dad. It was impossible to get the microwave off the wall. After much yelling, pushing, cranking and blood (yes blood), he finally managed to get it down. I felt so bad for him. We rested it on the stove and soon the guys arrived. Unfortunately one of the first things they said was “Oh you didn’t have to take down the microwave.” I thought my dad was gonna explode, luckily he did not. Sooooooooo. They pull out the old appliances and discover that the dishwasher is one inch too long. At this point I’m preparing to leave, because my dad’s next words were “well this is unacceptable.” OH NO! I took this as my cue to go get my passport photos redone. AAAAH. I was so afraid I would come back to a house with empty holes for appliances and fuming parents (Dad).
Fortunately (even after relaying this to Jenny and Jeff and Jenny asking me to warn her if this wasn’t resolved, because she didn’t want to come visit an angry household on Sunday), I returned home to beautiful appliances with a dishwasher that fit (they pulled out a board to make it fit – my mom said my dad was SOOOOOO HAPPY OMG hahahahahaha). Everything looked fantastic. After showers, a little snacking, discussion about potential movies and restaurants, and some tea with my mom, we decided to head out to an early-folks dinner. My dad had suggested Eno Vino, a tapas-style non-Spanish eatery that he had visited with work, and off we went. Amazing! It was really cool inside, with cobalt water goblets and dark wood everywhere. We tried so many things – a flatbread pizza (my dad’s favorite), a sampling of steak with yummy toasts, a great spinach salad that had beets and fried (! weird but good) chives with chive oil on the side, and a mushroom ravioli that had a tiny bit of foie gras (YAY) on top. YUM. We also shared a bottle of wine. It was so nice to spend time with them alone and hang out. And eat great, great food!
From there we hit up Point Cinema which was COMPLETELY CROWDED, we waited in a line of about 100 people (seriously, maybe a little less) just to get tickets. Crazy!!! It was totally freezing too. We finally got in and saw Gran Torino. I loved it. I hadn’t seen a movie in a long time, so that was part of it, but it was a fine story and a slice of something I don’t normally encounter. Great. It was so fun to see a movie! Then we went home and my mom made the BEST hot cocoa EVER (“hot toto”), it was soooooo good. We watched some TV, tried to watch Suze and fell asleep, then went to bed finally.
In the morning I got going early, and my dad made breakfast again! Score! There was a bacon incident, since their new microwave is 2x as powerful as the old one, but all was well after a second try, and the appliances performed beautifully. The dishwasher is amazingly quiet – unreal – even I remember how crazy that old one sounded. Hit the road and stopped by Grandma and Grandpa’s in Baraboo. I totally surprised them but they were very sweet and didn’t seem to mind. They were doing their bills (they’d gone to church the night before since Grandpa had ushered) and cooking up a crock pot dinner. Grandma gave me a nice snack of Pringles and root beer as I relayed the story of the appliance installation fiasco to them. They got a great laugh out of that, especially Grandpa. “That’s just Steve!” Cute. We chatted for about an hour….so nice to see them, in a peaceful home! Ha. Then back on the road.
Upon return to the MN, I encountered a recuperating Jeff, who had hurt his back a bit, and a stalking Erik/Kim combo, whom we eventually let in for a bit. Then a lovely dinner of Best Meal Ever/FNL (which is Best Show Ever). YAAAAAAAY.
What a wonderful weekend! Hooray. Thanks guys.
January 28th, 2009 at 9:53 pm
Can’t get enough of those cobalt blue glasses? Stop on into “THE RESTAURANT.” I was very impressed with the Eno Vino website and menu. Looks like a good time.
January 29th, 2009 at 8:55 am
Cobalt blue! We will definitely have to stop in, especially next time STEVE is in town, since he’s the biggest Cobalt Glass fan I know. Eno Vino was pretty great, good pick Steve!