Part III! I'm hopeful that this is the last installment, not that I'm getting tired of writing about my fun weekend with my mother and The Aunts, but because I'm a little sketchy on my Roman Numerals.
And also! I'm writing this AND eating Eggplant Parmesan, so newly out of the oven that I just burned my tongue. It's delicious. I am very happy.
There might be tomato sauce on my keyboard.
Part II recap: Sad little bazaar and two fruit stands. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this yet, but it was a rather chilly harvest fest day. Cloudy and sprinkles. Lots of mud. It made it all sort of exciting. It didn't make a huge difference, because most of our stops were indoors, but it did make the outdoor stops seem a little lengthy.
I have definitely not mentioned that Mom and I were phone-free for the day because Eric and my dad had gone to a college football game and each taken a phone with them. I keep telling Eric that he should keep my phone and I should get an iPhone, and then we'd both be covered and wouldn't that be fun? So far he is unmoved, but I persevere anyway, mostly just because you never know when Eric will have a weak moment and actually agree.
So as we're driving back to Mom's house, Clara and The Aunts following, I'm all like, hey, we didn't hit that one store we usually go to downtown. And Mom was all like, what! Pull over! So I did. I guess this is what we would have done back in the '90s or, to be honest, 2009, since I didn't have a phone then either. (Well, I guess I did, actually, but it was one of those old-timey 30-minute a month plans for $10 and I never really did figure out what my phone number was, or how to load numbers in or anything. Mostly I just used it to call Eric.)
Mom hops back into my car and is all like, they were just saying that we forgot to go there, so! We head back towards town. Abby was excited because there's a McDonald's in this little mall-esque area and she wanted to check Facebook. In her defense, it HAD been three whole hours.
We pile out in the parking lot, but instead of going into the store with everyone else, I was like, I need to get Johanna some shoes, so we're heading to the shoe store. Johanna was quite thrilled about this. So was I, but for different reasons--Johanna is not, shall we say, the sort of kid who just stands there with her hands in her pockets when she's in a knick-knacky store. It's a little stressful.
We get her foot measured and then try to find something appropriate in her size. She found a couple of shoes she liked, but every time she tested them out by running around the store, they'd fall off, so we kept getting smaller and smaller sizes. She finally found this slip-on pair that reminded me of something I had in the '80s, minus the crazy colors, that stayed on that narrow little foot of hers, and then she was all, remember how you said I could get knee-high socks? So she picked out a couple pairs of those as well. Abby found some Ugg knock-offs that were $40 and I was like... no. She took it well. One awesome thing about my kids: They realize that just because they want something does not mean they're going to get it.
We got out of the shoe store before Mom and The Aunts were finished looking at the knick-knacks, so Clara, the girls and I hit this clothing store next door to just look around. We took our time, went back, and Mom and The Aunts STILL were not finished. Apparently the store was a big hit.
I was starting to panic a little, though, because. Our time was really dwindling, and Mom, the girls and I were slated to go to Mass at 5:30. Now, as you might reasonably be asking yourself, why not just wait for Sunday morning? Let me tell you why: Eric and Dad were hitting Mass on the road, and Mom and I were trying very hard NOT to go on Sunday, because we just like the Saturday Vigil better. We just do, okay? And anyway, The Aunts decided that they didn't want to stick around for Mass or dinner, so really, there you go.
Everyone made it back to Mom's, and we pretty much just headed into the Apple Room and started tossing packages at each other. Okay, not really. We have a system. It's not just chaos. One person gets out their packages and passes them around the room, and everyone else opens at the same time (since usually it's the same thing), and then we ooh and aah and applaud. And then someone else gets their packages and does the same thing, times... well, six this year. My girls are not included in the gifts, but Clara and The Aunts seemed to have a little something for them anyway, which was very kind.
This year I gave everyone a jar of my special seasoning rub and another of cherry jam, all wrapped up in a dish towel. Johanna helped me make labels for the jars. This is when having an extensive scrapbook supply collection comes in handy, even when you don't scrapbook anymore.
The gifts were varied and wonderful: A plush bath mat from Joan, various holiday socks from my mother, apple-scented soap from Clara, a Christmas frame from Carol, and a cute reusable bag from Jan (inside: A chicken towel and a glass pumpkin).
So about 5:40, we were finished and out the door--all of us. It was assembly line hugs and goodbyes, I tell you what. And we were only ten minutes late, which was a miracle in and of itself.
I yawned all through Mass. I couldn't help it. We'd put on some miles. Johanna rolled up her jeans so her new knee-high socks would show ("How else will anyone see them?" she reasoned. Sound logic, that). Mom treated us to pizza afterwards, and we waited for Dad and Eric to get back from their football game, and then we went home and debriefed each other about our various days (Eric's team lost. Ah, well) and went to bed.
And yes, I slept in the next morning.
The end.
Oh, except. That tangent I mentioned in Harvest Fest, Part I? I'll get to that next.
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