Weekend Nuttiness

Whenever I travel and see funny things, I (nearly) instantly think, "I have to remember that for my blog!"
It's better if I can get a picture, but typically these things occur when I am driving. Alas, you will have to rely on my words to paint the picture for you. 

As I am attempting to stay focused and write this post, my Grooveshark account is playing Vitamin String Quartet. Have you ever heard of them? They're fantastic. The orchestra covers pop songs. A guy I staffed with this summer would play a song and see how long it took us to figure out what it was. You get all the fun of the pop songs you hate to love, plus the classy feeling of listening to 'classical' music, minus the icky feeling from the sometimes gross lyrics. Oh, and Grooveshark is free. What's not to love?

Right as the trip started, I went to the corner store (the gas station nearest camp) and bought a soda. I was tired from cleaning and in want of some caffeine. The lady at the counter was training on the job and I told her she was doing great. That's tough, especially because people are in a hurry. 

I stopped at the scenic overpass we would always stop by when I was a kid going up to camp. Hurrah for nostalgia. In the far left photo, you can see the funny "no dumping" sign. Very mature. 

The trip to my grandparents house was relatively uneventful, which is just how I like it. It was nice to be in the car alone for a while, with music that didn't have to be catered to anyone else. Sometimes I get what I affectionately refer to as "music ADD" and switch to the next song a minute in. Apparently, that's pretty annoying. When I drive alone, nobody seems to complain. 

Two of my great aunts (Grandpa's sisters) were visiting when I showed up. One of them is progressing further into the stages of Alzheimer's, and that's tough. I'm glad I got to see both of them because I never know when I'll get to see them again. 

My grandparents treated me to pizza (T-Jo's!) which was awesome. I went to bed early, like 8:00pm. I felt like a party pooper but my Grandma reminded me that I was yawning every 30 seconds and that it probably wouldn't hurt to get a little extra sleep. 

On Saturday morning, I had the best blackberry jam that the neighbors gave to my grandparents. Wow. I would definitely add that to the "you can only eat three foods for the rest of your life" list next time the topic comes up. Then I went on a walk with my grandpa and we saw a bunch of yard sales and one ugly cat. We had Olive Garden for lunch and we had the waiter who was on his own for the first time. He was nervous, and checked in a few too many times, and forgot my tea at first, but overall he did really well. Poor guy. Good thing we are nice people :) 

The drive home was longer and included more idiots than my first drive, imagine that. My mom put up "Welcome Home" banners and balloons. Thanks, Mom! 

The village is doing some kind of sidewalk work, so Mom worked with what she had. 

Our beautiful new garage door! My dad got a gnarly scar putting it up. 

He also put of these gorgeous lanterns. Yay for a pretty house. 

Saturday was a night full of laundry, painting my nails for the first time all summer, a shower that did not require shower shoes, more pizza, catching up with my mom (Dad was at work), and watching Gilmore Girls. My kind of night! 

I went to church this morning with Mom and afterwards reunited with my old pal, grande skinny vanilla latte from Starbucks. So good. 

I plan to do some organizing and more catching up this week. My room is a mess and the back couch is covered in clean laundry! I'm bagging up things for charity as I go along. I have way too much!