I’m freshly back from my second visit to Minnesota, having gone back in December to celebrate my mom’s 70th. This trip was a surprise for most of the family, with the exception of my parents and a friend or two. I went to celebrate my grandmother’s 95th birthday, which is actually tomorrow. I’m happy to say that despite her advanced years, Grammy is very much alive and kicking. She lives on her own, prepares her own meals, has an active social life and is still very much “with it”. I’m very glad I was able to be there to celebrate with her and the rest of the family.
Normally, one would need their head examined to voluntarily travel to MN in December and February but this year, they’ve been having a milder winter than the two week freeze we had here. Apart from a bit of snow the day I arrived, temps were around 3-4C (40F) and not much cooler at night. For MN, this is downright balmy so it wasn’t strange to see people outside in t-shirts during the day. The cold snap here broke the day I left and the previous mild winter weather has resumed with the temp today at 10C (50F). One big difference between here and MN is the ground: there, the grass is dead and brown, the lakes are frozen and there are still patches of snow; here we have green grass, the birds are chirping and there is no snow to be found anywhere.
I left here last Tuesday, got the train to the airport in Paris where I stayed overnight before flying out the next day. Unlike European airlines, American ones still charge for some booze on international flights so I thought it wise to visit the duty free shop beforehand. I was pleased to find a half liter of Absolut that I decanted into an empty water bottle preflight. In addition to that, wine and beer are complimentary so I had some of that too. On my last flight back, I realised that in business class, they park a booze trolley in the galley for people to come and help themselves. On that trip, my flight was severely delayed so by the time I got on board, I’d had my fill and fell asleep during dinner, meaning that I didn’t get my money’s worth in terms of free liquor. So this time, aware of the free booze lurking just ahead in the business class cabin, I had no ethical qualms about helping myself. Empowered by the booze that I’d already consumed, I brazenly made a few forays into the forward cabin and grabbed a handful of bottles of whatever was available before ducking back out and retaking my seat in coach.
When I got to my mom’s later that day, I went through my bag and was pleased to find that I’d grabbed six miniature bottles, two of which I drank on the flight. It wasn’t until I repacked before going home that I realised the extent of my embezzling: a total of 15 bottles of various liquors including cognac, scotch, vodka and whiskey. I must say that I feel slightly shameful for my petty theft but in my defence, it seemed like a good idea at the time. My punishment was a bad case of the hiccups during the flight that never really went away until the next day. The flight attendants were all concerned and kept giving me sugar, aspirin and other home remedies that didn’t really work.
Despite getting in around 2pm, I didn’t do much else that day except get my haircut and have dinner with Mom, Dad and Grammy who informed of my visit a few days earlier. When Mom invited her to dinner, she didn’t explain the reason and since Grammy already had plans, she kept trying to decline dinner at Mom’s. So in the end, Mom had to let her in on the secret but that was fine since it allowed Grammy to savour the idea of the visit and keep up the ruse with the rest of the family. On Thursday, I did my Target shopping followed by BBQ for lunch with Mike. Later that day, Mom and I went to Suzy and Steve’s where we had dinner with Them and the girls. We then stopped by Ben and Ione’s to see them and the boys before heading home.
On Friday, Mom and I went out to lunch and she was kind enough to indulge my sushi craving. We went to Origami, in Ridgedale Mall where I used to work and I can certainly recommend it to all you sushi-lovers in Mpls. That night, Mom and I went out to dinner with Grammy, along with Bud and Barb, Mom’s brother and wife and Mimi, Mom’s sister. Bud and Barb were staying at Mom’s so I surprised them there before dinner and Mimi at the restaurant. I stayed at Mike’s for the last few nights so on Saturday, the two of us met his parents for breakfast. I had seen his dad when I was there in December but it had been a few years since I’d seen his mom so that was a treat.
Another highlight of the trip was seeing Gerald, one of my closest friends. We’ve known each other since we met in San Francisco back in the early 90’s. He is now CEO of 826 Valencia, a non-profit that helps kids improve their writing skills. They have a number of branches around the US and are considering opening one in Mpls, hence Gerald’s trip. He was able to rearrange his plans to be there at the same time as I was, so he arrived on Sat evening. Before picking him up, Mike and I joined Ben, Suzy, their families and a few out of town cousins for pizza and bowling. I’m pleased to say that I bowled two games and broke 100, despite not having been for many years. Mike and I collected Gerald at his hotel and brought him back to Mike’s where we all got caught up over a few drinks. I was still very jet-lagged so went to bed instead of accompanying Mike to take Gerald back.
Sunday morning was Grammy’s birthday brunch that was held at the same place we had my mom’s and they did an excellent job this time too. Because there were fewer people and only family this time, I got more of a chance to catch up with people, especially those that I missed last time. One of them is my cousin Nate who is originally from Kentucky but now lives in St. Paul with his wife and their little boy. Nate is now trading financial instruments, much like I used to, so it was really good to discuss that with him and hear how he’s finding the whole thing. Later that day, Gerald and I went out with Suzy and Steve for drinks and dinner. We had Mexican food and Margaritas, plus a few other cocktails before calling it a relatively early night.
Dad and I had breakfast at a place near Mike’s that do excellent pancakes and as it turns out, delicious corned beef hash too. Suzy collected me from Mike’s and took me to Mom’s where we had lunch with the family that were still in town. Bud and Barb took me to the airport and I had a most uneventful return flight. Like the outbound, this one was nearly empty so I had three seats to myself and slept nearly 5 hours. Also, as penance for my shameful behaviour on the way out, I purchased two bottles of vodka from the flight attendant, despite her encouragement to make do with the free wine and beer instead. We were slightly early so I was able to get an earlier train which saved me from sitting around the airport for two hours. All in all, it was an excellent trip and I’m glad I went despite the cost and pain of travel.
Before I left, we had Bryan and Carol over for Sunday lunch. We started around 1pm and I don’t think they left until at least 7 so we all enjoyed ourselves. We may see them again on Saturday but I’ll leave that for Will to talk about in his next entry.