Mom & Duncan Visits

Three weeks ago, my mom came over to visit our place for the first time since I moved a year ago. Her and Duncan were going to come over the week after Thanksgiving, but me and Lee-Anne both got sick with that thing that wasn't COVID. After that, we were going to do a Halloween visit, but scheduling didn't line up and so we wound up having a visit at this nondescript time.

She'd been over to my last place, so she'd already met Kieran, but she got to meet Finnegan. Kieran quickly ran up to her and started meowing so it seemed like he remembered her, but he's a very social cat so it's hard to tell.

Lee-Anne wanted to make sure we had stuff to do while she visited, but I knew that just having cats was probably enough. Even if they just napped all weekend, Mom would be happy to be around them. My mother really likes cats.

Finn was very affectionate and spent a lot of time sitting on Mom's lap and purring. Before Finn, I thought that lap cats were just a myth, crafted by the cliché of a villain petting a fluffy white cat on his lap. In reality, they might sit with you or lay against you, but they're unlikely to sit directly on your lap, and if they do, they won't stay for long. But Finn will sit on your lap for hours if you let him.

We went for a walk on the Iron Horse Trail, which we live right next to. Mom is even more into Pokemon Go than I am, and the section of the Iron Horse that I usually walk has 10 Pokemon Gyms neatly lined in a row. It feels like being on a real-world Pokemon Route. Mom likened the experience to being on Victory Road, which is an area you have to cross before challenging the Elite 4 and the Champion near the end of the games.

We got donuts from the Munch Box, which is a bakery in Belmont Village, a strip of small businesses near where we live. The brother of a close friend owns this bakery. There are like three others including a Lady Glaze, which is one of the two most recognized donut shops in Kitchener, but honestly, since they've opened up branches in several other cities including Guelph, they feel a little mainstream lately. Rather go for the place owned by someone I know, which is only available in Belmont Village.

We went to Central Fresh Market, which is an independently owned grocery and the one closest to us. We got some spinach and feta twisters in filo pastry. Central makes a lot of stuff fresh daily, and the spinach twisters might be the best thing they make. Mom also found some ramen there. Like, the stuff you get in the international section that's a little more advanced than cup ramen. It was lobster, which she's apparently not seen before, so she got a couple bowls.

While we were out there, I was able to show her the building where I work.

Lee-Anne made homemade Mac & Cheese for dinner

Except she used cavatappi instead of macaroni noodles, so it's technically Cav & Cheese.

Mom brought home some donuts, a spinach twister, and the lobster ramen bowls for Duncan.

He came the following week. We had to stagger the visits because of scheduling. I showed him the Iron Horse too, even though he doesn't play Pokemon Go anymore (a reminder that you don't have to play Pokemon to go for a walk) and we got Thai food from a place in Belmont Village.

The cats were similarly welcoming to Duncan, and he described them as "angels"

The weather was miserable for both their visits. Lots of rain halfway formed to snow, but we persevered.

My Most Expensive Purchase

A long time ago, I brought back to Canada a bunch of Malian merchandise. I made a blog post about it. Among my stuff, there were five Malian shirts. I put them on wire hangers and hung them on a wall in my room when I went to college. They came with me from student housing, to my holdover spot after graduating, and then to my bachelor pad where I would stay for five years. Coming to my current place, Lee-Anne thought I should have them framed, as the wire hangers were apparently tacky. So they sat in the closet for about a year, and we finally got around to visiting a framing store recently.

There's a framing place right next to where we live. We got to talk about the type of frames we want, the dimensions, the glass. I guess I'm not going to give exact numbers, but when I went to pay, Lee-Anne asked me if my card limit would cover it. I was like "My what?"

It didn't.

I've never had to think about that before, so it must have been the largest expense I've ever paid in one shot.

That can't be true. I've paid first and last rent before.  We bought a bunch of furniture last year. That must have added up to more. I guess it's different when writing a cheque, and no single item of furniture cost as much, even if it totaled more.

It was weird though, because the sinking sensation I felt didn't match the severity of when I'd made large purchases in the past. I think because even if it was my largest single purchase, it didn't effect my bank account on a percentage basis as much as, say, buying college text books did in the past. Because I have more money now.

One of the drawbacks of being financially secure is that payday is not as exciting anymore, for the same reason. It doesn't effect the percentage in my bank account as much as it used to. When you're poor, the lows are way lower, but the highs are less high. Payday doesn't change what I can immediately do anymore. My lifestyle stays the same, the numbers in my account just change a bit.

Anyway, we had to juggle payment methods but we made it work.

When it was time to pick them up, the framing lady was ecstatic about her handiwork and really talked them up. When someone else who worked there came in, she was like "Are you the guy with the shirts?!" I mean, of course they're going to build them up, it's their livelihood. But it was still nice to hear the Malian prints being praised that way, since it was such a unique and purposeful time of my life.

She made sure to stack them a certain way, and when she realized I didn't have a vehicle, she insisted she drive them to my place to ensure they were delivered safely. Even though I live just two streets over.

So I'll show you the end result of my most expensive single purchase:

You can be the judge on whether or not they live up to the hype. I'm assured that this way the material will never fade, and these will last me a lifetime.

While I'm at it, I'll share another print.

I found this one face down in the middle of a sidewalk in the rain. I flipped it over out of curiosity, saw that it was undamaged so far as I could tell and took it home. It dried off fine and yeah, appears totally unscathed. I'm the type of person that thinks life leaves little clues for you, and that getting something weird like this in an unusual context must have a "purpose". Why did it come to me? That line of logic. I kind of get that random stuff just happens a lot of the time, but that's very difficult for me to accept.

Lee-Anne thinks it looks like an apocalypse though, so I'm going to have to get rid of it. I told her I wanted to at least make a blog post about it first. So I'm documenting it hear in case it does have some kind of meaning or purpose going forward.