Weekend Recap

Of course this weekend flew by faster than I wanted it to, but it was a pretty decent one. Somehow on Friday I managed to be late to the airport to pick my mom up, but I managed to save some time since PoliceBoy was nice enough to map out the shortcuts over the phone for me as I was driving. It was interesting trying to understand the directions though.

Me: "So what exit am I supposed to get off of?"

Police Boy: "Well what do you see?"

Me: "Trees, other people's brake lights, a billboard for Charlestown Races and Slots, some exit signs"

PB: "What exit are you near?"

Me: "Oh shit, I just passed one. I didn't see the number."

PB: "Tasha! Get off at exit 11B"

Me: "Ok, it's coming up"

PB: "Well, you could go the other way"

Me: "What other way? There's more ways?? Too late for that, I'm off the exit now, gimme the rest of the directions"

PB: "Go straight and you'll see the signs to BWI"

Me: "Doesn't mapquest do this easier?"

PB: "You wanted the shortcut babygirl. Don't shoot the messenger."


Me: "That wouldn't be smart anyway, you're the one with the badge and the gun!"

Once I got my mom, we went to dinner and did some shopping and of course she had to catch me up on the latest gossip at church. This gossip used to be funny when I actually saw the people on a weekly basis, but the only time I go to that church anymore is when I'm back home to visit obviously. All I heard was, "And you wouldn't belive what Sister Gwendolyn and blah blah blah". I let her talk though, since she was in her glory-- she was even telling everyone in earshot that we're from NY and I've been here for a little over a year and I'm holding my own. I don't know if that's her empty nest syndrome rearing it's head or if that's just how mothers brag about their grown kids, but it was a hilarious sight. As we were leaving, out of nowhere she said, "Let's be renegade and get into some stuff"

Me: "What? Are you serious?"

Mom: "Not really, just messing with you"

I was about worn out by then, and was ready to go home, but I got a call from PrettyBoy telling me that his daughter had been rushed to the ER and he wanted me to come up there. So I dropped my mom off at home and ran up to Bmore to check on her and ended up staying for a few hours. He was grateful for my company, and his daughter was happy to see me too. Even babymama was glad to see me, so everything was drama free. Once I left the hospital, I went over to my bestest's house to get some of the birthday cake that I missed, but ended up falling asleep on her sofa for about two hours.

Saturday found me driving my mom around and taking her on metro, doing some shopping, visitng my brother in Bmore, some other family around PG county, and my uncle who's in the hospital. Our final stop, however, was Ikea. I'm still not understanding why we had to go there. The only Ikeas near NY are in norhern NJ, but she's in NYC often and goes to those stores, so needless to say I was a little miffed about going there.

Me: "Mom, every Ikea is basically the same. It's a big box with furniture and funny tasting food"

Mom: "Shush. You can buy everything for your home here, even food, so let's go."

Me: "Didn't you go to Ikea when you were in NJ two weeks ago"

Mom: (smacks me lightly upside my head) "Yeah, and that's not your issue. Maryland is in the almost south, so they may have some almost south stuff that's not in the NJ stores"

Me: "Dayum. Ok. Fine."

We spent almost 3 hours navigating the mess of that store. I don't know how my mom managed to amass so many tchotchkes from the downstairs, non-furntirue part, but Ikea College Park will never be the same. An entire cart full of just stuff. "OOOOH, that would be a good Christmas gift for your cousin" and "OOOOOH you could use this in your (fully furnished and happily functioning) apartment. Oh, you have one? So what, throw it in there. Nothing wrong with having two" and "Well, this isn't going to fit in my suitcases, so you're going to have to Fed.Ex this to me Niki (my family's nickname for me)". My poor car was so loaded with all her purchases, it looked like I was a displaced college student in search of a new dorm room.

Once we got everything safely into my apartment, I passed out for a little while since I was operating on basically no sleep, then the phone rang yet again. This time I got the news that my (step)cousin in Oxon Hill had passed away. She had cancer throughout her body, but no one but her husband and kids knew until the end. I guess she wanted to keep her illness private from the very chatty family. I can respect that. The funeral is going to be this coming Saturday, so my parents will be in the area again. It's a sad reason to see them, but I'm kind of happy that I don't have to drive to NY to see them for once.

Anyhoo, that night PoliceBoy called and started talking to my mom. She and I sound a lot alike on the phone, so he was ALL confused for a minute. Mom took the liberty to try and mess with his head, but he wasn't falling for it once he heard me laughing in the background. She wanted to meet him and give him the 20 questions, so he stopped by to meet her. It was the cutest thing--he was so nice and patient, listened to all of her stories, looked at all 9 million pictures in her wallet, and answered all her questions with no problem. I know he was probably irritated, but when I asked him he said it was okay that he didn't mind at all.

He wanted to go out to eat, so we left my mom after we promised to bring her back some dessert. We stopped up to his place to drop off his tactical uniform, then went out to PF Chang's. It was soo nice, but he had to assist me with eating my lettuce wraps, because apparently I'm not skilled enough to eat those things by myself. We got in a lot of good conversation and jokes--one of the best dinners I've had in a while. After dinner, we brought the dessert back to my mom, then went back out for a few drinks. Again, nice conversation and all that.

Once we left the drink spot, he took me home and I was getting ready to pass out for the night, when PrettyBoy's mom called to tell me that he was in the hospital for exhaustion as he was trying to stay awake to watch his daughter in the same hospital. Admirable and honorable, but that still doesn't make me want to date him (sounds mean and untimely I know, but it's really not. I'll explain another time). But because we're such good friends, I went up there to see him and ended up finally passing out in one of the Barco Lounger chairs in his room till 2 Sunday afternoon.

When I got home, my mom was all mad because I didn't call to let her know how long I'd be gone. Umm, this isn't high school, lol, but I don't blame her at all, however once I told her where I was she understood. Her flight was scheduled for 6:40 so I decided to make things up and spend the last few hours chilling with her. We did some more shopping and hung at Panera and Starbucks enjoying a few funny moments. She broke down in tears telling me how proud she was of me for handling the transition from college to real life so well. I hate seeing my mom cry, but it was soo nice and unexpected. I even got all sentimental, but then right on cue it was like *record scratch* "look at us, all cryin and stuff. We're a mess. Let's get to the airport"

She got on her flight safely, and I went home to catch a nap. I didn't feel like cooking, but thankfully PoliceBoy already volunteered to bring me dinner. So he came by, we ate, then had the "what's our status" conversation. I'm definitely happy with how the convo went. We started watching a movie, but I fell asleep about halfway through it, so he let me sleep until it was over, then he went home.

Long weekend, hardly any sleep, but was definitely fun (outside of the death and hospitals). Hope yall had a good weekend!