Thursday Theme- This Tastes Terrible

A few summers ago, Jerome’s mom (M) and stepdad (S) came to visit.*

Somehow S had heard of a restaurant in Seattle that he decided he wanted to go to even though no one else did.  Anchovies and Olives.  M pointed out that she doesn’t eat sea food.  I’m not a huge fan of most seafood either.  Didn’t matter!  We all ended up there anyway.  I hoped they had some sort of chicken dish as most places do for the odd one out in the group.

When we got there, we were seated and given menus.  The waiter was snooty from the very start.  He asked for drink orders.  S got a beer, M got a Diet Coke, I asked for iced tea and was told they don’t have ANY tea (he wasn’t nice about saying that either…like ordering tea was a personal insult.)…I ended up with a Diet Coke as well; and I forget what Jerome asked for originally, but he ended up with ‘lemonade’.  …more on the drinks in a minute.

S is looking over the menu happily by this time.  I was disappointed to find they had no chicken dish…or any other non-seafood dish.  The only thing that looked remotely appetizing was the most expensive thing on the menu.  Jerome discreetly agreed with me.  (And he likes most seafood!).  

I was nervously contemplating what to do.  M announced that she refused to eat anything there.  I was tempted to do the same, but I didn’t want to be rude.  The only other times I’d refused to eat at restaurants were when I was anorexic still and for the most part, I didn’t know it was rude.

The drinks came.  M and I were each given a glass with ice and a mini bottle of Diet Coke.  The soda was flat.  Before we could flag down the waiter again to tell him, we figured out that our tiny bottles were over a year past their use by dates.  Jerome’s ‘lemonade’ had pretty much no sugar in it.  S was happy with his beer.

When the waiter came back, it was also a personal insult that we complained about flat, old soda.  He gave us new tiny bottles (They were also flat and old.)  S ignored our obvious dislike and ordered like 15 raw oysters and some bread.  (Bread, by the way, COSTS EXTRA!)

I can’t do raw oysters.  I tried once.  Nope.  Just nope.  Jerome had a few, though.  Tried the bread.  Stale.

While they were oystering I quietly decided to get a salad.  It had endive and soft boiled egg and some sorta fish…I honestly forget now.**  Jerome got the same thing.  I forget what S got.

The salad was so bitter I had a hard time keeping a straight face.  It was the dressing,  I tried to keep away from it…but it was tossed in well.  I think I gagged once or twice.  Thank god I’ve learned how to do that without attracting attention.  I got through what I could.

When we finally got out of there, Jerome voiced his opinion about the whole thing.  I don’t remember what he said, it amounted to “That was awful!”  M and I heartily agreed.  S got pissed and wouldn’t talk to us for the rest of the trip.

Anchovies and Olives is supposed to be a really nice place to go.  Most people give it glowing reviews!  The few that I found that didn’t like it seemed to agree completely with me.

*Those are really their first initials, I’m not abbreviating mom and stepdad.  That amused me, though.

**I looked up the menu to try to remind myself, but it’s changed.  Surprisingly, more things look good now…but I will never go back.

P.S. Jerome came in in the middle of typing this, glanced at it and said, “Yep, that’s the best story for this theme.  NEVER AGAIN!”

Thursday Theme- Cabin Fever

The first year we lived in Washington, it snowed a foot.

We’d arrived in September, and Jerome was deployed in the first half of December.  We had just moved into our apartment on base in October.  I barely knew my way around.  I knew how to get to the Commissary (grocery store) and the PX (sorta like Target) and that was it.  That was all I needed, I suppose.

I had lived in Southern California all my life.  I had read about snow.  I had seen snow on TV.  I had visited the snow on occasion in the San Bernardino mountains…but I never had to live with snow.  It snowed all of twice in my home town, Once when I was in kindergarten, and once in middle school.  Both were extremely brief and the snow didn’t stick.

At this point, it was just me, and a very young Peach.  Peach was very upset because Jerome had left….well, we both were.

Anyway.  The first day it snowed, I went down to the Commissary mainly to get Peach food.  (Yes, I carried bags of dog food home with me!) food, but for me food too.  It had only snowed a little bit at this point, but when I got to the store, they were closing due to weather!  So I ran to the PX.  They didn’t carry Peach’s brand of dog food, but I picked a small bag one that was as close to hers as I could.  Got a little food for myself.  Walked home as fast as I could before the snow got worse.  This was also the day I saw my first snowman in real life.

The days went on, there was more and more snow.  Things got icy.  I would slide to the mailbox and back.  Baby Peach would hop through the snow and try to eat it all.

After a while, the mail wasn’t coming everyday.  UPS deliveries were delayed.

I wasn’t used to being cooped up.  I used to have friends who would help me drive places when I couldn’t walk or use the bus!  I didn’t know anyone in Washington at the time, and even if I did, in my mind, it was too dangerous to be driving.  The news had me too scared to even call a taxi.

My apartment got super clean.  I baked to keep warm.  I read any book I could find that I hadn’t read yet.  I listened to tons of podcasts.  I played a lot of Rock Band by myself.

Every day I hoped the snow would melt, but it stayed too cold.  I was hearing on the news there was a big chance of losing power.  What would I do then?

Eventually I was blending boiled chicken, vegetables, and rice to make Peach food…which quickly depleted the last of the food in the house.

Peach and I were also starting to get on each other’s nerves.  At that point, Peach only had eyes for Jerome.  When he left, she was very upset.  She and I didn’t get along well until the next year after he came home.  The whole stuck inside together all the time thing wasn’t pleasant for either of us.

Finally, I had to leave.  We needed food.  There was a foot of snow on the ground and I walked to the Commissary.  I didn’t realize until I got there that it was Christmas Eve.  I bought as much food as I could carry and trudged home.  I learned that day walking through a foot of snow is HARD!  The trip normally took less than an hour altogether, but this time it took more than two.  

It was great to get out of the house, though.  Trudging through the snow has never been so amazing!  It probably never will be again…and I’m okay with that.

Soon after that, the snow began to melt and things returned to normal.

Since then, I make sure to be stocked up on things!  Everything!  Shampoo, non-perishable food, pet food, you name it, if it doesn’t go bad, I like to have at least one extra…just in case.

Thursday Theme- Crying

In the middle of my nervous breakdown this summer, I was in the emergency room waiting area with a bloody nose and a bloody chin and a bloody arm.  I was alone  The triage lady had given me some very temporary bandages and they were coming off already.  I must have looked pretty scary.

I’d been crying since before Dixon bit me, but up until then I had tried to keep it together.  Now, I was outright sobbing and not caring who heard or what they thought.  I was convinced at that point that I was going to die, so who cares about crying, right?  I couldn’t even tell you what I was crying about.  Everything, I guess.

One little old lady saw me and decided to try and help.  I don’t know who she was, but I probably won’t ever forget her.  In between sobs I told her what was going on.  I don’t think I’d even finished the story when a nurse called me to go back.  It was just enough to distract me while I was waiting.

I went back to sobbing uncontrollably after that as I told the story a few dozen more times to social workers and doctors and whoever else asked.  You’d cry too if you were convinced you were going to die and/or you could see your arm muscles.

I guess I just really like that she was brave enough to talk to me even though I was bloody and crying like a crazy person.  I hope one day I can be brave like that and pass on the favor.

Thursday Theme- The Best

As soon as I saw this theme last week, I knew what I wanted to write about.

When we lived in California, Jerome and I were Disneyland annual pass holders.  Neither of us had a car, so we always went with our other friends.

Once, and only once, we paid off friends with cars to drop us off and pick us up.

You know what?  I don’t remember that day at all.  I couldn’t tell you anything that happened at all.  Only that we went to Disneyland by ourselves and it was awesome.

Maybe I don’t need to remember.  I’m happy with the memory as it is- The Best Day Ever.

Thursday Theme- Begin again.

There is one story that I would really like to use for this theme, but I can’t put it on tumblr because of reasons.

I keep trying to write things that just don’t quite fit the theme in my mind.  

I begin again…and again…and again…all week…all night…

Nothing fits like that story.  The story where I leave EVERYTHING and start over.  It’s repeated itself to a lesser extent since then, but those stories just aren’t the same.  Y’all probably wouldn’t know the difference if I didn’t tell you, but I would…and it would drive me nuts to know there was a better fit for this theme.

I suppose there’s always next week’s theme to begin again.

Edit: I know it’s not Thursday…I was just really late, OKAY?