I left from New York to go to Connecticut (again!) to see my parents before they went back to Florida. Because plans change all the time, I couldn't be sure when I'd get the chance to see them both in person again, so I figured that Sunday evening was as good a time as any. I jumped on the Metro North train again, and began my journey.
I called my mother to let her know that I was on the way. She let me know that my dad had totalled the car, because of the icy roads. He was going too fast down a curve, and couldn't regain control of the car. Worse, they hit two other parked cars. It was bad. Fortunately, he and my brother-in-law got out of the car without any injuries. The layer of ice on the ground was so thick that you couldn't even walk on it (unless you were wearing cleats or something) without flailing madly, and almost falling to the ground. It was really scary for both of them. They somehow managed to get the demolished car home to my sister's (Radhika) house.
After much shuffling around, they figured that it would be best if my dad didn't drive again (and no voice was a bigger proponent of this position than my dad) for a little while, so my brother-in-law (Raj) took over instead. [Side note: Yes, it really is soo cute that my sister and her husband have alliterative first names! What's even weirder is that his surname is the same initial as my family's surname!] I got there at 8:00, and they reached the New Haven station at 8:30.
NOTE TO CONNECTICUT: Your mass transit SUCKS. It took an additional hour from New Haven to Middletown, where my sister is. And no, I'm not about to spend $12 on a Peter Pan bus. For all that money, Raj or Radhika can come get me from the station. I pay like $14 to get from Manhattan to New Haven. There's really no reason for me to shell out almost that much for a 30 minute drive.
So anyway. The walk to the car was a ... challenge, as the parking lot was extremely slippery, and near impossible to walk on. For my friends in Florida: Imagine you're walking with your shoes on an ice skating rink. Or, that the latest rain storm has sloshed water all over your granite (or other smooth surfaced) tile, and you forgot to wear your flip flops on the way across the living room. Now imagine that there's a layer of oil on top of all of this. Not fun. We got into the (heated!) car, and made the drive out to Radhika's house. It was a relatively slow and uneventful drive, and we chatted about this and that on the way. Dad mentioned something about how all day, Radhika had been complaining about general stomach upsets, and was in a more or less sickly mood, but had immediately perked up when she heard that I was coming for a visit. He also mentioned how my mother postponed her ticket to go to Florida, rather than head back with him on Monday.
We got to their house, and made our slippery way to the door. My mother and sister were sitting on the couch, having a chat. Both were wrapped up fairly snugly. I didn't think that the house was all that cold, but those two seemed to be freezing. Mind you, I was wearing about four layers of clothing and 2 layers of socks under my shoes, but that's immaterial. We got past the hugs, and went on to catch up on whatever has been going on thus far. I, of course, made a beeline to the kitchen, and started grazing. The fridge was, as usual, full of goodies that my mother had cooked, and I wasn't about to delay eating, since she might get upset if I didn't. Yeah, that's it ... upset ...
We're all just having a general good time, and started to wind down around 10:00. My sister excuses herself, and starts making the most hideous noises in the washroom. "Oh my god, what is that?" My mother replied, "That's pretty much how it is all day." So, I flippantly remarked, "Haha, she's pregnant, isn't she?" They all looked shocked, and said, "Wait, you didn't know!?" Apparently, they forgot to let me know. I congratulated them both, and we kept chatting. In essence, the rest of the weekend is a blur, because it was mostly eating, talking to my mother and sister, and lots of sleeping. I left around 5:00 on Tuesday afternoon, to come home to Isabel (my landlady) and Steve doing an early (or is it late?) Spring Cleaning. What a week!
I'm going to be an uncle again.
I called my mother to let her know that I was on the way. She let me know that my dad had totalled the car, because of the icy roads. He was going too fast down a curve, and couldn't regain control of the car. Worse, they hit two other parked cars. It was bad. Fortunately, he and my brother-in-law got out of the car without any injuries. The layer of ice on the ground was so thick that you couldn't even walk on it (unless you were wearing cleats or something) without flailing madly, and almost falling to the ground. It was really scary for both of them. They somehow managed to get the demolished car home to my sister's (Radhika) house.
After much shuffling around, they figured that it would be best if my dad didn't drive again (and no voice was a bigger proponent of this position than my dad) for a little while, so my brother-in-law (Raj) took over instead. [Side note: Yes, it really is soo cute that my sister and her husband have alliterative first names! What's even weirder is that his surname is the same initial as my family's surname!] I got there at 8:00, and they reached the New Haven station at 8:30.
NOTE TO CONNECTICUT: Your mass transit SUCKS. It took an additional hour from New Haven to Middletown, where my sister is. And no, I'm not about to spend $12 on a Peter Pan bus. For all that money, Raj or Radhika can come get me from the station. I pay like $14 to get from Manhattan to New Haven. There's really no reason for me to shell out almost that much for a 30 minute drive.
So anyway. The walk to the car was a ... challenge, as the parking lot was extremely slippery, and near impossible to walk on. For my friends in Florida: Imagine you're walking with your shoes on an ice skating rink. Or, that the latest rain storm has sloshed water all over your granite (or other smooth surfaced) tile, and you forgot to wear your flip flops on the way across the living room. Now imagine that there's a layer of oil on top of all of this. Not fun. We got into the (heated!) car, and made the drive out to Radhika's house. It was a relatively slow and uneventful drive, and we chatted about this and that on the way. Dad mentioned something about how all day, Radhika had been complaining about general stomach upsets, and was in a more or less sickly mood, but had immediately perked up when she heard that I was coming for a visit. He also mentioned how my mother postponed her ticket to go to Florida, rather than head back with him on Monday.
We got to their house, and made our slippery way to the door. My mother and sister were sitting on the couch, having a chat. Both were wrapped up fairly snugly. I didn't think that the house was all that cold, but those two seemed to be freezing. Mind you, I was wearing about four layers of clothing and 2 layers of socks under my shoes, but that's immaterial. We got past the hugs, and went on to catch up on whatever has been going on thus far. I, of course, made a beeline to the kitchen, and started grazing. The fridge was, as usual, full of goodies that my mother had cooked, and I wasn't about to delay eating, since she might get upset if I didn't. Yeah, that's it ... upset ...
We're all just having a general good time, and started to wind down around 10:00. My sister excuses herself, and starts making the most hideous noises in the washroom. "Oh my god, what is that?" My mother replied, "That's pretty much how it is all day." So, I flippantly remarked, "Haha, she's pregnant, isn't she?" They all looked shocked, and said, "Wait, you didn't know!?" Apparently, they forgot to let me know. I congratulated them both, and we kept chatting. In essence, the rest of the weekend is a blur, because it was mostly eating, talking to my mother and sister, and lots of sleeping. I left around 5:00 on Tuesday afternoon, to come home to Isabel (my landlady) and Steve doing an early (or is it late?) Spring Cleaning. What a week!
I'm going to be an uncle again.
Congratulations! I just have me the one cute little niece. She likes Dora the Explora, lego and singing so far. Oh, and I've made a game of her feeding me food. It's so cute.
ReplyDeleteOh. My. God. There is no such thing as public transport in CT. :P Well, at least most of it.
ReplyDeleteI used to have to drive the 30-40 minutes to New Haven to catch the train, it was so lame!
When I lived in Plainfield I tried to take the bus to work, it required 2 hours to get there! (Also included 3 buses, and a van ride.) AND it only went there twice a day! 8am and 8pm. Ridic!
Middletown was the only place with a decent bus system, but it was only around m-town. By the way, I l-o-v-e Middletown. What I wouldn't give for a stroll down Main St!