The Past Week

So, if you didn't already know, my mother was in town last week. As such, there was no gaming, and very limited social media. Yup. I actually spent time with my Mommy! I mean, I hadn't seen her in close to two years. So she kind of deserved all of the attention Chaide and I could give her. Even if it meant doing some binge-watching of House of Cards.

FYI, this post is going to be full of photographs, so I apologize for load times ahead of time.

Weekend

She arrived in town Saturday, and we spent the day just kind of chilling, and getting her car to the shop because it was having some issues.

We walked around the local square, and discovered the tea shop that sells bubble tea. I've had bubble tea before, but with the normal tapioca pearls. Being a texture eater, the tapioca just kind of makes me gag and want to rinse out my mouth, so it was awesome to discover that they sell clear teas with what they call "Poppers" which are essentially little balls of juice. So I tried their Lychee tea with Mango Popping Boba, and it was amazing.

Sunday we hung around at home, played a small bit of Little Big Planet 3 and then went to the Shakespeare Tavern to go see The Merchant of Venice. The show was phenomenal, as always, and if you ever find yourself in Atlanta with the time for a show, you should check them out.

We ended up attending the show that coincided with a Q and A with the actors that they do monthly. It was neat to get up close and personal with the cast and learn more about the show, their roles, their interpretations, etc.

The Week

There was a lot of sitting around, and a lot of doing things, but for the most part the days blurred together. Monday I had to work, and Chaide had some stuff to finish up for a paper he's trying to publish with one of his professors. After work, we headed to the local square, and I got more tea. Yeah, it's an addiction. I ended up trying a Mango tea with Strawberry Boba this time, and it was wonderful. Mango is my new favorite! They offer it in Green and Black, but I'm not the biggest Black tea fan. Maybe I'll try it eventually. We hit Goodwill (with surprising success) and then stopped at one of the local Indian places for food. It's not the greatest there is, but it's close and good-enough. Good-enough meaning I like their Paneer Makhani, so I'll keep eating there for the convenience until I find better that's still within a decent distance.

Also on Monday, Chaide and I got our Casper bed, and set it up. OMFG. It's amazing. The first few days kind of sucked as my back re-aligned, but I love it so much more than a Tempur-Pedic. Plus it didn't smell at all when we unpackaged it.

Tuesday was pretty much occupied by the Georgia Aquarium. If you ever get a chance to go when you visit Atlanta, you should take it. It's a tad on the expensive side (unless you hit one of their online ticket sales) but completely worth it.

We decided to go to the Whale Shark Feeding, and it was so neat! Every morning and afternoon each wing does things simultaneously--you know, morning feedings, scuba dives, etc. The Whale Sharks are my absolute favorite (there's 4 at the aquarium--2 male, 2 female, and they're still juvenile age), so it was so cool to see how they feed them in lanes. Really worth the time.

Wednesday was a lazy day where we ran errands, and binge-watched some television. Thursday was Chaide's graduation!! He is officially certified to teach English to middle and high school students!! That took up all day as (1) he was awarded as the exceptional senior in his program and we had a luncheon and award ceremony for that, (2) we had the official ceremony itself, and (3) we celebrated afterwards with a few of our friends and his mother and my mother.

Friday was the last day for my Mom in town, so we spent the day at the square (after I got my under-color root re-dyed) and the Gone With the Wind museum. Mom made Chaide and me watch the movie for the first time earlier in the week (maybe Wednesday?), and it was good. I was unhappy with the ending of the movie, and felt that Scarlett was only good when she was struggling for money after the Civil War. So now I want to read the book, and the sequel (Rhett Butler's People by Donald McCaig). We also hit the antique shop and the Boba tea place... again.

Chaide had something to do in the evening, so my mother and I binge-watched some more television (Dollhouse, this time) and repaired and hemmed some clothes I've been putting off because of lack of time.

Saturday it was really difficult to say goodbye to my mother. I got up, made all of us breakfast omelettes, and then had to pack her in the car for her to drive all the way back up North East. I was a mess after that, so I crawled back into bed with Chaide and pretty much cried myself to sleep. I was kind of emo the rest of the day. I pretty much just binge-watched a bunch of Netflix the rest of the day after my nap.

Sunday Chaide and I went to our second wine tasting. I really loved this one as I find myself a bigger fan of whites/rosés than reds. It was a nice way to end the weekend on a happy note before heading back to work for this week.