Back to the grind.

Well, vacation time is over and I'm trying unsuccessfully to get back into work mode. We stayed in town for a few days, then headed over to Montreal on Thursday, came back on Sunday and then prepared a Thanksgiving feast for Q's family on Monday. Making food for 15 people is a lot of work. I can't take all the credit though, I stayed mostly out of the kitchen while Q and his mom took charge of the food. I know when to stay out of the way.

Here are some things I learned while on vacation:

• It's useless to attempt any problem resolution with my parents. They simply are not capable of listening or communicating. The best I can do is let them know how I feel and leave it at that. To expect any sort of resolution or apology is an exercise in futility. They prefer to drop it and pretend like nothing ever happened.
• My asshole brother (who I haven't spoke to in almost a decade) isn't just being an ass. He really doesn't understand why my sister and I are pissed at him. My parents have given in and pretend like he didn't do horrible things to them and the family, thus not showing him how his actions have impacted their (or anyone's) lives. If they aren't mad at him, then why should we be?
• My parents have never been able to control my brother because he's learned all his traits from my mother. She'd have to come to terms with her behaviour before dealing with his. That's never going to happen.
• My parents know nothing about me. In thier minds I left their house, moved to Toronto, finished University, moved a few times, got a house, left that house, moved a few more times, bought a new house and go to work. I also travel from time to time. I lead a simple life and have never experienced any sort of difficulty. That's all they really care to know.
• It's going to take us the better part of a year to get the house set up, clear the "upstairs basement" of all the boxes and turn it into a proper guest room.
• We need a cleaning lady.
• When driving to Montreal, it's a good idea to stop and fill up the car in Cornwall before crossing the Quebec border. Gas in Quebec is expensive.
• I'm over my "fear" of Montreal. Psycho was from there and he used to drag me down to Montreal all the time to go stay and visit with his friends. They were all losers who did a lot of drugs, had no real jobs, and no direction in life. A lot of the trips weren't all that fun and left me with an uncomfortable association with him, his friends and the city. It took over 2 years before I finally felt comfortable enough to go back there. Even then I didn't relax until the second day.
• The bridges in Quebec are in a very sad state. We saw far too many with screening bolted on them to stop the concrete from falling.
• It is possible to have bad food in Montreal. Le Faubourg ain't what it used to be.
• The bathrooms in downtown Montreal are just as cruisy as the ones here in Toronto. No - I did not do anything naughty. However I'm pretty sure the two guys coming out of the handicapped stall at the end were. Especially when one walked over to the sink afterwards and rinsed out his mouth.
• I have not lost my french. In fact I was surprised at my level of reading comprehension. It took a few days for my brain to kick in to french mode and process the language at the same speed as english. I was able to hold a conversation much better by the time we left. I'm just out of practice, but if I was immersed in it for a few weeks it would all come back.
• With a little help you can go away for 4 days, come home and prepare to have a large amount of people over for dinner. Though I wouldn't recommend it on a regular basis.
• 14 pounds of potatoes for 15 people is a little much. That's almost a pound of mashed potatoes per person. Not my idea.
• Grape pie sounds really weird, but tastes really delicious.
• I like the new Scissor Sisters album. I gave it a second chance and let it grow on me. Sure there's a blatant rip off of Elton John's "I'm still standin' ", and songs from the Muppet Movie, but I'm over the shock now. Usually albums that I hated at first and then grew to love become my favourites (ie. Behaviour - Pet Shop Boys). This will probably end up being one of them.