i woke up this morning to see that my roommate had already left for NYC. for the next few days it's back to solo living again, although dogsitting duty will force me to be in belmont for most of the weekend. if only my sister can tell me with a straight answer what her schedule is going to be like instead of having me to ask her so many times. but my parents will be back saturday night, so my tour of responsibility will be over soon.

i went to belmont before noontime to feed hailey. she was home alone, locked in the kitchen. i spent the time surfing the web on my laptop, watching news coverage of the terrorist attacks in mumbai, and occasionally checking up on hailey outside in the backyard, making sure she wasn't digging any new holes. i picked up some of her droppings on the lawn and watched as she barked at the squirrels hiding up in the trees. i wonder what would happen if she actually caught one? shake it around, like one of her toys? i don't think a squirrel could survive that treatment.

i had some microwave pasta & cheese for lunch. it felt like a saturday. on fridays you work knowing it's the last day of the work week and the weekend is coming. sundays you rest knowing tomorrow you go back to work. but saturdays not only do you rest, but you do so knowing there's another day of rest tomorrow. anyway, today felt like a saturday.

my sister came home briefly for about an hour before leaving again for some thanksgiving party. in the late afternoon hailey slept on one end of the couch while i almost fell asleep on the other end. by then i was watching the american eats marathon on the history channel, learning everything there is to know about hot dogs, hamburgers, and chocolate.

i got a mysterious call in the early evening, from none other than my father, calling from egypt. i don't get it: they don't call when they first get there to let me know they've arrived safely, but they call a few days before they're due to come back. the only thing i could think about asking was if they took a lot of photos and whether or not the photo storage device had malfunctioned (it did go bad, wouldn't read SDHC cards anymore again). my father told me in light of the recent activities in india, the egyptian government sent out armed undercover police officers to shadow tour groups to ensure their safety.

at 5pm i went to the cafe to pick up my great uncle and aunt and drove us to my godmother's place in belmont where we were celebrating thanksgiving. driving through the suburb, it was easy to spot the empty houses (no cars, no lights) and those that were hosting thanksgiving. houses after houses, looking through their dining room windows, were picture postcards perfect renditions of americana, everyone sitting around the dining table with the turkey centerpiece. i was surprised to see how many people actually dressed up for the occasion (men in suits, women wearing their pearls).

besides my aunt and great uncle, my godmother's son alex was there too, and my sister arrived moments later (after coming back from her party and feeding the dog first). i felt a little cheated because we had chicken instead of turkey (thanksgiving isn't thanksgiving without turkey) but i was just thankful i was having a special dinner at all, because my original plan was just having some ramen by myself at home. after quickly eating, alex left to go to another thanksgiving party. my sister left soon afterwards as well, her excuse being she had to go home and make sure hailey didn't do anything bad. my great uncle went to the living room to watch tv after he finished with his meal, and my godmother showed my aunt and me photos of the beijing olympics sent to her from a friend who went to the event. for dessert we had the flan i made 2 days ago. i don't want to brag, but one of my most successful flan attempts: most of the caramelized sugar melted accordingly, and there were virtual no air bubbles trapped in the flan. the texture was perfect too, very light. the only thing i'd change is maybe reduce the amount of sugar i use.

after we divvied up the leftovers, i drove my aunt and great uncle back to the cafe (they live nearby) before returning home myself. it felt great coming inside the house knowing that nobody was home. a few things: no cordial chit chat, i could keep the heat as low as a wanted, and i could leave my stuff wherever i wanted. i took advantage of this brief weekend of privacy by taking a soak in the tub.