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i just wanted to sleep in on this memorial day and didn't get out of bed until almost 10am. karen was in her bedroom working on her research article. it was a quiet day as i watched neighbors returning home from the long weekend. it was a grey day with forecast of rain beginning in the afternoon. i treated the southern living room window with rain-x, polished the glass to a crystal clear shine. i had a craving for munchkins and walked down to the somerville avenue dunkin donuts to score some. it was already misting a little bit by that point. i went first to rite aid to get some altoids. dunkin donuts was surprisingly crowded. they were out most flavors of munchkins, so i got a small vanilla chai instead ($2.09 + 15¢ tax). while paying i noticed the 10 munchkins package by the register but decided to just go with my drink.

walking back i found another one of those mysterious maple-leaf tree with the cascade of drooping flowers. this one was growing by the fence above the underground shortcut behind star market. i thought they were sycamores but the maple wings on the flowers definitely mean they're some sort of maple. it's not often i come across a plant i've never seen before. after a lengthy search, i think the tree in question is actually a sycamore maple (Acer pseudoplatanus), not to be confused with the american sycamore (Platanus occidentalis). sycamore maples are native to europe but a naturalized invasive species in america.

i took the bags of drink cans to star market to be recycled. i had all types, from aluminum cans to glass bottles to plastic containers. the glass bottle machine was broken and took 2 of my bottles without giving me a deposit. i had to go inside and get someone to help me. a blonde teenage cashier came out to open the machine. i could tell she hated doing this because she angrily slammed closed the machine every time. after a few attempts it still didn't work. in the end i was left with half a dozen deposit tickets of various denominations, some as little as just 5 cents. i used the money to buy some potato chips. i also checked if they had any malt powder, which was something miguel requested karen to bring back to mexico. last time i suddenly remember ovaltine, and saw they sold a natural flavorless malt powder. unfortunately the only ones they carried at star market were the chocolate variety. nestle however had a malt milk powder, which seems like a good alternative.

the 230 calories in the vanilla chai filled me enough that i wasn't hungry until the afternoon, where i then fixed myself one final grilled cheese and ham sandwich. i added mayonnaise this time, i think it makes the sandwich taste better. karen went out around 2pm to do some shopping in porter square and alewife. she came back around 7pm, after having visited her friend paula. she said paula was returning to mexico tonight, just booked the ticket this morning, so it was the last time karen would be seeing her.

it rained today but it wasn't much. i was hoping to see the water repellent windows in action. for the most part they worked, but rain still stuck to the glass, but in very tiny microscopic droplets. i'm waiting for a more substantial rain even to truly test the windows.

for dinner it was more chicken caesar salad. i have enough ingredients for one more salad before i'm completely finished, however, i don't think i can eat another salad. tomorrow night feels like a pasta shells night.