Tit for Tat

Most of the time, when I go up to visit my daughter and crew, I am a guest...but since I am also family, I try to pay my own way, as best I can.  I mean, I have to eat at home, too, so I shop to put things in the "larder" that I want there.  Sometimes, I plan a meal and need to provide ingredients.  Sometimes, I want something they don't normally have.  I buy those.

I do have a problem, though.  Sometimes I want them to have something they haven't necessarily asked for--non-food things--so I buy them anyway and hope for the best.

When I arrived for the move experience, Meg handed me an envelope with some cash in it, for "incidentals".  Doesn't take long for that stuff to get spent.  Some days, I bought lunch.  Some days, they did.  Some evenings, I took them out for supper.  Some evenings, they did.  You get the picture.  Most of the time, however, we ate at home.  I did my best to supply them with meals they liked.  No one starved.

I am guilty, however, of wanting to buy them things I think they should have, whether they want them or not.  For example, I bought what I thought was a turkey breast.  It turned out to be a whole turkey.  Meg had no roasting pan.  (I'd always bought disposable foil ones.)  So I bought her a roasting pan.  Then, too, she has long needed a griddle.  I've looked for years to find a heavy-duty griddle that wasn't totally out of whack in price.  This time, I gave in and got a long Calphalon griddle that covers two burners.  It wasn't cheap, but it will be perfect for pancakes, syrniki, grilled sandwiches, etc.  I was proud of that!

M and D bought most of the groceries.  I bought the tomato plants and flowers.  (Denis helped plant the tomatoes.  Robin planted the flowers.)  M and D bought the accessories for the children's rooms and most of the kitchen stuff.  I bought some.  And so it went.

One day, I was doing laundry while everyone else was constructing the "studio" furniture.  As I was putting a pair of sweat-shorts into the washer, something hard hit my arm.  Hmmm...there must be something in the pocket.  I reached in and pulled out a thing that looked like a computer flash drive.  A little while later, I presented it to Denis.  Said I didn't have a clue what it was.  He told me that he'd been looking all over for it--his FitBit, worth $100--and that finding it had just earned me a fancy meal out!  Wow!

M and D had been bleeding money like I simply could not imagine.  My spending slowed down.  Theirs did, too.  Still, before I left, I had purchased a nice cover for their new grill, and they had filled up the gas tank of my vehicle (with expensive gas) and presented me with a receipt for my license plate renewal!!!  They didn't have to do that, but I am grateful.  The renewed registration and sticker have already arrived and are installed in my car.

I guess what I am saying is that it all works out.  Moving is an expensive venture.  So is eating.  Together, we made it all work!