all i've torn, all i've run to the ground...broken down, come mend it all

My parents arrived today! I had meant to work late tonight, but it didn't happen; instead, I did some cleaning and went to bed around eleven. I woke up this morning and continued to boycott work, but my apartment looks v. nice - I even bought flowers (lovely orange-tipped yellow roses, green bells of Ireland, a sunset lily, and some gorgeous dark-red mums) to jazz up my living room.

I made it to the airport in time to pick my parents up. In fact, I was early enough that I had time to read some of the book I brought with me - it's called 'Regency Etiquette', and is a reprint of an early 1800's book called 'The Mirror of Graces'. It was kind of depressing, actually; the authoress is rather annoying, and at one point she said something about how there are some girls who have little to recommend them physically (i.e. they're ugly), but a good mother will point out one of her own, hopefully uglier, friends who has managed to marry a guy because she is sweet and amiable, and use this to show the girl that it's possible to get married as long as she bends over backwards to be appealing in other ways. Great advice! There are also some awesome early-1800s cosmetics recipes in the back, which I shall perhaps reproduce for you one day.

After my parents arrived, we went to Peter's Cafe (best place on Earth!) in downtown Millbrae for a late lunch. Then we chilled at my place for awhile, before I took them into my office and gave them an abbreviated tour. They managed to meet all three of my directors at the same time, and two of the three directors gave them a hard time for encouraging me to move back to Iowa someday, which I found amusing. Then, we had dinner on campus with Laura, since she had expressed interest in meeting them. It was quite entertaining - I really like Laura and my parents, and they all seemed to get along rather well, even as it became apparent that Wamplers everywhere are known for being stubborn, sarcastic, and slyly manipulative, as well as suicidally independent and socially disengaged. My dad even quoted Harvey Danger's line 'I've been around the world and found that only stupid people are breeding', and I was even more amused wheN Laura said that I think that too, even though I don't think I've overtly expressed that sentiment, so I guess it comes across even though I don't mean it to. Oh well, I didn't want to be friends with most of humanity anyway.

Now I should really go to bed - given the time change and my parents' already absurd sleep patterns, they'll probably wake up around 3am, and since I'm sleeping on the couch and they have my bedroom, I'll probably wake up when they do. We're going up to the city tomorrow to see Alcatraz, Fishermen's Wharf, etc., which should be fun. But for now, it's time for bed!