why don't you slide

Today was perfectly lovely, if I do say so myself. It was just the right combination of family, family time, old friends, even older friends, and general merrymaking. Of course, it started off brutally; I only got six hours of sleep, which is not enough for my octogenarian tendencies, and I had to roll out of bed and immediately clean my bathroom and go grocery shopping (my two least favorite things to do). But I was successful on all counts, and managed to pick my parents up in time for our 10:30am meeting with Vova, Oleg, and Daniel. Granted, I would have been late if I wasn't extremely aggressive in my maneuverings through the Tenderloin, but that's the way I roll.

So the six of us met up, and then we went down to the glorious south bay to tour my place of employment. It was a gorgeous day in Mountain View, so we had lunch outside, then saw my office (my minions, as one of them introduced himself, probably thought I was showing them off like zoo animals, so I hope that doesn't come back as feedback on my next review). Then we went to the onsite store, where my Ukrainian friends loaded up on gear (and I grew increasingly excited about the idea of rebranding Ukraine and having it be run by my current employer). After all that, we were supposed to go walk around Stanford, but everyone was tired, so we did a driving tour instead before coming back to the evil city.

At that point, it was time for me to switch from tour guide to chef. So we dropped them off at their hotel, swung by Philz to get coffee (I had to ask the barista which of their coffees was most similar to weak Folgers, which is not a request they get every day, but I think my mom liked their coffee better than Starbucks, so I suppose it was a success). Then we came home, and my parents hung out on the roof while I cooked. To be fair, my mom cut up all the strawberries (v. meticulously - it's clear where I get my perfectionist OCD tendencies). But I took my usual tack of making way too much food in way too many varieties -- really, it probably wasn't necessary to make steak, chicken, fish, fajita veggies, and tomato/potato/chard. But between my perfectionist tendencies and my friends' many and varied preferences and restrictions, this seemed like the best course of action.

Eventually, the party began - I had a bunch of my old friends over to meet my parents and Vova, and theoretically to talk to Daniel about US schools, although that didn't happen at all. Lauren and Nathan were the first to arrive (well, Terry was the first to arrive, but that shouldn't surprise you), and then Katrina showed up, followed up Adit and Priyanka and John and Jess. The Ukrainians also arrived relatively late, but they were just on time since the cheese and other appetizers were mostly gone but the real food was basically ready.

So we all sat around for a couple of hours telling stories, which provided some of the best laughs I've had in a v. long time. The ratio of ducks to hammer handles alone was a v. useful fact to learn. We also learned a lot about how to bribe (or not bribe) cops in Ukraine twenty years ago vs. now, the mating habits of small and large dogs (and people), the fact that Adit and I have nothing in common other than that we like to work, and other similarly important facts. My friends all disappeared by 10:30, but Vova, Daniel, and my parents stuck around for another hour talking. And then I packed them all into an Uber and sent them off into the night.

And now, I really really must sleep - I have some work to do in the morning, and then I need to take my parents to the airport before doing more work in the afternoon. Goodnight!