Tales of Labor Day Weekend

Having a 2.67 day weekend, I figured it would be a good opportunity to see some friends. Happily, they agreed with me. Nicole came down from Rochester on Saturday, and we drove to Ann Arbor, MI to see Liz, another former Andersian. We got there just in time to see lots and lots of people in gold and navy blue shirts milling around looking dejected. Liz showed us the co-op she lives in, then we walked around and got to see the Michigan campus and surrounding vicinity. We ate dinner at a nice little Middle Eastern restaurant. (Yum!) Then we went back to the co-op and watched Short Circuit.

I drove home after a nice Pumpkin Spice Latte (Yum again!), and we slept in Huron. Sunday morning we got up and got ready for a day of salsa making with some people from my work. The first task was finding a kitchen tool that apparently has become as unknown as the butter churn. First we went to Meijer where we bought pint jars with lids, but the needed item could not be found. Inquiring of a employee, we discovered it was not in stock, but she helpfully said, "You really do need one of those, though." Yeah, thanks. On to WalMart. Same story. The employee there suggested the Kitchen Connection at the mall. Okay. We get there and walk through the store. Nothing. Honestly. I go to the girl behind the counter (who looks like she's 18 and has no clue about anything). After a moment of a non-comprehending stare, she says, "You mean, like, for canning?" Uh, yes, that would be it. She had one left and it was under the counter. What was this elusive object? Ah yes. A Jar Lifter. You would think that when you stock all other manner of canning goods, you would stock these as well, but apparently not.

Anyway, the salsa making was uneventful to the point of being boring. We did make some pretty tasty salsa though. (I'm sitting here contemplating making more using yellow tomatoes and green peppers...perfect for football season!) We made 36 quart jars, 12 pint jars, and about 12 additional quarts of fresh salsa.

After the salsa making, Nicole and I decided to rent movies for the evening. We managed to rent two of the worst movies I have ever had the misfortune to watch. The Good German and For Your Consideration. I don't know how we made such poor choices, but they both seemed like good ideas at the time. They have managed to push Room with A View down to number 3 on my All Time Worst Movies list. I feel like I should give you some reason for the judgement, but I don't think I can put into written English just how awful these two movies were. Ugh. Apparently some people like them though, since they are rated 6.2 and 6.3, respectively, on the Internet Movie Database.