My Aunt's Funeral, Pt 3

The HB and I hung out in Philly until Friday while my uncle and his kids sat shiva. There was no way I was going to sit/stand/eat/drink around all day doing a big bunch of nothing. So, I took the HB and his cousin (let's call him RI for Rhode Island, where he lives) on some adventures. The afternoon of the funeral, we went back to the hotel and hung out a the pool and the hot tub. The boys really enjoyed that. One thing became apparent: RI has a bit of a hearing (not listening) problem. He and the HB would be right next to each other when I would ask a question. Something would register on the HB's face and he'd respond while RI would have a blank stare or say, "What?" I had always thought his speech was a little off, but I figured that had to do with his Rhode Island accent (fewer r's, more w's). After splashing around for a bit (and catching some cartoons in the room) we were off to Chubby's for cheese steaks.

I hadn't been to Chubby's in years. It was RI's mom's favorite spot when she lived in the Mannyunk (I love that name) section of Philly. I had gone there with her a couple of times many years ago when we would go out and get hammered. One time I was so pissed that I woke up in the middle of the night really having to go. But, I didn't want to wake people up by stumbling through he apartment. So, in my sleepy drunk state decided that taking a leak outside was the best strategy. Good times.

The boys wanted chicken tenders (whatever) and I went for a cheese steak with fried onions and mushrooms. There's only one small problem with Chubby's--they use provolone instead of cheez whiz. I know what you're thinking, but those of you who have been to the classic Philly cheese steak places (like Jim's at 4th and South) know that the cheez whiz is THE key ingredient to a great steak sandwich. When were done I grabbed a chicken steak for RI's mom.

On Thursday we had the whole day, so it called for something more ambitious, so we went to the Franklin Institute. This is just one of the best kid science museums around. Tons of hands on stuff and great exhibits (like a heart you can walk through). After a few hours there it was time to hit the pool and jacuzzi again. At this point, the HB was getting a little tired of having a 5 y.o. around. Maybe this will put a temporary end to his quixotic quest for a younger brother/sister. So, we beat it back to the house for some more visiting, etc.

In an earlier post I expressed my concern about participating in the religious stuff. Going out and about with the HB and RI gave me an easy excuse to miss all of that stuff. Surprisingly, my mom didn't give me any shit about it. As such, that played out better than I thought it would.

By Friday we were pretty much ready to come home. I changed our flight from a 5:30pm non-stop to a noon one-stop through Midway. We were only on the ground for 25 minutes and got into LA 30 minutes early, so it wasn't too much of a longer ride and it was worth it to get in early. The HB snoozed most of the way between Chicago and LA and I cleaned up my e-mail. I found 1200 e-mails to delete. It was nice to get home and see my wife and play with the dog.