New Year's Day

Mercifully, Mom's friend called seconds after dinner, which meant I got to wash the dishes. In peace. Dad went and grabbed the other phone, too.

Dad: [laughs uproariously]

A.: What was so funny?
Dad: Mom felt the need, when L. asked about you, to tell her that you've put on weight.

[Pause]

Dad, indicating some stuffed clams that mom had bought: What am I going to do with these?
A.: Feed them to the birds? The lesson here being, read things before buying them.
Dad: [laughs uproariously]
A.: What?
Dad: Please.

I looked at the box. Clams were maybe the third to last ingredient on a long list of ingredients, including various varieties of flour and partially hydrogenated soybean oil. They were, apparently, nasty.

***
Mom's knee is bothering her, so she didn't join us to visit Nina & co.

Nina: I gained fifteen pounds over the holidays.
A.: I apparently gained 150, judging by how often mom points out that I've gained weight.
Nina's mother: You?
A.: Yesterday, when we were on the phone, she wouldn't answer the question about whether today would work, because she was busy telling me that I'd gained weight.
Nina's mother: I find it very difficult to talk to your mother over the phone--she's very easily distracted. I hand the phone to [my husband]. Anyway, the weight thing isn't really a reflection on you. She means well.
A.: I know, but it's still grating.