my mother told me yesterday that she was coming by around 11:00 to take my grandmother to costco so she could have her hot dog fix. they didn't end up coming until 12:00, so i anxiously jerked out of bed for naught. i was warned by the nurse that my tetanus shot would hurt. i felt fine yesterday, but this morning it felt like i got punched in the arm.
we went to the everett costco where we did some shopping after first having some hot dogs for lunch. my mother got in an argument with the people behind the counter in order to get an extra bun (buns without hot dogs cost the same) and in the confusion we forgot about the churros we ordered. costco insists on combining a soda with a hot dog so afterwards i felt a little sick, amped up on salt and sugar.
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after dropping off my grandmother at the cafe, i continued with my parents to belmont. in the backyard the peonies have finally blossomed.
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around 4:00 my father and i went up to the belmont victory garden. this was a critical weekend and those gardens that haven't been tended would be revoked by the garden committee. we haven't been there in weeks and when we arrived the place was covered in weeds. 
we weren't surprised to discover the one ginger my father planted as a test had already died from the nightly cold weather. after we finished weeding, my father planted the rest of his ginger (it's now finally hot enough) while i planted the garlic bulbs. i also planted 3 tomatoes (1 roma, 2 cherries) and 3 basils. plus, i relocated the onion sprouts that seemed to be emerging in the garden, leftover from the previous gardener. i moved the onions to the edges.
it was so hot i thought i was going to pass out. my nose was running (maybe from the pollen) and i only had my shirt sleeve to wipe it with so i was a real mess. i quickly took a shower when we returned to belmont.
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a little bit before 5:30 we returned to the cafe to pick up my grandmother. my aunt and uncle invited us for dinner in arlington at 6:00. 
my sister made up another excuse so she wouldn't have to come but nobody was really expecting her to anyway given her awful track record when it comes to skipping these family dinners. matthew and lili brought back some smoked lamb from iceland 
(a bit surprised they managed to clear customs without any problems). smoked lamb is actually very good, either eaten raw or pan-seared. while waiting for my aunt to finish cooking, matthew gave us a narrated slideshow of their recent trip to iceland. we watched it on their HDTV, using a special adapter cable i brought to connect my aunt's canon SX260 camera. after dinner the both of them continued with their slideshow, only to be interrupted by some dessert before we finally left.
my parents dropped off my grandmother and me back in cambridge.