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my sister wanted my family to go out for mexican brunch today, a day after her actual birthday on saturday. i didn't want to go, but was guilted into participating by my mother. besides, my sister had already moved up the time, after i objected initially because it was too close to the 1pm kickoff between the patriots and the bills. the reservation was at 11:30am, i woke up around 10:30am, had just enough time to use the bathroom and take a quick shower before i had to leave for belmont. temperature inside my house was a cool 60°. i didn't want to turn on the heat just to warm up the bathroom, so i grabbed the space heater and turned it on instead, gave me just enough warmth to be comfortable. the bathtub drain was working normal for the time being, as it should given how much i plunged it last night.

the place my sister had selected was acitrón in arlington center. we arrived a few minutes late but that wasn't a problem because the restaurant was mostly empty, except for a handful of tables near the front of the restaurant. my sister had been there before and ordered two plates of appetizers (elotes and sopes surtidos) along with her enchiladas. my mother had the vegetales omelette, while my father ordered the huevos con nopales and chorizo. i got the huevos con cochinita pibil.

i didn't like the food. i was looking forward to typical brunch fares - belgian waffles, bacon, home fries, pancakes - so my expectations were not met at all. my parents ordered orange juice but it tasted like something from a can (cocktail mix?) as there was no orange flavor (more like pineapple) and a lot of ice. my mother asked for extra spicy and they gave her a small dish of chopped up jalapeños but it was a bland kind of spiciness. my sister started getting angry with our complaints (she doesn't take criticism well, even when not directly directed at her), but she should've picked a place that everyone would like, not only her.

back at my parents' place they had a market basket tiramisu cake for her. it was okay but they didn't use mascarpone cream cheese and the cream they did use was overly sweet.

patriots won the game against the buffalo bills but the big news is rob gronkowski's late hit on a defenseless bills defender, which might result in a fine and/or suspension. elsewhere, 450 miles away in chicago, former patriots backup quarterback jimmy garoppolo was starting his first game with the 49ers. san francisco ended up winning the game with 5 field goals versus the bears 2 touchdowns. chicago didn't even score any points in the second half. the jimmy garoppolo era in SF has begun!

my father left for my grand uncle's place after dinner for the 4th consecutive night in a row. yesterday he slept in my sister's godmother's empty apartment room (she won't be back until after the chinese new year) instead of on the floor of my grand uncle's. my father's doing this until my grand uncle can get a spot at one of the nearby nursing homes, where they can give him 24/7 supervised care.

i went home soon afterwards to an empty house, which was a weird feeling. there were still times i felt like i had a phantom roommate. i spent the rest of the evening watching the eagles-seahawks game. seattle ended up winning, which means philadelphia now ties new england and minnesota as the only 10-2 teams (depending on how pittsburgh plays tomorrow night, they're currently 9-2).

i found a new favorite show, hulu's future man. i don't subscribe to hulu so i either have to download the episodes via torrent or more conveniently stream it from the showbox app on android. the premise is hard to describe, but it's funny (and profane) enough that i'm often laughing out loud at all the pop culture in-jokes. it's as if this show was custom-designed for my particular taste. eliza coupe is in it, and i love her from happy endings, and future man is along similar lines in terms of the fast-paced humor, just with a lot more f-bombs.