my parents came to pick me up around 10:20am this morning for an everett-chelsea supply run. before they arrived, i got a package on my doorstep. it was the 2 piece velvet tub chair slipcover ($35) i ordered a few days ago. i got it in turquoise since that was the closest match to the old blue ikea slipcover. i didn't have time to put it on the chair itself, but i did cover the seat cushion. the seat cover doesn't completely wrap the cushion, it's more like a fitted elastic-band bedsheet where the very bottom is still exposed, but doesn't affect the appearance. it has a stretchy velvet fabric which feels nice to touch.
we arrived first at costco by 10:45am. they were pretty busy for a monday, felt like a weekend crowd, which makes me think the weekend must've been crazier. i suppose now with the influx of college kids back in town, there are even more customers. my father returned a large bag of rice they bought (actually bought 2, decided to return one when they discovered it doesn't have the right cooked rice consistency) and later i went back out and had a price adjustment on a box of solar string light for my sister (paid $40, now $30). just like at the waltham costco nearly 2 weeks ago, the everett costco also did not carry anymore boba popsicles. they had a bunch of fall lawn care products, we bought a large bag 15lbs. of scotts turf builder sun & shade grass seeds ($35, normally $43), enough to cover 6000 square feet (we could reseed our entire lawn with that amount). my mother wanted to get a ninja foodi air fryer oven but the cooking capacity was just two small (built more for two flat pizzas, its unique feature is the ability to stand up when not in use). we also saw a large (microwave-size) air fryer toaster oven with french doors.
after costco, we stopped by the home depot next door (11:45am) so i could pick up some lawn fertilizer. we already purchased our end-of-season grass fertilizer last week (scotts winterguard fall lawn food 32-0-10), but this was early fall season fertilizer for the new grass we plan on growing. we picked up a bag of scotts lawn food ($17 12.6 lbs. 32-0-4) which is enough for 5000 sq.ft.1 it was located in their outside storage, covered in a combination of spilled fertilizer and rat poison. afterwards my hands were dirty and i had no way to clean them until i got back to the house.
next stop was restaurant depot (12pm), since it was next to the chelsea market basket, our final destination. my father just wanted to check if they had clear plastic containers. it was pretty busy, as mondays are a traditional when restaurants close (those that aren't opened 7-days a week). they were still out of all the containers we wanted. the workers have been using the empty spaces to store flattened cardboard boxes. we did buy some clear plastic cup lids and cardboard coffee holders. the checkout lines were long but we lucked out waiting in one that moved pretty fast.
at 12:30pm we were at market basket. it too was pretty crowded. we come here especially to find diet stewart's root beer for a regular customer, but they were all out. instead we got some virgil diet root beer. we used to get IBC diet root beer but we haven't seen it in stock anywhere since the pandemic started. and before that it was jones' diet root beer, but that's been off the shelves for years now.
we finally left by 1pm, heading back to the cafe to drop off the supplies. my sister happened to be in the parking lot and we gave her the things she wanted from costco. we returned to belmont by 2pm.
i ate some market basket wings before i went outside around 3pm for some yard work. i did some dethatching of the lawn before i decided to mix a few buckets of miracle-gro fertilizer and feed the plants. acid-loving fertilizer for the gardenia, hydrangea, and raspberries, 
regular miracle-gro for all the other. i also mixed a gallon solution in the sprayer and did a foliar treatment of the squashes and bitter melons. my father came out later to fix a broken handle on one of our rakes (now it's 8" shorter) and tried to remove the old wood handle from a broken shovel head before giving up to start the barbecue to cook some dinner.
my parents bought some costco lamb steaks. my mother coated it with salt, cumin, and ground chili powder before we grilled it outside. we waited for the barbecue to reach 550 degrees before putting on the steaks. we cooked each side just 4 minutes before they were ready (medium). because there was a lot of fat on the outer edges of the steaks, they curled up a bit and also there were flare ups from the fat drippings, but i personally think a touch of fire adds additional flavor (not too much or it'll char).
the lamb had a great flavor, although i couldn't chew some of the fattier portions and it made me gag. we also had barbecued corn, zucchinis, and some leftover meats (like the wings we bought earlier) that we also grilled. my sister also left some sesame mochi in the freezer.
after dinner my father and i went to my sister's godmother's apartment in central square to help her install her new moen smart toilet seat cover with bidet and heat warmer.
the install was pretty easy, the only tools we needed was a screwdriver, a wrench (for tightening some of the plumbing fixtures, though hand tightening would've been fine, they all had rubber gaskets on the inside), and some plumbing tape. midway through my stomach started grumbling and i thought i might have explosive diarrhea but i was able to hold it until my father drove me back home. not sure what i ate. could it've been the mochi ice cream? but i just ate one.
there was a monday night football game between the ravens and raiders in las vegas. this game also featured the manning brothers providing secondary commentary on the game. i watched 10 minutes of it before i got bored, i prefer the regular broadcasters much better. there's definitely a difference between the pros and the amateurs when it comes to commentary. you'd think two former quarterbacks would provide a wealth of info, but there were a dead air when they were just watching the game, or when they were talking it was something unrelated to the play. it turned out to be an amazing game that ran into overtime. the raiders won, but it felt like a fight between two equally matched heavyweights.
1 scotts winterguard fall lawn food (32-0-10) and scotts basic lawn food (32-0-4) seem nearly the same. so what's the difference? i checked out the labels, the basic lawn food contains 2% iron, which acts to make grass greener. the winterguard does not have iron. they also both contain sulfur in nearly equal amounts.