i made it home by 11am. today was a special day: i didn't have to go to the cafe, because my sister started working again after a 2+ month hiatus. i'm already used to working everyday, and found myself repeatedly checking the clock, afraid i might be late.
i went down to petsi's to pick up a pecan pie. they had two to choose from: brown butter pecan pie or sweet potato pecan pie. i ended up choosing a medium sweet potato ($18) because i remembered there was sweet potato in the pecan pie i got from them the last time. i wanted to get a pie so li could try it before taking one home to his wife in germany who's a fan of pumpkin pie.
in the end, i still went down to the cafe, after my sister was having problems setting up the webcam to keep an eye on esmei while she was working. my mother was surprised to see me after she told me not to come in today. my sister fixed the problem by resetting her wireless router. i went to her place to grab the ipad that got delivered yesterday and to let esmei out into the backyard so she could pee. she kept biting my pants, to the point where i accidentally step on her paw before she let out a yelp. i brought her back inside and put her in her caged area before she obediently plopped down to go to sleep.
i went to home depot to get some old work electrical boxes. they had two metal boxes with different styles of plaster ears. i ended up getting one of each, figured i'd decide with my father which one to use. while i was at it, i also got an old work plastic electrical box ($2.43), figured i'd be returning some of them anyway.
i got to belmont around 1pm to do some gardening. i cleared out RB4 and transplanted some extra daikon and mustard seedlings from the other raised beds. i filled the few holes with some leftover potting soil and grass seeds in the backyard lawn that a rabbit had dug up yesterday. i noticed the monkshood have flowered, yet another deadly poisonous plant in the backyard to keep an eye out so esmei doesn't eat it. afterwards i watered everything.
i went down to the basement to check on the dehumidifier. the humidity was at 60% (though we set it for 55%). the drainage tube in the sink was dry, and the bucket was already 1/4th full of water. how does the pump work? later i read online that the bucket has to fill completely before the pump will activate. we'll need to keep an eye on the water level. i kind of want to save the water for watering plants. dehumidifier water must be like distilled water.
after returning home by 2:45pm, i switched to my bicycle and rode down to the galleria mall via cambridge street to return the ipad. the bicycle was the best option, as i could avoid traffic jams. i went to lechmere station to check on li's charlie's card. he had $2.30 on it, 10 cents shy of a ride. so i added a dollar to the card. in hindsight, i could've just added 25¢ (the minimum), since li doesn't know when he'll come back to boston.
i then went to the mall to return the apple ipad and pencil (about $1200) before heading back home. i went to market basket to get a few cafe supplies and some snacks for myself, including a baguette and a circle of brie cheese. not having eaten yet today, i had some cheese and bread for a snack.
i heated up a frozen pepperoni pizza for dinner around 8pm. that was also the time li came back home. he had dinner at the cafe before returning to his office to finish his paper and proposal. he saw the pie and after i finished eating eating, we both had a slice. it wasn't as good as i remembered it, maybe i got the wrong pie. i remember it used to be mostly pecan filling, with a thin bottom layer of sweet potato; this pie was mostly sweet potato, with some pecan sprinkled on top, more pumpkin-pie-like than anything else.
li told me he saw esmei today at the cafe. she ran right up to him like seeing someone familiar (she's like that with everyone). he started packing his suitcases - two small carryon-size samsonite. one suitcase was filled with all the things he got from chinatown on sunday. i was telling him about my jiuniang and found some from back in january for us to try: sweet, but not much jiuniang flavor, with a touch of banana flavor.