meet the parents

This past weekend I was supposed to go strawberry picking with Christina, Pete, and Ryan. Mark couldn't come cause his brother was in town from Arizona, and while I wanted to meet him, I promised Christina I would go picking with her (and was looking forward to strawberry pie after). Well, the weather was gorgeous, but an hour before we were supposed to leave Christina called me with some bad news...she had called the farm before leaving and found out it was closed for the next three days cause the picking had been so good all week they had run out of strawberries for people to pick!
I was bummed, but I was able to call Mark and tell him I was free to meet his brother : )
So at 5pm I headed in to Somerville and was glad my first family member of Mark's that I would meet would be a sibling. We went out for a drink to watch the red sox win in extra innings, which was fun, but at the end of it Mark had to bring his brother back to his parents house, and I was asked if I wanted to come along and meet his mom...needless to say I was excited but nervous.
Well, his house was beautiful, in a very nice (and might I add it looked quite rich) neighborhood. His mom was nervous too I guess, and she was super sweet, but I wasn't able to ask her much since she talked the whole time. She had made a beautiful salad for us, which of course even though they have experience with vegans, had feta cheese in it. I tried to be a good sport and ate a handful after picking out the feta. But after only an hour Mark was exhausted (we had had a fun filled weekend after all) and we left, so it was a quick encounter, but I am looking forward to meeting more of his family and his mom again in the future. They even have a piano in the house, so if I ever go back there I will be sure to bring some sheet music and practice some.
I just want to add that I have never been with someone before who is SO good at picking up on my stupid issues and girl problems. I actually am growing up too and am trying to talk about my emotion rather then hide them like most girls and try to make Mark read my mind. But I have realized a lot of my issues are not girl issues, but OCD issues, some remnants of my old habits...habits is the perfect word afterall. Mark is right, I am VERY set in my ways, I want everything to happen like clockwork, I have a tough time doing things in the ritualistic fashion that I do them every night. And Mark has not only noticed this, but when I apologize and say I am sorry for my bad traits, I should try to change them, at which point Mark says they are not bad traits, just personality traits that make me who I am that I should not try to fix, just be more open to when people suggest things other then my rituals. I feel so lucky now.