Alien in my homeland part 3

I now know why I stayed in LA for so long and lived there quite happily......my parents.....Now again, let me preface this by saying that I love my parents with all my heart. And I am VERY grateful for them taking me in while the house is being remodeled. I know that its difficult staying with your parents as an adult and despite what you may think, I am polite and nice to them at all times.

But, I get the feeling that I am an alien to them. Example: as I've mentioned before, my dad tends to shop in places where the price never goes over $3. He shops for his meat at an auction or a place called Amelia's that sells out of code (but frozen) meat. He shops for the rest of his stuff at Amelia's or a place called Aldi's. Now don't get me started on Aldi's. Its a no name brand place that sells everyday stuff for below market cost, except with their own labels. The food there is terrible. But, the meat is even worse. I don't know what happened to my dad....he was always a little cheap, but not as bad as in recent years. But, living in CA as most of you know, I was able to avoid the cheap, out of code foods. But, living in his house has brought me face to face with the out of code stuff. And to make matters worse, I've started weight watchers again and REALLY need fresh,yummy,low calorie stuff around.....but I'll get to that in another post.

But today it hit an all time low. I went into the fridge to grab some mustard for a sandwhich when I noticed that the mustard had an expiration date of 10/06. Thats right people.....a WHOLE year ago. So, I stood in the kitchen for several minutes and try to decide what to do.....should I just put it back and not say anything, or tell my parents about it. The problem with ignoring it is that if I do that, and I go out to get fresh mustard, I will hear about it anyway. So, I took the "stirring up the pot" route and VERY nicely mentioned to them that the mustard was a year expired. Well, if you could have seen the look on their faces! It was if I had just landed here and slapped them in the face. It was a look that said "what are you to good for the expired mustard". In fact thats pretty much what they actually said. It was pointed out to me that the expiration date was only a sell by date and did not reflect how good the mustard actually is. According to both of them, there is "nothing wrong with the mustard as long as you leave it in the fridge". And even better, "well, Nick (my brother) eats it and doesn't have a problem with it". There my friends is the problem with my parents (among other things)......my brother with eat expired foods and suspiciously cheap foods without complaint. He DOESN'T complain. Amy complains! I am most definately an alien to them. Someone that went off to California and whom they have nothing in common. Someone who is toooo good for their expired foods.

The thing is.......its true. I did go to California and change. But, they have to remember that I left PA when I was 20 years old. And I left because I never felt like I fit in here. So, now my question is......do I belong here now? I am thinking yes.....because for the most part I am loving it here.........I think it will be better once I get into the new house. I hope!