Partytime

So this weekend I went to my friend E's birthday party. Her mom had invited me without telling her, so it was going to be a real surprise. I found the road no problem, but when I drove in there was a whole bunch of people milling about in the little mini-parking lot at the top of the road. Turns out the road was too icy and steep for "normal" cars to go down it, so when a pick-up arrived we all got into it-- three little girls and a lady in the back seat, and me and this other lady in the front. Nobody introduced themselves so I had no idea who they were or if I was going to the right place! :) But in the bouncy, slippery ride we told each other who we were-- the girls were E's friends from school and the ladies were both E's aunts. Me, I was just a friend from camp.

The house itself didn't look like much from the outside-- the snow and the ice masked what it looked like, and really all I saw was a garage and some detritus out front... but inside it was warm, full of giggles and little girls and a very close family. E's mom covered E's eyes and motioned me to come over, and it was a huge surprise-- E had no idea!!

So for a while we played with the karaoke machine-- or rather the kids did and I just watched, as I am not the bestest performer in the world. E and her mom have beautiful voices, and they both got waaaaaaaaaaay too into it.

E's mom even sang a special birthday song for E, which made E cry. Her mom's goal was to embarrass E three times during her party, and that was one of them.

After the karaoke, there was cake. The girls had made the 12 cake the night before, with ice cream and tons of chocolate.




Afterwards the girls went swimming in the indoor pool...


...and I hung out with Baby J.



Baby J is just about a year old, and she loves to share--which can end up being pretty disgusting. Somebody gave her a piece of bologna, and she kept trying to feed it to me--when I resisted, she smeared it on my face and on my shirt and down my shirt and I think she got some in my hair. It has been the most intimate I have been with a piece of meat in nearly five years of vegetarianism. When I finally could put her down she played a game of slobber-the-bologna with the dog. Bleeeeccchhhhh!

For the rest of the party, while the girls were swimming, I hung out with E's grandmother Nahnie, and found she was once a teacher in the Washington D.C. area and facing some of the same challenges that I do now-- abject poverty, class distinctions, teaching tolerance and value especially with those in special ed., etc. Nahnie's pretty cool and I am glad I got to know her a little.

So that was how I spent my Saturday-- I had such a marvelous time. Happy Birthday, E!