Miscellaneous Ramblings

Next Thursday I am hosting the book club.  The book we will be reviewing is And Then There Were None, by Agatha Christie.  It's a good choice for October book club, I think.  Since I am hosting, that means I need to get my house all cleaned up and ready, so I spent part of today doing some of the more particular cleaning that never gets done on a regular basis.  You know, the dusting of the bookshelves, wiping down the blinds, cleaning off the front porch, and brillo scrubbing the stove burners.  You might wonder why in the world I would go to such trouble just for the book club, especially when we will be meeting in the family room, not the kitchen?

If you have to ask that question, you are not a housewife.  I am not about to let a dozen housewives from the neighborhood see dust on my shelves, grease and grime built up on the blinds, cobwebs on the porch, or blackened grease on my stove THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

In fact, I might just break the sabbath tomorrow by cleaning some more!

Change of subject...  Bill's niece, Shalecia, got married today.  We spent the afternoon at her reception.  This is one of those times when we were all thrilled to see her making the right choice and marrying the guy she has been living with.  They seemed like a very happy and very YOUNG couple.  Good grief!  She was only 6 or 7 years old when I got married!  She is at least as old as I was back then.  I truly did not realize how very young I was back then.

At any rate, there weren't very many people at the reception, and those there didn't stay for the whole thing.  Several in the Watson clan are notorious for dropping in for just a short moment and then hurrying on to something else.  I think it is because the family is bi-polar, so to speak.  One half of them can't stand and don't approve of the other half and hate to spend long periods of time in each other's company.

There is just reason for that.

Of those who did come, there were two distinct camps.  Those who dressed up and those who didn't.  About half of the guests (from both the bride's and the groom's family) wore the type of clothes you would traditionally expect to see people wearing to a wedding reception.  Bill, the kids, and I fell into this camp.  I figure if the bride is wearing a traditional gown, then that is the clue for the guests to dress more formally.

The other 'camp' were the non-traditionalists who wore jeans or shorts.  There were guests from both the bride's family and the groom's family doing this.  I guess they thought it would be fine since the reception was held in a park at the base of the canyon?  Actually, I don't know what they were thinking, I think it was tacky to not dress up!

And then there were the outliers.  There was one from each family, that I noticed.  There was a woman from the groom's family wearing a wife-beater tank top and frayed short-shorts on her more than ample body.  And then there was Craig.  He is one of Bill's brothers, and he represented the seedy side of the bride's family.  Not only was he in jeans... they were greasy work jeans!  He also had on a greased up cowboy shirt, and to complete the outfit, a greasy do-rag covering his hair!  UGH!!!  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?

We stayed long enough to see several people come and go, watch the cutting of the cake, forced Helena to go stand with the other single ladies for the throwing of the bouquet (which she was relieved NOT to catch), and watched the garter toss.  As we were leaving we noted that Craig was once again engaged in grand theft auto.  Or, at least, grand auto mischief.  He was hot wiring the groom's car so that whenever the brakes are engaged the horn will sound!  I say 'once again' because he was caught in the act of doing just that to Bill's truck all those years ago at our wedding open house (the reception was in Washington, the open house was in Utah).  What do you say to that?  'Think up something new, dummy?'  'You're not as funny as you think you are?'  'STOP MESSING WITH THE WIRING OF THE CAR, IDIOT!'

At least he's consistent.

I think the next niece to get married will be Kaitlin.  She's been dating the same guy for three years now.  That will be extra weird for me, since I was her sixth grade teacher!

GAH!  I am NOT getting old!

I refuse.