I took a half-day on Friday to make sure all was in preparation. My guests are a peculiar sort and if anything was amiss then they would break out the boot camp cards and put me through my paces. Finally I could power wash no more and all was ready. I run with a hard crew and they're fun as hell.
I had a fair idea of who was coming but nothing is for certain. I hoped I had purchased enough meat.
The first to arrive was JRock, IronMan and their evil daughter dookLover. That's why she's evil, she has acquired an unnatural affinity for Duke and their Blue Devil ways. I spent time spritzing her with holy water but it was too late, she bore the mark of Krzyzewski. Other than that she is a fine young woman and I wish her nothing but well.
They brought a bean dip to die for and tasty chocolate covered strawberries! I made a mental note to kiss my recently attained weight goodbye. IronMan and I, knowing what was to come started with diet Mountain Dew, stimulants would be needed or we'd both nod off at 9PM.
Our house's backyard faces west and the 5PM sun was already showing signs of brutality. We have a shaded area but no one felt like going over to it. I honestly can't remember the order of the arrivals but after JRock, IronMan and dookLover I think it was Kojak and buddy, Ally and hubby, bikerGirl and bikerBoy.
Ally came in with some sort of police/EMT escort. Her usual entourage when she gets involved with our local golf tournament. She and her hubby PLAY HARD! She's dropped off a strawberry pie in the fridge and brought a nice bottle of wine. She introduces her husband saying he really doesn't want to be named in the blog.
Um, OK, Lord Voldemort it is, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!
BikerGirl is advocating for a new name, I'm in the mood so OK. BikerGirl is now bikerBabe and keeping with the theme her hubby is now bikerHunk.
Others are engaged in talk and what not and I'm just running around trying to make sure everyone is comfortable and hydrated. I'm not exactly sure when but somewhere in this time frame I became Kajak's bitch. My former king still holds sway over me and just to be clear I enjoy keeping things going so when I'd ask him if he needed anything he'd say, "Sure!"
IronMan has had enough of the sun and lays down in the marsh created by the power washing in order to cool off while doing crunches.I'm picking up conversation, most of it unblogable as I dart around or sit in a chair for a few gabbing, but I did learn some neat things. I learned how Ally and Lord Voldemort met and the nefarious means He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named! used to dispatch his rival Alf in order to win the fair Ally's hand. I'd tell you more except they made me sign an NDA, twice.
I learned about bikerBabe and bikerHunk's upcoming fifth (sixth?) century they were taking since the start of the nice weather. BikerHunk didn't seem to count it as a century (100 miles on a bike) since it was sixty-five miles and then you slept before biking sixty-five miles back. One day, maybe, I'll bike thirty miles in one sitting and brag about it like no tomorrow so I'm impressed.
I ask if anyone's hungry and my wife informs me that she's leaving me. She has to go across town to pick up our daughter from some Girl Scout activity and good luck and all with the cooking thing. As If I'd let her anywhere near the grill!
I'm on my second beer and recently returned from North Carolina so I'm having difficulty counting above two but I'm game.
How many want burgers and how many want brats?
One... two... screw it. I fire up the grill, a Smokey Joe dumping in about a third of a bag of charcoal and dousing it with lighter fluid. Once it goes out it starts smoking so much that I move it out into the yard. I then plop down next to dookLover and shoot the breeze for a bit waiting for the grill to heat up. I suggest she go into medicine the way she was dissecting the three layer bean dip carefully extracting all the best parts. I get s shrug, she doesn't think she can handle the blood.
I grab six of the eight hamburgers and the beer brats hoping it would be enough for starters and start grilling. Bubbles and hubby haven't arrived yet and I'm trying to hold something back for them. My athletic guests fall on the food like super models with a month off before the next shoot. We had plenty to eat.
Kojak had brought chips and bikerBabe's coleslaw was excellent. I managed to feed my son something and right about then my wife showed back up. I was having fun trying to manage everything but I can't tell you if I was from my guests perspective.
Then it was desert time and sadly I had discovered the chocolate covered strawberries and then the strawberry cake my wife made and then Ally's strawberry pie. All were too good!
Either bikerBabe and bikerHunk or Ally and Lord Voldemort were the first to go - they had another day of suffering on the golf course ahead of them. I'm not a golf guy, I've tried it and don't have the temperment required even with the aid of alchohol but that's just me. I followed their enthusiasm though. If you get into a sport enough you can derive quite a bit of pleasure watching the pros go at it. I never thought I'd be into watching a bunch of mutants hump bicycles through France, but I am, big time.
The biker's had to get up at the crack of dawn and ride bikes.
Bubbles and her hubby sciFi came around the corner of the house a bit after nine. Bubbles was lugging God's gift to pasta salad in a monstrous wooden salad thingy and I scooped some up.
YUM! Even though I'm certain I put on twenty pounds by that point I had a bowl or two and it was good!
I managed to rewarm a burger and a couple of brats for them and they sat down and started gabbing. I had brought out my expensive whiskey but figured it would be construed as innappropriate if I started hammering out this blog entry at that time and anyway I wanted to talk. sciFi partook of the whiskey experience along with Kojak's pal. As Kojak was leaving he mentioned we should do this again.
I agree and would be happy to host.
I learned how Bubbles and sciFi met and of sciFi's interest in science fiction. I mentioned Zumba but Bubbles gave me this "I'm off the clock dude" stare and I immediately backed down. I worry about Bubbles and her working three jobs. I hope she and hubby make all their goals.
Most everyone had left by that point, it was getting late. Bubbles and sciFi hung out by the firepit and we talked and then they helped carry stuff into the house. I loaned two books to sciFi, I'll be curious what he makes of them.
My wife and I had a sincerely nice time and hope you did too.
Thanks for coming!
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