Boundary-Stretching & Baby Shower

We had a delightful weekend! Friday evening, when we got to the movie theater, not only was B there with our 2 boys, but she had also brought along all 4 of hers. I was glad to see her teenage daughter there-I always think it's good for teenage girls to spend time hanging out with good strong adult role models. I thought Bride & Prejudice was really fun, with lots of beautiful color, humor, a good love story. It made me really want a sari & one of the pants & tunic outfits, in some luscious color like hot pink or lime green. B & her daughter liked the movie a lot, too. It was probably a bit long for the 7 y.o. & all the boys soundly hated it. But, it's good for them to stretch their boundaries & experience things outside their usual realm of interest. As for J, she loved the colors & the costumes, as well as the pretty girls, but thought the singing & such was a bit surreal & a bit much. It was a bit a of boundary stretcher for her, as well. Now, I want to see Bend It Like Beckham. I need to watch the two Indian movies I have out from the video store!

Since J & I hadn't had time for dinner (the boys had chicken pot pie at B's), we further stretched the boundaries by dragging the boys to The Winds...only because Boot said "I'll go to The Winds" when we told them they were lucky we weren't taking them there. They have not one iota of appreciation for that place. I wonder if they'll like it when they're older or if they'll insist on taking their dates to McDonald's & Steak 'n' Shake. Oh, our dinner was wonderful! We got the Greek Meze Salad (fresh beet salad, chopped kalamatas, grilled haloumi, and warmed pitas), a cup of Provençal fish stew, and the rotollo di spinachi, which is always delicious. Pie simply ordered dessert, ice cream with "dirt & worms", and was happy. Boot ordered a grilled bacon & cheese. He grudgingly admitted to liking the bacon (Nueske & fabulous), but complained about the bread (homemade white) and the cheese (white cheddar) & said he wanted a "real grilled cheese". I explained that he had a real grilled cheese, just not the style he is accustomed to. He didn't like the $6 piece of peanut butter chocolate chip cheesecake he ordered, either. Luckily, J did. I had a piece of the black forest cake & need to remember that I never like their cake as much as their pie or other desserts. I should have had the cherry-rhubarb pie!

Saturday morning, J had to go in to work, so I caught up on e-mail, then worked on organizing the study. She got home just in time to go to the birthday party of one of her co-workers. That was a great deal of fun. Our boys had fun playing with all the other kids there while we chit-chatted inside. They have an old farmhouse & it was fun to see it. They have it painted in the same green our hallway is. We also got to see their baby girl for the first time, and to visit with their 2 goats & 15 baby ducks. All were precious. They had quite the spread prepared. Appetizers were crackers with beer cheese dip or cold spinach artichoke dip, olives, & pickles. Then, they had made a chicken bouillabaise, potato soup, and pulled beef with buns. I had to sample a little of each. His birthday cake was a yellow cake with raspberry filling & chocolate ganache to ice it. They are foodies...in fact, J will often leave him voice mails about what we're having for dinner. It's really funny. I ran into foodies there, too. One was a French teacher, an old friend of theirs. She found out my name & what I do & said, "I read you!!! I read you!!! You have my dream job!" & told me how much she likes my writing. That was fun. We talked restaurants & food for quite awhile.

After the party, we went baby shower shopping...had a grand time picking things out for little RR. I can't wait until he's here! I decorated plain blue bags with white rub-on baby words & stickers with baby-related words & their definitions. We got him a bouncy seat that was on her registry list, a set of bathtime finger puppets, and some little outfits. My favorite is one that has a sea monster on it. He is going to look so cute in that.

Sunday morning, I ran out & got some things for coffee hour & dropped them off, since no one signed up to host. Then, we grabbed some Dino's & headed to the shower. L's folks' house has really been fixed up since I was last there (probably in the early '90s!). It looks gorgeous! They have added on a sunroom that looks right out on the pond. C had all her heirloom china & linens & crystal out & it was so lovely & girly. We visited for a bit, got to meet B's mom & sister & grandma. They are all so nice. It's easy to see where B gets it. I am so glad L is with him now.

They had a brunch, with C urging us to go first in the buffet line. Wow, was the food delicious!!! She does a lot of organic gardening & preserves her fruits & veggies. She made 2 beautiful quiches, one asparagus & one red pepper with caramelized onions. The crusts were homemade & really interesting. Tasty! There was also the best potato salad I've ever had, marinated broccoli, and fruit salad with poppyseed dressing. Dessert was a chocolate bundt cake sparkling with sugar & served with cherries from her trees, along with a dollop of vanilla bean ice cream. We sat with B's best friend's mom, 2 women L taught with, and a woman who worked with L's dad for 20 years before they both retired. They were a pleasant bunch.

Before the gifts were opened, J participated in an adventure. We'd been hearing this odd animal noise. Some sort of creature had gotten caught in the duct work & couldn't get out. J & another woman went to investigate. The other woman reached in & grabbed the animal by the scruff of its neck. It turned out to be a tiny baby raccoon! It was darling! L's dad (who had just got back from running a marathon!) said that there has been a big raccoon hanging out in the barn, so they took the bitty out there. Then, L opened her gifts, with the eager assistance of her nieces. It was the most wonderful shower I've been to. I like L's mom so much. I invited her to join the book group. I hope she'll come. The more smart, fun women, the better!

After the shower, we headed out to my grands' to make May baskets. I took along construction paper (along with some of the art paper I got through Freecycle), stickers, trinkets, etc. J & I had a blast making them. The grands observed, as did my ex-stepcousin C & his friend, who came to visit, bringing the gift of a new bird feeder & shepherd's hook. We had coffee, tea, Oreos, and Breyers ice cream (coffee & strawberry) as we visited. C is such a pleasure to be around, jokey & kind. He has turned out to be such a neat grown-up. He was telling us about the old barns he is rescuing wood from & about the blues band he plays in. His friend played sax for 2 years with the Glenn Miller Band. In our May baskets, we put butter mints, lilacs, dogwoods, & violets. On the way home, we made deliveries to both sets of B&L we're friends with. The not-pregnant set were playing a video game that cusses & he had beer on his breath, so they were happy to see that it was just us. They were having a relaxing Sunday evening, making a pizza & enjoying themselves. I think they were touched by the May basket. B asked me if we sang the Internationale as we were making them. LOL!

Once home, we made dinner. We had steak with homemade chimichurri sauce (a gorgeous green for May Day), baked potatoes, Tuscan bread, the sesame asparagus recipe that J&D gave me (back when J was still alive...I miss him & May always make me think of him, since it holds his birthday). For dessert, in bed, Ben & Jerry's chocolate fudge brownie. How decadent! Pie was too full for dessert, while Boot had brownie batter ice cream before bed. After they went to bed, I put out the plate for the spirits & some milk & honey for the fairies, as well as a rum & candy offering for St. Anthony. J was working on planning a romantic weekend for the end of the month, then we went to bed with our ice cream.