Saturday was spent primarily trucking around from fabric store to fabric
store looking for the right fabric for the shirt for my Willy Wonka
costume. I discovered that generally the price of fabric is directly
proportional to the size of the store. For example, at the Fabric
Depot they have a huge selection, but a
particular fabric was $10/yard there. At a small
Jo-Ann, the same thing can be had for
$2.50/yard. Now, granted, you’re paying for selection and convenience
at Fabric Depot, but that’s a little spendy, thank-you-very-much. I
bought at Jo-Ann.
Sunday was a family reunion for the people on my mom’s side of the
family. It took place at Rainbow Falls State
Park
in Washington. Nice park, not a whole lot of people, so it was a good
spot.
The thing about a “family reunion” for that side of the family is that
I see these people all the time. All the time. Holidays, birthdays,
random times of the year… Maybe not all simultaneously (that’s almost
more than a person can handle, if you know what I mean), but I see them
all the time. So it’s not really a “reunion” so much as “another
get-together.”
I hadn’t eaten all day, and the agenda for the event said we were
supposed to get there and eat at noon. After a nice couple-hour trek
into the sticks, we got there and when noon rolled around… for some
reason, we weren’t eating. I’m really not sure why. I think we might
have been waiting for someone or something, but… well, here’s my take
(and if/when I run some event on my own, this is how it’s gonna be): The
schedule says noon. Come hell or high water, if you aren’t there at
noon, you just get to eat late. We’re eating at damn well noon. I’m not
waiting for you.
One o’clock rolls around, still waiting. The hunger has passed beyond
me to other people and the finger foods started disappearing - anything
you could walk past and grab without a lot of people noticing. Probably
1:30p hit and we started eating. Actually, it was more like, “we started
milling around closer to the food with the intent to eat.” Here’s
another one: I have no issues being “the first to eat.” I don’t care if
you’re the first either. The person closest to the head of where the
line will eventually be had better get his/her ass in gear and get
going. If we’re not eating on time, I no longer have the patience to
wait and see who’s digging in first. We’re all eating the same food here
I’m sure I ate more than my fill, but there’s always a lot of food
left, so even being fuller than full (as I’m sure everyone else was,
too), everyone ended up taking something home.
After the feeding died down, we were all sitting around talking, which
is probably the most entertaining part of any of these get-togethers
since it seems random crap happens to that side of the family a lot. I’m
not sure if we bring it on ourselves or if it’s just luck. For example:
My aunt and her boyfriend were at the Clackamas Les
Schwab getting tires or something the other
day. Apparently there was nowhere to sit inside, so they went outside.
Not finding any benches, my aunt’s boyfriend went over to the brick-wide
ledge surrounding the front window of the place and perched up on that.
My aunt followed suit, wedging her ass up on the ledge until -
Crash!
The front window of the Les Schwab broke. I guess it cracked from top
to bottom and side to side. She claims there were bullet holes in the
window that had weakened it but… well, keep telling yourself that.
Hehehehe.
They went back inside and were greeted at the front desk as “Mr. and
Mrs. Crash.” Rock on.
I guess if you go to that Les Schwab the window is taped up with duct
tape while they wait for a replacement. (My aunt didn’t have to pay; Les
Schwab’s covering that. Maybe they’ll put a bench outside, too?)
A couple hour drive home and we were finally back by around 8:00p. It
was a long day, and I think I’m still sort of recovering from it. (I’m
not really a car-trip person, particularly crammed into the back seat.)