And I saw that it was good

I pretty much had to roll myself out of the Independence Day BBQ yesterday, which in my book means that it was a success. Here are the foods we ate:

Grilled pork steaks
Grilled corn on the cob
Baked potatoes with butter and sour cream and cheese and chives (no beans or tuna on our potatoes today, England!)
Salad with real live Hidden Valley Ranch dressing
Tons of great rolls
Jello parfaits with strawberries and blueberries
Ice cream
Root beer
Cream soda
Lemonade--the real American kind with the lemon bits, not the clear fizzy Sprite-like drink that is lemonade here

The E's went all out with the decorations as well. There were special plates and cutlery and little flags stuck in the foods and confetti scattered on the table. The whole family wore the 2006 Old Navy flag shirts. So yes, it was all very festive and good. We only had one rain scare.

The E's have two little girls, ages 4 and 2, and I had fun playing with them. I teach the two-yr-old every Sunday in the nursery class, and for months now she has had nothing to do with me--I could have been a piece of furniture. But I guess outside of nursery it's okay for us to be friends. I came over and she was all over me--telling me stories and brushing my hair and complimenting my shoes. She knew my name and everything. It was slightly Twighlight Zoneish. I mentioned this to her mom, who said that was funny, because the little girl had been talking that day about how I was coming over, and how I would be wearing a skirt, and checking to be sure that it was "my [Nem], right?" who was coming over. I'm interested to see what happens on Sunday--if she'll remember that we're friends or if she'll go back into nursery mode.

CE (I'm sick of code names, let's just go with initials) now reminds me so much of Amyjane's husband Sean that it's a little bit scary. The two of them should probably never meet. He even started joking about circumcision over dinner (they're having a boy this fall) in this loud booming voice that all the neighbors must be used to hearing by now, while RE rolled her eyes and tried to sush him. When RE drove me home she asked about WR, saying that it took her forever to realize that we weren't dating anymore. I get that a lot. Then she said I'd be better off with an American anyway rather than trying to do the International Marriage thing that she and her husband will be dealing with for the Rest Of Their Natural Lives (where to live, how to visit everyone and stay in touch, how to raise the kids, how to make everyone happy, etc.).

Once I was home I thought about how much fun they'd been to hang out with, and I realized that they're only a few years older than me. But when you factor in the married-with-kids vs. single thing, the gap seems larger. I mean, it's one thing when people you're already friends with get married and have kids--it feels like a different thing, though, to start from scratch making friends with people who are in a completely different situation and have so much going on. Does anyone else know what I mean here or am I just on crack?

Anyway, I hope everyone had a wonderful and drug-free Fourth of July!