7.05.2006

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!


13 comments:

Jenny said... [reply]

My food was not near that pretty yesterday! It all sounds great. Who even thought to put a sparkler thingy in the food? So cute.

Snow Whiteley said... [reply]

The spread looks great!

I agree with you about the gap seeming large between marrieds and singles. For some reason, keeping in touch with my old roommates and friends who are now married/parents doesn't seem a big deal, but there seems to be a wider gap with others that I'm just meeting. Somehow I also always assume that they're older than me. Until I met a 21 year old with two (and now 1/2) kids.

I hope you had a happy 4th.

N.F. said... [reply]

HOLY MOLY. That food looks AWESOME.

Cicada said... [reply]

I totally understand what you're talking about when you're talking about single people vs. married people and the gap that exists. Don't worry. It's not just you.

Jenny said... [reply]

Tuna on baked potato? What crack must one be smoking to find that appealing?

daltongirl said... [reply]

I totally understand. I often feel that I am at least . . . fourteen years older than you. I now realize that this is because I'm married with kids, and you're single.

Lady Steed said... [reply]

oh wow...that food list made my mouth drool...mmmm....

blackjazz said... [reply]

I'd just like to say that so far as the whole declaration of independence/revolutionary war thing is concerned, if there hadn't been an Argentinian referee to send off our best striker for a minor incident involving stamping, the result would have completely different. We were ganged up on by the French, Spanish and the Dutch, and the Germans were only there because we had plenty of money to pay them. And anyway, it wasn't a fair fight because our leader was off his head at the time... ;-)

Kelly said... [reply]

Am I the only one wondering what the foil-wrapped thing is?

Jamie said... [reply]

It's the same dilemma when you're married. If you try to hang out with single people they think you're just going to make out the whole time. And if you try to hang out with producing marrieds they think you must have a really bad marriage. Weird...

Nemesis said... [reply]

Hi Jen, that would be RE, who thinks of these things. Also she put little American flags in a bowl of cherry tomatoes. Precious.

Thanks for supporting me in the marrieds/singles gap idea, DMA!

And it tasted great, Noelle! I was a lucky one. :-)

Thanks, Cic! Since we are both normal and right-thinking, if we think something is true then it must be!

Well, mom, some people have a bbq. You could try that next year! :-)

I know--tuna on baked potato. But they do it. They call them jacket potatoes here.

Daltongirl, you were single when we met! And also we worked together, which I think it a good way of becoming friends. There's no way I could've met you now, though. Unless it was at a blog party or something.

Yeah, Lady Steed, it was really good. What did you guys do?

Blackjazz, I'm sorry it's everyone else's fault when England loses. ;-)

That was my grilled corn, Kelly!

Jamie, can I please start using the phrase "producing marrieds"? Because I think that's hilarious. And it's good to be reminded that no matter what stage of life I achieve there will always be someone who will think I'm weird!

Jenny said... [reply]

Well how would you define 'producing marrieds'. I am not planning on producing anytime soon, but I have already produced. What if I'm done producing? Then am I a 'post-production married'? I think it needs a little more work. Still funny though.

julie said... [reply]

I have never in my life eaten tuna on a potato. tuna is best placed in a sandwich or eaten as a proper fish. Not all English people have such odd tastes.

Otherwise sounds like you had a fab time!

I am sure I posted here before, am I going mad?

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