Everybody Wants Some

Day two of Facebook fast & I've cheated twice. I felt guilty because two friends had birthdays and what kind of person would I be if I didn't wish them happy birthday? Dammit.

I had a wonderful time with my wonderful, goofy family this past weekend.

It was my Aunt Joanne & Uncle Peter's 50th wedding anniversary Friday and to celebrate, they renewed their vows in the church they were married in and had a big party for family and friends after. Sadly, there are only 3 wedding guests who are still with us today- my aunt MaryMargaret, cousin Maggie I, and my mom, who was the flower girl! It was really sweet, especially since my aunt has been battling stage III breast cancer the past year & a half and has come out on the winning side.

Cousin Maggie I, Cousin Tom, Uncle Terry, Aunt Joanne, Any Mary Margaret, my mom

They booked the top floor of a little Irish pub for a party after the wedding service. Brett & I knew it was going to be a good time when we walked in and the sound system was playing Van Halen's "Everybody Wants Some.' Nothing says 50 years of marriage like Van Halen! And all we could think about was the claymation video from Better Off Dead:


Of course Walter & Clarence joined us out on terrace for drinks after we'd returned to the hotel.

Uncle Paul had been drinking Drambouie with my mom and dad.  He was giddy when he joined us, so I asked him to put Walter's hat on. He did and in a very loud voice asked me if he looked like "a Hasidic." When I said, no, it's a cowboy hat, Uncle Paul, he responded by pointing to the Hasidic gentleman in his black yamulke sitting at a table a few feet away. "I look just like that one!"

Uncle Paul

Cool Cousin Dan in Walter's hat

"Can you believe these peoples??"

Kevin & Walter

Now while the terrace bar was quite lovely, it was really beyond any of our price ranges and our parents weren't buying anymore, so we moved across the street to this pit of a bar called Danny's Pub that we frequent whenever we're in town at this hotel.  The bartender is unpleasant man. He does not like customers. My cousin Jennifer, after observing his surly behavior, asked him, 'Have you thought about pooping?' He didn't treat us any kinder after that one.

Cousin Kevin, MK, Jennifer

Katie, Kevin I, MK, Jennifer, Kevin II, Dan

Forrest Gump dancing

 Now, we were the only folks in this bar, on a Friday night in mid-August.  We were paying, drinking steadily, behaving ourselves, not too noisy.  Of course, there was some Forrest Gump dancing when Sweet Home Alabama came on the jukebox, but nothing obnoxious.

 Jennifer was a bit, shall we say, in her cups, and started flashing people.

Flashing begins, Exhibit A

 You can see it beginning here.

This little dude was particularly entertained.

This 'little person' who seemed to be the bartender's only friend, was quite caught up in our antics, particularly when Jennifer flashed him (not intentionally).  The next morning, everyone was picking on Jennifer about the incriminating photos I'd snapped of her. She didn't remember doing anything noteworthy. I'd just reminded her when her mother, Aunt Mary Margaret, walked up. "What are you two laughing about?" "Just what I did last night," Jennifer said. "What did you do last night?" MM asked, eyebrows meeting in a cloud of scowl. "Flashed a midget." MM walked away because she started laughing & couldn't maintain her cross look.


This is my cousin Andrew. He's only a few months younger than me. We grew up together-- even went to nursery school together. He wanted this Corona pinata in the worst way, so I got the bartender to let him hold it for awhile. Stingy bastard wouldn't let him keep it, though.

More about Andrew- much later that night, my cousins took us to a diner to get some much-needed food inside us.  Andrew ordered a burger from our surly waitress who asked what kind of cheese he wanted. He said, "American." Which caused my cousin Darrell to respond, "He's not French, you know" for some reason. Someone else asked why anyone would possibly think Andrew was French. I mentioned that he was dressed all in white and someone might mistake that for fashion.  So the rest of the night, we called Andrew 'Frenchy', which amuses me to no end, even at this very minute. He is forever Frenchy to me now.

The next day was a party at the Community Center.  This was a more populated party, as the previous day's events had been for family only, and today's soiree was for friends as well.

Brett enjoyed the Community Center's commitment to fitness.

My very cute cousins Taylor & Kieran, with Brett in background.

I am a bad influence.  This is cousin Brendan. He had been tormenting cousin Taylor all day, so when he went in to the bathroom, she waited outside with a bucket of ice water to ambush him.  Kieran and I discussed her plan and found it wanting.  I pointed out that I had noticed there were no screens in the bathroom windows and that the rooms themselves were very tiny.  As Brendan had been in there for some time now, we concluded that he was probably, ahem, sitting down.  I suggested that a carefully tossed cup of ice cubes into the room would probably make an unpleasant landing. Kieran threw a cup of ice cubes into the bathroom through the window. It jolted Brendan into action. When he left the bathroom to find the culprit, his defenses were down, and Taylor's ice water throw was successful.  I am luckily old enough and dressed up enough at the time to avoid all punishment but an energetic warning hug from Brendan for my role in the mishap.  Which is good, because Dude is an ultimate fighter now and I wouldn't want to try to take him down.

And finally, a nice picture of my dad, mom, katie and me. Don't know who the two dudes were talking in the background or where my brother was when we were taking this.