Baby Shower

This is only a small portion of the vast array of gifts.

The baby shower has been the major focus of discussion for the past week or so as we were trying to ensure that everything went according to "plan". Such top topics as food, party games, music and parking were on the agenda and we worried and fussed over them until the day of the party arrived and there was suddenly no more time to think about it. Now it was time to do it!

The event was held at Roxy's condo which had just enough space to house the rather large assemblage of friends and family. The main room was comfortably arranged with a couple of chairs near the front for Deb & Mason to sit upon while unwrapping the gifts, with couches for guests, a small table for food, a larger table for the cake (and more food), and several smaller items of furniture topped with trays and bowls full of candy. Downstairs were games and large, comfortable recliners and chairs and more tables stocked with candies and nuts and other assorted delicacies.

And the band was in the garage, where every band should be.

(The 'band' consisted of anyone brave enough to pick up one of the guitars sitting on their stands and start strumming!)

It was gratifying to see the number of people who came (or watched from afar) to shower their love and good wishes on the happy parents-to-be. There were a lot of people in attendance. There was a lot of laughter and joy in the room. And there was a huge pile of presents to go through!

Kitty wants to see, too!

Practicing

The party started at 1 pm -- although 'started' is a misnomer because it was more like an Open House than a time-dependent event, with people wandering in early and wandering in late and just wandering around checking out the tables of food or going in the garage to listen to whomever happened to be playing at the time. No one was standing on ceremony, but there were a lot of people standing around talking so that the vibe of the house was definitely pleasant and quite conversational.

At 2 pm we spread the word around the house that It Was Time and nudged everyone in the general direction of the main room where Deb and Mason took their seats in front of the huge pile of stuff and proceeded to unwrap each one in turn and thank the person who had given it and express their happiness regarding the usefulness of the gift and the beautiful colors or the sturdiness or the excellent thoughtfulness in finding something so unique and wonderful.

Two people volunteered to stream the video on Facebook. There weren't any available tripods, though, so they just stood (or sat) and pointed their cameras at the happy couple and tried not to move too much. We were gratified to see people texting to indicate they were able to watch!

Sitting slightly behind the couple, to one side of the pile, sister Mary kept careful track of everything as each gift was unwrapped, writing down the details so that Deb & Mason would be able to write accurate Thank-You notes to their generous benefactors. Which I'm sure they'll have plenty of time to do as they sit around the house bored to tears just waiting for the baby to arrive. While also trying to handle their jobs and their house-hunting and all the other things young people do with their time these days.

It took quite a while to open all those presents; by the time it was over, there was a huge pile of boxes and wrapping in front of the front door. We had to take a bit of time to clean it all up before people could leave! (Some suspected it was a Plot to prevent premature departures before all the food was eaten.)

After present-opening, it was time for more food, more games, and lots more conversation. And more singing. I spent a good amount of time playing guitar and singing in the garage with Mason and his dad, Doug. His mom joined in on some of the songs - especially the ones she likes to do on karaoke night. We had a great time!

When we finally ended our singing session, we discovered that the cleanup crew had been hard at work and the only thing left to do was pack up the cars and head home.

So we took all the boxes and presents and leftover food and tossed it in the back of our vehicles and headed for home, ready to sit quietly and snooze while recovering from the joyful excesses of the celebration.

Seder 2023

 

We've been doing Seder meals at Passover for ever.

I don't actually remember the year when we were first introduced to the Seder; most likely 1989 or 1990. Cheryl took me to one over at Seattle Pacific University (her alma mater). And while Cheryl and I were attending Northwest Church in Seattle, we attended the one(s) they hosted there. We enjoyed it so much, in fact, we helped lead one at the Campus Advance at Camp Casey the next year -- for well over a hundred people!.

After that, we had seders just about every year at our house as an annual tradition with our family. We've had to modify them over the years, depending on the kids' ability to sit through (and understand) what is sometimes a long (yet meaningful) ceremony. And we've had to shorten them occasionally when we had visitors so as not to overwhelm them with too much ceremony.

It's always a challenge to go through a ceremony which has evolved through the centuries to adjust to the changing circumstances of its original authors. Each one we've attended (outside our house) has been a little different. The ones which feel the most meaningful are (to me) the ones at home, as the original Passover meal was a very family-centric event.

We have enjoyed our very close friendship with the Shapin family who have taught us what it is like to be Jewish, and how the modern Jewish people celebrate these feasts and festivals -- from the Reformed to the Orthodox. And we have enjoyed participating in the Christian seders which bring a whole new meaning to the phrase which is uttered at the close of the Feast: "Next Year, in the New Jerusalem!"

Earnest (Again)

 

Our Latest Theatrical Adventure!

We are a movie- and musical- and play-quoting family.

If you hang around our house very long, you face the inevitable prospect of being exposed to a number of quotes from our favorite productions. Because that has become our shorthand way of sharing our favorite memories with one another.

See if you can remember which book/movie/play these quotes come from:

---

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”

“Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?”

“You are too generous to trifle with me. If your feelings are still what they were last April, tell me so at once. My affections and wishes are unchanged; but one word from you will silence me on this subject for ever.”

“I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.”

“Well, I didn’t vote for you.”

“For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbors, and laugh at them in our turn?”

"Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries.” 

“An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth. From this day you must be a stranger to one of your parents. Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you do.”

“Just a flesh wound.” 

"Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something."

“The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what Fiction means.”

"As you wish."

Girls, girls! You're both pretty! Can I go home now?

"My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

“I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.”

"Get some rest. If you haven’t got your health, then you haven’t got anything."

“Thirty-five is a very attractive age. London society is full of women of the very highest birth who have, of their own free choice, remained thirty-five for years.”

---

Having seen numerous incarnations of The Importance of Being Earnest, including at least a couple movie versions, we enjoyed quoting the play as we sat in the tiny, box-shaped theater at the GVSU campus and watched this rather interesting interpretation of the famous play. I say 'interesting' because there was a central conceit of this particular production wherein the Author (Oscar Wilde) is included as a character who is narrating the tale as he is writing it, sitting behind his desk and putting his actors into the precarious situations about which the play is concerned and then talking to the audience -- as if talking to himself -- to figure out how he is going to extricate them from their complex dilemma.

It was a very (if you'll pardon the expression) 'novel' approach to freshening up a well-known work and perhaps might've worked better with a few tweaks here and there. Overall, it was an amusing and enjoyable way to spend an evening out with Cheryl and Mary.

We prefaced our attendance with a quick stop for dinner at Noodles & Company (one of our favorite fast-food franchises) so that our tummies wouldn't be grumbling during the performance, and also so that our bodies would have some fuel to keep us warm as we walked to and from the theater. It was very cold and windy last night!

Two Happy Theater-Goers!