I endured party games for as long as I could, but otherwise Auntie Bea's place was GREAT!

Steph and I finally left after Mom tried to get us to do stuff on our way out - we're kinda running late already, and Steph needed to buy vegetables before we arrived at Jen's, so that wouldn't help. (I already had the shortbread and gingerbread, which they KEPT afterwards, yay!) We went to the nearest Safeway, and finally settled on "authentic Greek salad" - we also called Jen to say we'd be late. When we finally got there with GPS help after having sisterly discussions (as well as a CLEAN-UP one), Randal was the only one there. Thank goodness he and I can be reasonably civil now, otherwise it would have been awkward! Auntie Beatrice said that we could start on the salad / cheese and then the main course - Ikea meatballs, bowtie pasta, and loganberry sauce are pretty good! Wesley had at least called to say he'd be late - he brought some really good wings from M&M Meat Shops when he DID get there! Shally and Jose showed up, and Jon and Harmony brought eggnog with rum / Kahlua / other stuff in it, along with Brussels sprouts and walnut from an EDIBLE magazine recipe. Connie also showed up, which was pretty good.

We introduced everyone else to a LOT of NG family jokes: the BOOTY LOGO, Mom being DRUNK, diarrhea, weigh-offs, "Sarne / Truebain / Ugfart," butt measurement (Big G!), Mom consistently misspelling "Flime" (film? flame? frame?), the "testicles / tentacles" story, my getting tipsy, and more! Had a hilarious discussion - I didn't mind telling people about Mom's fractured English, especially in that report earlier today! Talked about Christon as "Christ-On!" / Hamlet the dog dying suddenly because of internal bleeding from a tumor that nobody noticed / texting / X-Box CALL OF DUTY / ROCK BAND / WOW / Facebook / Andy Murray's girlfriend dumping him because he spent seven hours a day playing games on top of his tennis training / the art in the house / China / more stuff from our afternoons, too. It was a good night, until Shally decided to play various party games, including Wink Murder and a confusing pillow game - "who has the pillow?" indeed!

Then there was the game where you had to think about what you had done, and then get up and make sure you had a seat - not for me! I just went for some downtime and such (like one more half-glass of red wine), then helped Auntie Bea bring some dishes into the kitchen. After that, everyone went home - Harmony said I should have rejoined them for the last game, but I don't necessarily want everyone knowing my personal stuff. On the way home after signing the guestbook and thanking Jen / Auntie Bea for the evening, I told Steph exactly why I "lost" my townhouse keys - Mom can be very irrational when she's either stressed out or suddenly angry for almost no reason at all. I said that I'd see her later this week, probably Tuesday night. Gotta do laundry and such tomorrow - I could do it at the townhouse when Mom and Dad leave, but we'll see what happens. Might as well tidy up a little, if Jon and Harmony ARE going to clean up this place for me in the next couple of weeks or whatever, too... I AM LAZY!

My mom to me, this morning: "I've been thinking of removing your previous boyfriend from my email address book - SHOULD I? I seldom emailed him, anyway!" (both Steph and I told her to JUST DO IT)


Poo nugget for Monday, December 7: Doo You Know? - When A Penny Saved Is Not A Penny Earned - The British saying "to spend a penny" is a euphemism for using the toilet. This saying comes from the British practice of paying to use public toilets. Although pay toilets fell out of favor in the United States in the 1970s, the United Kingdom still uses these facilities for Number Two.