Adventures with Little White Cat

Promptly after moving all my boxes from old house to new house, it was time to jet to Chicago for our annual spring board meeting. Thus far, I've survived the planning and coordination of two of these events, and to be perfectly honest, I don't understand what the big deal is.

I miss event planning. I want to do it all day long. For me, it's not a panicky stress but a fun progression of things... Building invitations, making logistical arrangements, building tent cards, choosing menus. Ugh, I love it. Chicago was such an awesome opportunity to jump back into these things, and after a whirlwind three days, I took Friday off and made the short jaunt from Chicago to Michigan on Thursday afternoon.

Thursday and Friday were pretty low key, we lounged around watching movies, playing games, and sleeping. On Friday night, GB's sister and her boyfriend drove in from Chicago so that might we closed down the bars before porch picking till nearly 5am. Her boyfriend is kind of an odd cookie, but they're cute together, and I adore her. Besides being funny and sweet, she and GB are close, and it's fun to see them together.

On Saturday, the four of us joined the rest of the family for his cousin's first communion. Now, when I say "the rest of my family" you can generally expect that it means my brother might emerge from a haze of Marlboro Reds to make an appearance at a family dinner.

The same is not true of GB... Maybe because his mom is one of ELEVEN! Classic giant Irish Catholic family: they're loud, they're slightly overwhelming, and they're hilarious. Anyway, so I've met a few of them several times,  but this was kind of the mass here's-my-girlfriend-please-don't-scare-her-away-with-all-your-crazy meeting. It was awesome. For the most part, GB and I kicked it outside with the kids, playing games and spinning them around until we nearly threw up (and by "we" I fully mean me). We spun and spun, and at one point I swung the party-girl right into a small tree. GB and a couple of his uncles and cousins (including her dad) were enjoying cigars on the porch and saw the whole thing happen - the laughter that ensued tells me that I must have looked absolutely terrified. Thank goodness she just laughed it off. Kids are tough like that.

But when they're not being tough they're usually being hilarious. Peering from the yard to the porch, you would have seen the younger sister of my tree-friend on her hands and knees meowing, nuzzling anyone she could find. Pausing before GB, she slowly drew our fingers into a paw shape and batted at his perfectly laced boat shoes. Ironically enough, he was already sassy with me because I had untied one the night before and "messed with the fit" so damned if he was about to let "little white cat" mess with the others. However, she persisted. Cue GB running backwards across the lawn and a three-year-old moving at the speed of light on her hands and knees across the lawn insisting that "other kitties can't tie shoes, but little white cat can tie them!" I nearly died laughing.

Post-party, GB, his sister, his parents, the boyfriend and I headed up to his parents house. They all keep trying to convince me that their hometown is "sooooooooo hick" and to illustrate this, we took GBs Kentucky Derby winnings (there was a $2 pool at the party and he won!) and went on downtown to the only bar still open. The name escapes me, but it wasn't hick, it was just a lil trashy. Whatever, we played a bunch of keno and laughed and drank. It was fabulous. But hick? Ha! They've never seen hick. Next time GB is in Colorado, I'll show him what's what. (Getcha boots ready, girls.)

Sunday was Mothers Day, which I was a little apprehensive about being around for, but per the usual, it was excellent. Their home is stunning, and in the same way that we grew up with mountains and droughts, he grew up with Canadian neighbors and the river. (It's so surreal to be in a place where water is not a big deal.) WE CAUGHT A FISH! A salmon. We didn't get to eat it because dinner was already practically on the table, but there will be more chances...say uhhh next weekend! :) Yay.