It's my party, and Shadow will wear a lei if she wants to

Burgers, hot dogs, sausages, veggie burgers, chicken, and various other assorted food for Hawaiian-themed graduation party: One Hundred and Eighty Dollars.

A keg of Yuengling, a handle each of rum and vodka, and several cases of girlie drinks for Hawaiian- themed graduation party: Two Hundred and Forty Dollars.

Seeing your 19-year-old cat happily wearing a lei for duration of Hawaiian-themed graduation party: Priceless.

No, seriously: she wore it all day and night.  See, here she is a good 8 hours later, "observing" an intense beerpong match.

I say "observing" in quotes, because Shadow doesn't observe much these days.  She is mostly blind, stone deaf, and partially crippled.  And yet, she parties on. 

We humans had a pretty good time, too.  Joel and I drove up to New Jersey in the lovely inclement weather on Saturday morning, and it only took us 5 hours.  Which is less than I had feared, what with the deadly combination of holiday Turnpike traffic and rain, which was blinding and sheet-like at times.  But, we made it up, and after a quick stop, we headed out to BJ's to shop for the food for the party.  I think it is safe to say that we went a little overboard, but you can never have too much food, can you?  On the other hand, it is certainly possible to have too little food.  It's always better to err on the side of caution, that's my motto.

After we loaded all of our purchases into the car and drove back to my mom's house (still in the pouring rain), we tackled the task of marinating chicken, defrosting burgers, et cetera.  It's a lot of work having a party, you know?  Luckily my mother had already gone wild at Party City during the week, procuring more than enough Hawaiian-themed merchandise to guarantee that a good time would be had by all. 

And after all that, we still managed to have time to go out to dinner with my dad and both brothers on Saturday night.  We went to Charlie Brown's.  I had chicken.  It was delicious.  And yes, it is a steak place.  I just don't like steak that much, OK?  Get over it.  If I was the only one who felt that way, they wouldn't have chicken on the menu, now would they?

Sunday morning was spent running around, picking up tables and chairs from various family friends, and, of course, making a stop at the Liquor Outlet.  Again, it is safe to say I overdid things.  In addition to the half-keg of Yuengling I'd pre-ordered, I also picked up a few large bottles of rum and vodka (to go with all the cranberry juice and soda we'd bought at BJ's!  You can't have one with out the other!), a case of Smirnoff Ices (for myself) and a case of Twisted Teas (for my brother).  What can I say, the love of girlie drinks runs in the family.

Food was grilled.   Drinks were consumed.  Friends and family were present.  It was a good time.

And the sun reappeared for the first time in days, to give us a lovely late summer day.

In a word, perfect.

Reason #1 for having the party in New Jersey (rather than Baltimore): Y.A.R.D.

These are a few pre-party pictures (OMG! Pictures!  Who would want to see pictures of an ugly douchebag like me!!) before people started to arrive.

(My "littlest" brother, Michael, my "little" brother, Kristopher, my dad, myself... and my brother's sense of humor, which no family picture would be complete without.)

Reason #2 for having the party in NJ: Family.  It is hard to get my whole family down to Baltimore at the same time.  And let's face it:  no one else throws the finger into a picture with such finesse.

And then the people started to arrive.  These are some of my friends from college.  They were the first to get there, and therefore got dibs on the best chicken.   

We ate, drank, and were merry.

Two of my best friends from high school.

I love these girls more than words can describe.  That kid on the right is alright, too.

Cheesy, I know.  But true.  I feel incredibly lucky to have the family and friends that I do. And there you have it.  We will now return you to your regularly scheduled program of bitterness and complaining.

Joel and I helped clean up on Monday morning, packed up the car, and then drove back to Baltimore.  The drive back was slightly better than the drive up, and it only took us 4 hours to get back.  It would have been 3, if it were not for Delaware, and the constant reality of traffic in the Small Wonder State.  Who closes two lanes of traffic on I-95 on Labor Day weekend ("for construction") (there was no construction going on)?  Who does that?  Delaware does, baby.

The summer is now officially over.  No more weekends filled with classes, road trips to visit friends, and parties.  No more vacations.  No more casual Friday.  It's back to the grind.

I'm not as disappointed as I would have expected.  I'm looking forward to going back to the gym regularly, and hopefully getting back into some semblance of physical fitness.  I'm excited to spend the weekends working on painting the house and doing various other home improvement projects that have fallen by the wayside (HELLO!  Holes in the walls!  They are not technically holes anymore, but I can't say that fresh-drywalled look is the decor we're going for, either).  I can't wait to go back to yoga on Saturday mornings.   I'm even looking forward to cooking real meals again, which will doubtlessly lead to more cooking disasters... but they're great learning experiences, right?  I must also admit that I'm looking forward to the fall TV lineup.  24, Lost, Nip/Tuck... how I've missed you, my old friends.  I am especially looking forward to enjoying television without the built-in "I should be studying/reading/writing a paper" guilt.

Don't worry, I'm sure I'll be able to find something else to feel guilty about.  Soon enough. 

Comments

[Y]

Looks like so much fun!

I'm jealous of that backyard. So very jealous.

[for Joke!]

Awwww so fun to see all the photos!!

[Lisa B]

Your brothers look alot like you. Beautiful family. Sounds like a blast.