Fricking Fabulous

My Mother’s Day gift for myself this year was an R2-D2 flared dress from Think Geek.com. When they advertised a red sheath dress with the twin suns of Tatooine on it, Brian, the World’s Greatest Husband (WGH), encouraged me to buy it.

The WGH and his classmates from high school (along with my brother Fran and his wife Tammy) hit the big 5-0 this year. I’m planning a party for the WGH; Fran already had a dinner at a local Famous Dave’s, and the WGH’s best friend Todd had a fun party where all the guests were encouraged “to kiss Todd anywhere.” I chose his beautifully bald noggin.

Saturday was the birthday party for Chris, one of the WGH’s high school friends, at a friend’s home near Minneapolis. Not knowing how long the party would last, we reserved a hotel room close to the house.

I tried on the red sheath suns dress, but even the WGH agreed it was too tight, so I changed into the R2D2 flare. I looked adorable in it, despite my hefty size. We tried taking the dogs to a local kennel, but the place wouldn’t let them stay without the kennel cough vaccine. One emergency phone call to our friends Ed and Sarah Jean, and our puppies were happily playing with their puppies.

My cell phone bill probably is going to be huge next month due to roaming charges. The trip to Minneapolis is easy from Madison, Wisconsin; but once there, I used my phone’s GPS and Google Maps to locate our hotel and the party. Didn’t help when Sarah Jean kept texting me photos of my dogs playing with her family. I thought Nibbler only smiled that way for me.

Because the party was potluck (I love potluck parties: so economical, so down-to-earth, and a much better variety of foods available), we planned on buying our dish to pass at a local market. After we checked into our hotel (and received a “think about us” message from our puppies when the hotel key card had a picture of a dog on it), Brian re-read the e-vite which suggested bringing lawn chairs as well. Oops. A Costco was on the way, so we shopped there. Found two pasta salads that would be perfect, but their lawn chairs were either way too expensive or had Vikings or Golden Gophers logos on them. Sorry, but that is an absolute NO for anyone at Castle Curley. Seeing my dress, a fellow customer stated I looked “fricking fabulous!” and our cashier made me go to another cashier to show off my outfit.

When we arrived at the house, we noticed they had a Vikings canopy over part of the backyard. Well, me and my Packer tattoo didn’t burst into flames walking under it, but I didn’t take too many chances. I also didn’t take any chances with the 2×4/life-sized version of Jenga set up outside; I am a klutz in the extreme. The day was hot, so I spent most of the party indoors, where the birthday boy was playing Dominion with some of his guests. We’re talking a group of gamers, members of the Society for Creative Anachronism, and other varying flavors of geekdom. My R2D2 dress was a hit. We ate and chatted and had a lovely time, especially when two of the three critters (a dog and a cat, the other cat was hiding under a bed) came up to us for attention. Yes, we missed our canine and feline children very much.

We left earlier than we thought we would and could have driven home that evening, but we figured since we had the hotel room, we’d stay and enjoy the Twin Cities. We headed to The Source Comics and Games, where they have an excellent Munchkin collection, among a wide selection of games, comics, and other nerd paraphernalia. I’ve found more than one item for my collection that is out-of-print, but when a fellow customer was asking me about the game, I thought it ironic that The Source didn’t stock the base game.

We went in search of something to eat, and even though we saw “Gas-Food-Lodging” signs for restaurants, Brian proved to be a little navigationally challenged because the signs didn’t tell us which way to turn upon leaving the highway. Again, my Google Maps Fu saved the day, but I only can navigate with a GPS; never from memory. Finally after almost giving up, Brian found what he was looking for: the ubiquitous Taco Bell.

In the morning, we headed home at our leisure, listening to the “Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff” podcast along the way. When I wasn’t re-reading my journals of the past year for the Annual Review (more on that in a later entry), I was fighting falling asleep. We made at least one stop an hour to keep us both awake and safe.

When we picked up Nina and Nibbler from Ed’s house, their dogs Pedro and Lady Chatterley did not want us to take them. Sorry, but I cannot go so long without my puppies!

Pog ma thoin!
-Lori

“Shut up and let Brian drive.” – my inner voice every time I wanted to tell Brian he was going the wrong way