Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

Saturday evening, we hosted a dinner party for the bridal party. We thought it would be a good opportunity for them all to meet each other if they didn't know each other, and to meet my mom.

The only person who couldn't make it was my College Roommate, who is one of my bridesmaids, because she and her family were sick. I told her to take care of herself and get better; there would be other chances to meet my family.

Attending were my the honor attendant, my sister, and her husband; my mom; and my third attendant, one of Mike's best friends from college. Right now I don't have a nickname for her, but I'm perhaps someone will suggest one or I'll come up with one before the wedding.

Also attending were the best man, The Cheshire Cat, along with his wife, The Paper; and the two other groomsmen, The Dormouse and The White Rabbit.

We put our dog, Una, and my sister's dog, Emma, in the master bedroom with the baby gate up so they wouldn't bother our guests as they were arriving. I suggested we leave them up there until people were finished eating. Emma seemed pretty upset about this, and we could hear her barking periodically.

All of the food was prepared by The Gryphon, with some assistance from my sister's husband. The appetizer was Shrimp Cocktail with assorted Crudités and Fresh Fruit.

The main course was Chicken Stew with Savory Polenta, Roasted Carrots and Parsnips, and Roasted Asparagus with Lemon.

Most of our guests had dressed up for the party, but my sister's husband was in a bit of a bind, because he'd brought a sweater, thinking it would be a lot colder. It's always a few degrees warmer in Philadelphia than it is in Bellefonte, but we were also having unseasonably warm weather.

In fact, as I'm walking the dog right now in a fall jacket, I think I'll have to take it off.

Since he and The Gryphon wear the same shirt size now, we let him borrow one of The Gryphon's shirts. He chose a Gap polo in navy blue, which he really loved. Now we know what to get him for Christmas!

I got some compliments on my outfit, which I'd thrown on at the last minute as I heard the first guest arriving. I'd worn it before, so I knew it worked together. It's a white knee-length skirt with some embroidery and sequins on it. I wore it with a black V-neck top, my white two-button jacket, a double strand of faux pearls and some red pointy-toed pumps.

The shoes became a problem later, because I'd had some wine and was being silly. I went to hug The Gryphon, who was seated, and I lost my balance and stepped on my Mom's bad toe. She later had to dress it with a Band-Aid. I felt absolutely horrible about it, as if I'd just ruined the dinner party for her after we'd gone to such effort this week to make it a nice time.

After we ate, we surprised The Gryphon's college friend with a special dessert, since she was celebrating her birthday that day. He had made chocolate mini cupcakes for her, which get topped with fat free Cool-Whip. He arranged them on a tray with a votive candle in the middle, which we lit and sang to her.

She was appreciative of the yummy dessert, since it was her favorite, chocolate. There were enough for everyone to have two. Then The Gryphon prepared the regular dessert, Sautéed Pineapple with Honey and Pine Nuts. That was also well received.

My sister's husband and I took the dogs out and then let them greet our visitors, since everyone was done eating. Una, as she always does, kept coming up to the person in the room who's least fond of dogs, The Cheshire Cat. She was in a very excited mood, with her mouth open, panting and moving suddenly, which I think freaked him out. I reassured him that she doesn't bite, and I tried to get her to move away, but she seems to gravitate towards him. You see, she loves cats.

The Gryphon's college friend left to meet up with some other friends downtown. A little bit later, The Paper left, because she'd been falling asleep in the chair. The rest of us hung out talking for a long time. My sister's husband had a great time talking to the groomsmen.

My sister and my mom excused themselves to go to the guest room, because they were both getting tired. We put a futon down on the floor so my sister could sleep, because she was getting tired.

I talked to my mom for a while and apologized again for stepping on her toe. She said she was OK and reassured me that she did have a good time. I'd noticed she spent a lot of time talking to The Gryphon's college friend about animals and ghosts.

When I returned downstairs, I joined in the conversation about things like pop culture ("Babylon 5", "Star Trek") and sharing personal stories.

Our last guests stayed until about 11 p.m., which was a good time. We had to set up the air mattress downstairs for my sister and her husband so that they could get to sleep.

The next morning we had to wake them up early so that they could get on the road in time to be back for my sister's husband to go to work. The Gryphon made them egg white omelets with lots of veggies in them, served with light orange juice and coffee.

Overall, I'd say the dinner party was a success. It was great to see my sister, her husband and my mom and to do something nice for them at our place.

Copyright 2006 by Alyce Wilson

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