Oh, What a Night!

So, I've been part of a sort of "email loop" for a long while now--over 14 years?  There are eight of us now (there were more over the years), and we keep in touch on a Facebook form of our loop.  Some of these women I've known for even longer, from an old breastfeeding board (and an old circumcision debate board).  Well, last night four of the women from our loop converged upon my home, with two spouses and NINE teenagers in tow.

I admit, I was incredibly nervous.  I mean, how were we going to cram 18 people into this place, and be comfortable and able to talk and keep the kids (nine of them!) entertained?

Turns out it just happened.  No fuss, no problems, it just worked.  It worked, and it was fun, and I loved hearing their voices and seeing their faces and it was terrific.

Great kids, too.  Our boy was in heaven--with the ratty kids in this neighborhood, he's been alone other than at Hapkido three times a week.  So to have a house full of kids?  Playing video games, then Guitar Hero, then a little Nerf shoot-em-up?  He had a great time.  And it was a good lesson, too--I think he's always feared that somehow the disaster with the kids on this street had something to do with him?  I think last night helped him see what I've been saying all along--smart, cool people like him.  We just have a dearth of those in this neighborhood.  We had a houseful last night, and he keeps thanking me for it.

And I have to say, I was really impressed with the spouses here--incredibly smart, fun guys.  I really enjoyed their company, and it made me happy to think of my friends married to cool guys.

Now, these ladies came in from a heck of a distance.  One drove six hours from Ohio (Jenni), another six-and-a-half hours from North Carolina (Lara, Scott, and their kids), one for three hours from Maryland (Mary and her boys), and one flew from coast to coast--all the way from SoCal (that would be Annie, Eric, and their boys).  And if that doesn't make you feel special (and nervous!).  And they really did make me feel special.  And they really are special.  And it was an even cooler night than I'd dared hope for!

I hope we can do it again.  Next time with the other ladies from the loop here, too.  My sister, Debbie, and Debra.

Oh, oh!  I have to brag on my friend Lara!  Everyone pooled for pizza (except US, which was hell on me, I don't handle not treating my guests very well, that was hard, but, financially, it was incredibly helpful).  Anyway, folks pooled, and then we sat down and figured how much the pizza would be.  Came to 136 bucks.  But Lara calls the pizza place and she just sweet talks and haggles and lets them know, "Hey, this is how much we have, and we don't want Dominoes of some other crappy chain if we can have you guys instead--here's what we need, can you do that for us?"  And they DID!  They knocked 34 bucks off!

She is amazing!

Anyway, so that's how I spent my night last night--it was happy, it was good, it was fun, and I feel really lucky to know these wonderful folks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now, do you remember a few weeks ago when I was talking about Demarquise Elkins, the kid who allegedly shot the baby in the face down in Georgia?  Remember how his family leapt to his defense, were so eager to provide him with an alibi?  So eager, in fact, that they provided him CONFLICTING alibis?  Remember how his little banger buddies leapt in and claimed that it was "RACIST CRACKERS" who were falsely accusing him?

His mother, aunt, and sister have all been arrested for lying to the cops.  The sister appears to have tampered with evidence.  The mother?  A felon.  If you were wondering where ol' Demarquise got it from, look no further.  They appear to have crawled out of a pit of feces to plague humanity.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/27/justice/georgia-baby-killed

http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/national/sabrina-elkins-demarquise-elkins-sister-arrested-in-brunswick-georgia-baby-shooting-case

http://newsone.com/2308574/demarquise-elkins-karimah-elkins-brunswick-georgia/

Oh, and on further questioning?  The mom and aunt's answers led to the cops finding the gun submerged in a pond, allegedly thrown there by the sister.  So for all you folks out there who claimed that it was the mother of the baby who did it?  If so, she did it with a bullet in her leg, she did it in the space of seconds, running 2.3 miles with a bullet in her leg, there and back before the neighbors who heard the shots could  make it to where her baby had been shot.  Oh, and then she told Elkins' family about it so they'd know where the gun was.

And one more thing?  Demarquise is up on additional charges for another armed robbery earlier last month.

Principle of Parsimony, folks. The simplest, most reasonable answer tends to be the correct one.  I'm thinking Demarquise is a scumbag gang member from a scumbag family who murdered a baby.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, it's now April fifth, and our Callery Pear (aka Bradford Pear or Chanticleer Pear) out front is just now starting to blossom.  That's almost a full month later than last year.  If you're not familiar with Callery Pears, here's a picture:  

Now, this tree, while gorgeous (not just the blossoms--it turns amazing shades of red and orange in the fall), was quite a let-down for us.  You see, we thought it was a dogwood when we moved in.  It was fall, and all we saw where the dogwood-shaped leaves.  Come spring, that beautiful white bloomfest?  

Stank.  To high heaven, it REEKED!

Turns out Callery Pears stink.  A lot.  I smell . . . old, bloody bandages and dog feet.  A friend last night let me know she smells, to be completely indelicate, semen.  Every spring, the health department in DC is inundated with phone calls from folks complaining about the smell.  These Callery pears are EVERYWHERE out here, and they're very common to the entire east coast and parts of the midwest and south.  They are, apparently, viciously invasive:

http://triblocal.com/glencoe/community/stories
/2012/06/invasive-ornamental-plants-pose-threat
-for-native-wildlife/

So they stink and they're invasive.  Oh, and because the crotch angles are so extreme, they're also particularly prone to wind and snow damage.  But gosh, they sure are pretty.  From a distance.  With your nose plugged!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Leftover pizza and garlic toast for dinner.  We sent half the leftover pizza off with one of my ladies last night to put in the hotel fridge for munching and/or breakfast.  

And that's about it.  I was going to post about an Arabian horse named Perkal I almost knew back in the early 1980s, but I think that's for another night.  It's time to start dinner and get ready to watch Grimm.  Not a particularly deep show, but it's fun.

Do not reprint without permission. © KAQ