Party at One, Party at Three
Monday, September 3, 2007
Joe was 19 on Labor Day. His party had been predictably entertaining.
Earlier in the afternoon, however, Grandma Combs, Mom, Collette, and Carrie-Bri hosted a pool party at Grandpa’s for an early 10th birthday for Linnea. Seven sun-browned little girls splashed away their afternoon over fifty rubber ducks and games led by Carrie who was already wearing orange floaties on both her arms. She flexed her muscles for the gaggle of girls:
“Did you see the anacondas? That escaped from the zoo?”
Prizes were awarded after the diving competition under the warm blaze of an Italian sun and deep blue skies. The breezes were cool. Turkish and Spanish music played over the outdoor sound system. Soon Mom’s special macaroni and cheese, fruit kabobs, and ginger-ale cranberry punch were set out in the gazebo.
Shortly later, Collette and Carrie returned for Joe’s party.
After the grand total of fourteen guests had arrived, including OLeif, Joe, Rose, and Frances, they gathered in the basement for instructions from Carrie-Bri, who was already late for work. Present were: Aristotle George, Brett Grill, Magnus, Ben-Hur, Wally, Starr, and Chester, and their cousin (Agamemnon), Augustus, Annamaria and Thor, Curly and Izzy, Lolli, and Creole. Then the games began.
Sometime around 6:30 that evening, both teams had returned, each with a film made, one entitled: “The Grass Eats Everyone” and the other: “The Day the Earth Blew Up”. After watching this display of creative originality, which included stellar quotes such as:
“Yeah, they’re god-like.”
“Look! That airplane’s, like, crashing into the moon or something, man!”
“I’ll dereferentiate your rear!”
“Magnus, do an impression!”
“God will give you a yacht – the biggest yacht in the world!”
“I think I’m going to try to pick up some women at this gig.”
“At least the Giant Stomping Trees hired me.”
“And then a giant toad comes and slices him in half with a toothpick!”
“Oh, Rose, you’re so verbose.”
“And I’ll be fighting two, no, four terrorists!”
…there were awards given to best actors: Magnus and Aristotle and best actress: Starr, twelve pizzas to eat, gifts for Joe to open, and a chocolate chip cookie to light and slice. He puffed out the candles in a single blow.
Joe’s gifts included two car books, power drinks, a Ferrari body scent kit (to arrive soon in the mail), and several funny cards (including one from Annamaria reminiscent of the good old “I’m taking Annamaria on a honeymoon to Niagara Falls in a red convertible” days.)
And aside from the usual hoodlum, including Augustus spilling Pepsi on his shorts (he was right – he did tend to ruin his shorts quite often), the four younger boys spinning half a ream of paper airplanes through the night skies and stars and jumping over the fire pit, flashlight tag, Capture the Flag, and other things, they decided to call it a night.
Sunday was the usual busyness. Come evening, most of the youth gathered at the church after splitting up at two Jack-in-the-Box’s for dinner. At one location, Sunrise administered personality tests to OLeif, Collette, Erasmus, and Rose. The results were laughable, and mostly true. Rose was most correctly defined as a person most likely to use the statement:
“Hello? Is there a brain in your head?”