This and that

So much going on, so few opportunities to blog. So, some quick snippets:

Wheeeeeeee! -- The Smelmooo has a great story about his experience purchasing our Wii, and I'll leave that one to him. But I have enjoyed playing the Wii, even though I suck at pretty much everything but bowling. Tennis, baseball, and golf: not so much (although I somehow got lucky on the last hole and ended up tying the Smelmooo in our golf game, much to his dismay). I'm quite skilled at the bowling, though. And for those of you who've seen me bowl in real life, no, I don't do my signature hop with Wii bowling. I do, however, stand on my tiptoes.

Schmoozing and boozing -- Every year, I join the Smelmooo on a work trip outside of Atlantic City for a weekend in May. Two years ago, I got very, very drunk at this event. Like, "Hey, Smelmooo's board member! We need a self-portrait together!! Cheeeeeee-eeeeeessse!!!" drunk. I have since been much more temperate with this crowd, and I had just one glass of wine on Friday night. But I woke up on Saturday feeling like I'd drunk an entire bottle, I was so parched and headachy. I often feel dehydrated in hotels, even if I haven't been on an airplane, even if I'm not drinking. Someone suggested that it's because we ate too salty a meal too late at night; I don't know. I do know that 8:30 dinner reservations, especially on a Friday, are way too late for me at a fancy place. We didn't get our salads until like 10 o'clock, and by then, it's almost beside the point, and I'd rather just skip it all and go to bed.

Love, late in life -- In the room adjacent to our Friday night dinner was a wedding reception for an older couple. Like, maybe the woman was in her late 40s or early 50s; the guy was probably late 60s. And I was shocked by how many people around our table were making snarky comments about the couple. I think if they'd been a bit older -- or even if just she were a bit older, if they were both truly in their golden years, there would've been more of an "Awwww....!" reaction. But instead I think it struck everyone as a little silly and sad, this middle-aged woman in her veil, seeming pleased as punch, hugging and laughing with her friends and family, but almost never at the side of her drunk, drunk new husband. I never think that bodes well, when the bride and groom spend the reception apart from each other.

Surprise! -- Today was my dad's birthday party (and not a moment too soon for my poor mother, who remarked to me earlier this week that she doesn't understand how people have affairs, just logistically, because it was so stressful and awful lying to my dad about his surprise party). It was a lovely afternoon with family, and friends who feel like family, and I think my dad was, in fact surprised. But possibly not as surprised as I was when, as I went in search of scissors as we were setting up in our party room at the restaurant, I found myself face-to-face with Old Boyfriend. Ah, yes, the ex-boyfriend, who I'd not seen in seven-and-a-half years, whose niece's First Communion party was at the same restaurant as my dad's birthday party. It was super-bizarre, seeing him, but not as awful or awkward as I'd have thought. We both just sort of startled, visibly double-taking, exchanged "hi"s and "Wow, I haven't seen you in a while"s, explained our reasons for being there, and gave a "Okay, then, take care."

I ran into his sister in the bathroom later, with her four-year-old daughter in tow. This sister was always super-sweet to me, and I was reminded during our massive spring-cleaning effort that she and I kept in touch with cards even after the break-up. So it was nice to see her, but so odd. It's always weird to see someone you knew super-well, for a long time, after not having seen that person for a long time, and being reduced to two minutes of, "What's new?" and "Not much..." even though, of course, a whole lot happens in seven years. In her case, new job, new house, two kids. In mine, house, husband, dog (I somehow knew about the kids; she somehow knew about the husband).

And there was a lot of that, this weekend, small talk with people I see every few months, or once a year, or every few years (many of the people at the party today, I'd not seen since the Smelmooo and I got married, and it was weird to have so many of the "how's married life?" questions). It's a little exhausting for me, the being social thing, so I'm happy now to be at home, watching the dreadful, dreadful 27 Dresses, of which Judy Greer is the only good part. I think her TV show probably got canceled, but she is freakin' awesome.