Wedding Shower

Sunday, Allison and I visited my parents, so my mother could throw her a shower. Such events are a bit spooky for me for a few reasons (questions about church, school, or future plans), but Allison was scared of the pressure of meeting so many ladies from my mom's church and work. As it turned out, my mom decided I would go, too. That way, Allison would be less isolated, and I could introduce her to people (as if I knew more than like 50-60%). In my opinion, that was a slightly obfuscated excuse for my attendance.

See, my mother's parents were in town for the weekend. Grandmother and Papa, as I grew up calling them, are a bit particular, very social, and somewhat demanding. My theory about men at the shower is twofold: 1) I had to go because Allen, my brother, went to his, and/or 2) Papa really wanted to go and feel included so all the men of our family had to show up. Regardless, I had Allison and Allen, and I also summoned two of my other groomsmen, Jeffrey and James.

James and I talked about school some (and I mentioned my regrets that Tim purchased all those New Mutants issues from him before I knew about it), and Jeffrey and I talked about his recent tour with his band, Cheap Time, through Europe. The punk got to visit Croatia, Serbia, and Macedonia. Those are three of the few European countries that I have yet to see. He traveled all over, but he was fairly unimpressed with the greatness of Europe. Perhaps playing so many shows draws from the desire to sight-see (though I have difficulty seeing that). He also gave me copies of his new solo LP and a 7" that he has released since I last saw him. His family got us the crock pot we wanted (and are keeping), and his sister and brother-in-law, also friends of mine, bought us the silverware set we wanted from Target.

Remarkably, we only had a handful of stuff we did not like, and only two or three repeat items. So now Allison and I are now the proud owners of tons of stuff, including 2 crock pots, and 3 rice steamers. We also got some delightful (read: lame) knick-knacks with Christian messages (example: door-knocker with a "knock and it shall be opened unto you" quote). While I'm totally into God and Christianity, I would prefer to keep such related objects to a minimum, especially without any artistic value (I'd LOVE some Byzantine art--especially authentic pieces).

Now my apartment is full of stuff. Karel and I have had the kitchen overly full before now, but if I start putting much of this stuff out, it will only fit on the counters or piled on top of each other. And I try not to clutter the apartment up too much (except all my toys and books piling up everywhere!). At least we also got a vacuum cleaner which I think is my favorite gift! I can keep the floor nice and relatively dirt/fuzz free!

I have an abnormal love of vacuuming. I hate dusting, because it takes a long time and has so many steps to removing objects and then spraying then wiping. Vacuuming is like a respite of delight. It offers both the satisfaction of being productive by cleaning while also being fairly quick and painless. My favorite part is when you vacuum carpet, you go forward over and leave tracks of extra clean-ness and then pull it back over to make the carpet go back and forth between different shades. Those lines are super fun! I vacuum like I'm washing a mirror, start at the far end (top on mirror) and work back in rows. So fun!