mixer

Last night we went to the neighbor's house, the neighbor that stood me up last year. (That's right, I still remember.) Her daughter was celebrating her fourth birthday and there were some family and friends in town.

I only intended to go for an hour or so but stayed for dinner and drinks. (Never turn down free food and drinks!) It was an interesting mix of people. Her parents-in-law from Venezuela live with her, her sister-in-law was visiting (she has MD), and then there were neighbors and everyone's kids.

I have been reluctant to talk to her in-laws because my Spanish embarrasses me but last night I let 'er rip. Of course I waited until I was alone with them and then told them that I know a little bit of Spanish. Just saying that to them made their faces light up, it was funny. They started talking to me and things were going well. I do fine with the small talk but when topics get deeper I have trouble. It became apparent when we started talking about immigration. I was trying to explain my view but could only get the first few words out each time. Trying to discuss the theoretical and hypotheticals is beyond my ability at this point. Plus when they began speaking excitedly I had difficulty understanding them, that's when people get head nods and smiles.

Her brother's wife (Dana) is in a wheelchair so I was a rock star when I offered up a ramp. I have one in my garage that belongs to my mother but everyone was impressed. Dana's husband is a EC-130 navigator. He's deployed all the time and I'm still trying to figure out what she does when he's gone so often. She's really pretty and so funny that it seems like she'd be the last person struck by such a disease. (As is true with anyone I suppose.) She travels and told stories about camping, I was really surprised I must say. She also read The Omnivore's Dilemma, loves the cheese counter at Whole Foods, and watches PBS documentaries.

So what I'm saying is I had a really good time last night, too bad Yago wasn't here.