Quickie

Just a quick post here. My sister(s) is/are coming to pick me up later this afternoon to bring me back to the family lake house (that sounds so pretentious) for dinner tonight with my uncle and his wife who have driven up from Massachusetts. I'm not sure why my entire family refers to my uncle's wife as "his wife" rather than "aunt," but that's how it goes. I suppose it's similar to how Groom's niece and nephew don't really call me "aunt" either. At this point in time, it would be weird.

We're picking up a bunch of lobsters in Muscongus Bay and bringing them back to the house for a big feast tonight. The trip to pick up lobsters always includes a cocktail and a cup of chowder at Anchor Inn--something we used to try to keep secret from my dad when he was alive, but he figured it out pretty quickly when the kids would argue about who got to pick up the lobsters until eventually we would all pile in the clown car and return two hours later a little bit gigglier than when we left.

This is the same man who always knew when my older sisters had parties and actually discovered a buried cooler filled with empties while "walking the property" after he had been gone for a few days. Who "walks the property"? At any rate, he knew.

For the record, I had only one party when I was a teenager. My older sister told me to blame the cat for any damage in the house. As it turns out, a cat might tear up the waterbed, but it probably wouldn't rip a door off its hinges, smear the wooden floors in beer, trash the kitchen, and leave bottle caps in the bathroom so I was busted. My dad never really said anything, but each morning, I would find another piece of damaging evidence placed on the kitchen table: a half-empty wine cooler, a boy's sneaker, a crushed beer can, a cigarette butt.... It was torture.

And, for the record, unless he comes back from the grave to tell me otherwise, I'm pretty sure I'm still officially grounded.

crazy girls

I never made it onto the elliptical last night because we were running late for dinner--we met up with family at The Contented Sole in Pemaquid where the kids could run around and the adults could gaze at the pretty sunset while sucking back some rum--but I got my 20 minutes in today. I hope to get some paddling in later this afternoon as well, but when my sister(s) arrive, there's a good chance we'll sneak off for a beer or two. What's the verdict on getting exercise after a couple tall cold ones?