Wedding Guest List

Now I am trying to make out a wedding guest list at Travalon’s behest, and it is surprisingly hard. I made a preliminary one and ran it by Richard Bonomo, who caught all sorts of people I had forgotten. Then there are the people I was good friends with years ago but don’t talk to much anymore – shouldn’t they be invited? What about people I thought were friends but who have been acting like they don’t think we are anymore? I guess you don’t have to invite a friend who has “dumped” you, no matter how close you used to be. I only have six first cousins and four uncles, so not a lot of extended family to have to worry about. There are the people I would love to be there who probably won’t make it, because they live so far away, and the coworker I feel I must invite if all the others are invited who will probably come and bring extra people, since she does that at parties when people feel they must invite her.  I suppose any of my readers who have gotten married have gone through the same process. You don’t want to offend anyone, but you can’t invite the whole world. You want people to feel free to bring dates, but how do you politely say, “… and Guest does not mean your sister, your cousin, AND your three friends, none of whom I have ever laid eyes on before”? I suppose they will make up for the people I want to come who can’t for whatever reason. As long as this thing doesn’t get too out of control… If you have a name on my blog, never fear – you are invited!

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Serbian Fest

Sunday morning I drove from Tiffy’s house to Travalon’s house in time to go to 10:45 Mass at St. Anthony on the Lake with him. Then we went out to lunch with his mother before hitting Serbian Fest. This was at St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Cathedral, a truly beautiful church that smells wonderful too, because of all the incense. It was filled with icons and mosaics of various saints, but I can’t read their alphabet very well – the only one I could make out was Saint Michael the Archangel. The festival itself was outside and in the school gym. There were at least three bands performing at the same time on different stages; one band had men playing all sorts of instruments, including things that looked like tiny mandolins. People were grilling lamb and pork, which smelled wonderful, and there were all sorts of delicious dishes and desserts made with phyllo dough. There was a fair midway complete with rides and carnival games, and Travalon won me a little pig by squirting water at a target. The pig looks like it is dancing a la John Travolta, so I am calling it Disco Pig while I think of a better appellation. I took a photo of Disco Pig and will try to post it soon.

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Saturday in Racine

Saturday I drove to Tiffy’s house, and we went to a Mexican restaurant for lunch and $3 margaritas. Then we spent the whole afternoon in her pool. At first we were all alone, but then we were joined by two spry 80-somethings, and Tiffy wondered if it was swimming every day that kept them so spry. I see no reason not to test this theory out in our own lives! As the afternoon gave way to evening, the pool filled up with children, so we decided to hit downtown Racine and get dinner at a restaurant on the lake. After dinner we went out to the Friki Tiki Bar and drank fancy drinks while gazing out at the lake. A rowdy bachelorette party that had been at the next table in the restaurant also settled at the next table at the bar. At another table, three women were laughing and having a good time when they suddenly screamed and jumped out of their chairs. We all looked over and saw a spider dangling from the umbrella over their table. A waiter came and quickly folded up the umbrella and sat it at the next table over, where nobody was sitting at the time, but some unsuspecting people soon sat there. They never gave any indication of seeing the spider, but that night I had strange dreams about spiders crawling on me.

A family I know lost their only child, a college student, to drowning this past week, so keep them in your prayers. I can tell it’s messing with my head because last night at the pool I kept watching all the kids nervously for signs any of them might be drowning as I swam with A-Joz. Then A-Joz and I got out of the pool, but I felt reluctant to leave with so many kids around who could potentially drown, so we sat around talking. Eventually the kids were all ushered home, but then a guy started swimming laps, and I couldn’t breathe easy until he finished. Every time we could no longer hear him swimming, I would say, “Is he still there?” since it was dark by then, and A-Joz would say, “I think he’s just resting by the side of the pool. Yes, there he is.” He must have thought I was nuts!

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From Across the Lake

Friday night Travalon and I celebrated one year since our first date. Instead of recreating that date, we went to a new place, Fresco, which has an incredible view overlooking State Street. The food was good, and the cocktails were amazing. Then we joined some coworkers of mine and their various friends at Dane Dances, where a disco band played. From Monona Terrace we could see a very interesting-looking building across the lake, all lit up and with red lights inside. We had seen it before, and even looked at it through binoculars without being able to ascertain what it was. Travalon thought it was a yacht club, but he was game to go on a search for it once Dane Dances finished. And were they popular this past Friday! There was a line to get in because only so many people can be on the Monona Terrace roof at one time. We got there just in time, so we didn’t have to wait to get in.

After Dane Dances was over, Travalon and I drove around the lake. I was afraid we wouldn’t be able to recognize the mystery building from the street side, but just past Olbrich Park we spotted a building that was all lit up in the back. It was called the East Side Club, and the front door was locked, but there was a sign saying there was a tiki bar around the back, so we went exploring. We ran into some people and asked if it was a private gathering, but they said, “No, and anyway if it was, we would invite you – you seem cool.” So we went to the tiki bar and ordered drinks, then we sat on chairs down by the lake. When we looked back at the club, we were sure this was the building we’d seen from the Monona Terrace. The red lights we’d seen were exit signs inside the building, not Chinese lanterns or anything exotic, but otherwise the club lived up to the excitement we felt viewing it from across the lake. In fact, it was so nice I was a little sad that we had already reserved a hall for our wedding reception, because the East Side Club would have been a lovely place to have it, but maybe it’s more of a summer place, and after all, we are getting married in mid-May. We are going to go back sometime for their Friday fish fry and hopefully can hit the tiki bar at least one more time before summer is over. And guess what? The Monona Terrace looks like a really happening place from the East Side Club. Because it is!

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Terribly Sad Story (For a Stamp Collector, Anyway)

What to do when I have nothing to blog about… At my old job, I had a scanner and could scan random objects and put them on the blog, but alas this luxury is not afforded to me at my current position. I could blog about the tiny frog I saw while walking around a pond yesterday, but what’s there to say except that it was very cute? I could blog about the procession Travalon and I saw Wednesday night on State Street, people calling attention to the problem of self-immolation in Tibet, but that’s a depressing topic. I feel bad for the Tibetan people, who are so suppressed by the Chinese government, but how is setting themselves on fire supposed to help with that? It just reduces the number of Tibetans, which is probably what the Chinese government wants anyway.

So then I thought I could blog about a true, very sad story that happened to me: as many of you know, I collect stamps, and in my current position, I receive a lot of mail with interesting stamps on it. Earlier this week I found the best stamp of all – a Johnny Cash one! I was trying to be careful opening the envelope so as not to damage the image of the Man in Black, but somehow I tore the stamp right in two! My solution? Tape it back together. I’m sure the professional collectors wouldn’t see anything wrong with that…

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The Italian Chef

Another day, another joke, this one courtesy of a coworker's daughter.

Did you hear about the Italian chef who died? He pasta way. We cannoli do so much. His legacy will become a pizza history. Here today, gone tomato. How sad that he ran out of thyme. Sending olive my prayers to the family. His wife is really upset - cheese still not over it. You never sausage a tragic thing. It's such a shame good people have to die fusilli reasons.

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So This Farmer Wants a Divorce...

I can't think of anything to blog about today, so I'm just posting one of my favorite clean jokes:

A farmer walked into an attorney's office wanting to file for a divorce. The attorney asked, "May I help you?"

The farmer said, "Yea, I want to get one of those dayvorces." 
       
The attorney said, "Well do you have any grounds?" 
       
The farmer said, "Yea, I got about 140 acres." 

The attorney said, "No, you don't understand, do you have a case?" 
       
The farmer said, "No, I don't have a Case, but I have a John Deere." 
       
The attorney said, "No you don't understand, I mean do you have a grudge?" 
       
The farmer said, "Yea I got a grudge, that's where I park my John Deere." 
       
The attorney said, "No sir, I mean do you have a suit?" 
       
The farmer said, "Yes sir, I got a suit. I wear it to church on Sundays." 
       
The exasperated attorney said, "Well sir, does your wife beat you up or anything?" 
       
The farmer said, "No sir, we both get up about 4:30." 
       
Finally, the attorney says, "Okay, let me put it this way. WHY DO YOU WANT A DIVORCE?" 
       
And the farmer says, "Well, I can never have a meaningful conversation with her."


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