JammiesFest Day Two: Friday, July 18th

The dogs woke me up at six again, but Rob and Jay weren't far behind me. We all had coffee, then Jay went on his walk, Rob went out back with his pipe and his book, and I tidied up the kitchen a bit and then took my shower and got dressed. When Mallie woke up, she agreed to come out to my parents' house with me and pick up Dad's little propane grill. We talked about nearly everything on the way there, and when we got to the house, Mallie spent a few minutes admiring Flannel Jammies' gardening skills.

Mind you, it was somewhere between eleven and eleven-fifteen in the morning when we got there. The grill was on the porch as promised, but I knocked and then unlocked the front door. I knew Mom was up at the lake, but Dad was still there. I called his name, and received a growl from upstairs in return. "I'm still in bed!" I closed the door, re-locked it, grabbed the grille and told Mallie she wouldn't get to say hi to Plaid Jammies on this trip.

Once in the car, Mallie agreed with me that it was not too early in the morning to be knocking on family doors, and somehow, in our ensuing conversation, I wound up singing three lines from my favorite School House Rock cartoon.

"He was a hairy bear. He was a scary bear. We beat a hasty retreat from his lair."

All true!

At lunch, Bigfoot demonstrated to Jay that not only do dogs eat tomatoes, they also eat cucumbers. After lunch, Rob was on his way out to the smoking area with one of my books in his hand, and he said something about enjoying it. When asked which book it was, he replied that it was "Proven Guilty," which is the eighth book in the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher. Three voices spoke as one to tell him to put it back and start with book one, but Rob had already started and he is stubborn. ;)

Mallie & Jay were having dinner with a friend in Cleveland Heights, so after some showering and primping (they both looked gorgeous, sexy and wonderful), they headed out around three o'clock. Forty minutes later, Imp and Dampy arrived. After finding out that Imp's air mattress is a twin, I made an executive decision and told Imp that she & Dampy would share my bed and I would sleep on the air mattress in the living room where Mallie & Jay's mattress was. After some discussion, we decided to graze for dinner rather than going out, and I put together the green bean salad and showed Imp & Dampy where everything was.

Because I had informed Imp about the Barefoot Formal dinner at a time when she had a lot going on, she hadn't processed the information and so hadn't packed a dress for Saturday night. After dinner, she & Dampy & I zipped up the street to the local Goodwill, where we looked at prom dresses, wedding dresses, mother-of-the-bride dresses, etc. Imp found a neat dress--a slim column of black velvet, with a diamond pattern in lines of raspberry glitter and satin trim and crossover straps. Joy of joys, it fit her and the sign said the formals were $10. When we got to the register, the cashier said that the green tag items were half off, so the dress would cost "half of ten." Finding what you're looking for when you are shopping is good, finding it at a reasonable price is better, and being surprised at the register by finding out it's half of ten is best of all!

For the rest of the evening, the four of us hung out around the house. Jay & Mallie got home around elevenish, and not only had they had a good time, they'd found a bookstore they liked in Cleveland Heights. In addition to books, they got the most obnoxious dog toy ever. It's a rubber chicken wearing a purple & white polka-dot bikini, and it makes a noise which sounds as if the chicken had swallowed a kazoo and was now attempting to fart it out.

Littlefoot adores it.

Friday night ended with wine, laughter, odd chicken noises and good companionship.