Party Planning

Dear Laney,

Before "event planning" was even a valid career choice, the women in my family made a habit of it. There's nothing we like more than orchestrating an event, putting out an elaborate spread, inviting everyone we know, and then praying they all go home by 8pm.

In the summer of 2007, I had been dating your dad for about a year when I went on vacation with Peg Peg's side of the family to Gulf Shores. I was out on a float with my aunt Robyn and Peg when Robyn asked me, "Do you think you're going to marry Thor?" I told her I did. And there on that float, without a hint of a ring on my finger, we started planning the wedding. It became a running joke that instead of waiting on your dad to propose, I should just send him an invitation.

And just like short legs, a vivid imagination, and tone deafness, I seem to have passed this love of party planning down to you. As soon as the super-successful pirate party was over, you were ready to start talking about how we're going to celebrate your fourth birthday. And I was, too. We quickly decided on a Princess Tea, although we're going back and forth on whether those princesses could/should also be fairies.

Yesterday afternoon, we decided to walk up the mountain road and check out the foliage, which was lovely:

Hiking and eating graham crackers = multitasking

As we rounded a bend in the road, we passed a house that had previously been unoccupied. Bought by some folks in Alaska, we'd heard. Yesterday, the mystery couple was there in their yard, working, and came over to say hello. They're extremely nice folks who bought the place as their future retirement home. I guess it's all a matter of perspective; if you're used to living in Alaska, Montana must seem like Boca.

The wife asked you how old you are, and you said, "Free. But I'm going to have princess tea when I turn four. And ev'body's going to bring a present. And maybe their doll. And we're gonna eat sammiches. And juice. And twirl!!" And this is when you started to demonstrate your twirl. "Goodness!" said the woman. "When is all this going to happen?"

Mom: A year from now.

Hard to admit, but on a unpaved mountain road full of hermits and nut jobs, we're probably the craziest people they met all day.

Love,
Mom