A Sort of Recap

Well, I said that I would be keeping my family out of this blog (since they never agreed to its terms and it feels a bit invasive to me). So… you all get the edited for TV version of the weekend. Basically, everyone (and I mean everyone) on my father’s side of the family gathered in Indianapolis for my grandmother’s 93rd birthday. Lots of cousins, lots of relatives, and a lot of yelling. :)

This is a sign near my uncle/aunt’s house. It actually belongs to their neighbors, but I have no idea if they’re Australian, or if they just really, really like kangaroos. Kinda cool, especially since it’s so random.

Pathway to the dock. This is my uncle/aunt’s house, which is on Eagle Creek Reservoir. Great place, and the backyard just rocks.

See? I’ve never actually hung out here, but one of these days, I’m bringing a book and a pillow.

On the dock. Thought this was a rather nice image.

View from the very edge of the dock, looking out.

Funny story: the night before, Matt (my cousin’s boyfriend) and my cousin Andrew were out here fishing. They had a few poles out and, next thing they knew, one of the poles started heading for the water. My cousin Andrew leapt for the pole and grabbed onto it… right before it reached the edge. Turns out they caught a big, honkin’ catfish, only a few feet from the dock.

Funny story 2: Today (Saturday), Matt and I were hanging out on the dock doing a bit of fishing. Next thing I know, he yells at me "Get it, get it!" I look over and, being slow, watch his fishing pole slide across the dock into the water. He grabs his other pole and starts to cast furiously, hoping to snare the line with the fishing pole in his hands. He’s super upset because the pole was his father’s. After some discussion, we hop into a rowboat and, near the grass (on the right, by the tree), he spots his bobber. He pulls at the line (the fish is still on the hook) and tries to get everything into the boat. The fish breaks free, but we recover his father’s fishing pole.

Awesome.

This was the first time that I met Matt (my cousin Mary’s boyfriend), and I got along with him smashingly. I liked him a great deal, and am looking forward to hanging out with him in the future.

A few dragonflies, sunning on the dock.

Can’t get enough of them. :)

I’ve got a story that relates to my mother and dragonflies. But I remembered that I’ve written a poem that probably tells that story better. It’s one that I like a great deal, and probably won’t post for the world to see. If you want to read it, gimme a holler.

I went with my Uncle Jackie to pick up a pontoon boat. There was a stealth thing going on back at the house, where all the aunts were planning a surprise baby shower for my cousin Jenny. She’s not expecting for a while yet, but since this was a rare gathering… they decided to surprise her.

So… all the men were to hop on a boat, tool around the reservoir, and basically disappear for a few hours. Eagle Creek Park is basically right across the street from where my uncle/aunt live. So we popped over there and picked up a pontoon boat that was reserved for all the men.

By the Marina, looking out toward the lake. My uncle/aunt’s house is past the bridge there in the distance, and to the left. We’re a good 15 minutes away by boat.

And a slow-moving boat, at that. Our pontoon is #6, and I don’t know what it’s actual speed was on the motor. Put it this way: whatever our max speed was, it was negligible. I doubt we could have hit ANYTHING, even if we wanted to.

Here’s me, taking over the controls for a bit. Trying to keep an eye out for icebergs.

Frothy? Yes. Speedy? No.

After a long while without any bites, my uncle decided to steer us toward a favorite fishing hole of his. We threw our lines down around this submerged tree, and floated around a bit more.

No luck.

This is, from the answers I got, a water pump. Not sure how it works, but it looked neat.

Here’s us tooling around a bit more, trying to find another secluded area to fish. The camera view is from the very front of the pontoon, where I was sitting with my uncle (who had jumped into the lake for a swim a few minutes earlier). Basically, I’m sitting on a small ledge, with my back against a metal "gate." There’s nothing between me, the camera, and the water.

On our way back home (to the dock), we passed by this particularly secluded area. How cool is this? What a great place to hide out with chairs, and just watch the rest of the world float by!

My grandma’s birthday party rawked.

Good news: she’s been given a clean bill of health by my uncle (who’s a doctor), and has gained six pounds. She’s been in treatment for a while now and, when I heard about her weight gain, I started getting a little teary. Very good news, and a very good reason to celebrate.

Our family took over three big tables at my parents’ restaurant, and we were loud and sang and applauded, and it was great. My grandma passed out "lucky money" to everyone in attendance, young and old alike. This was a bit odd, since it’s customary for the person who’s having the birthday to receive lucky money. But a really generous gesture, on her part.

Next day. My relatives from Georgia took off, and the rest of us cousins just sort of lounged around. We rented some movies, and hung out at my old house, got some pizza, shot some pool. Good, relaxing time.

We got Punch Drunk Love (which we didn’t watch) and Rat Race. I had actually seen parts of Rat Race a bit earlier, when I was home the week prior. We all had a good time watching this movie, and even though it was my second time… I had several serious, deep, belly-laughs.

I may have to buy this DVD. :)

Fast-forward another day. After a meeting at Emmis HQ, Ben, Justin and I stopped off at my parents restaurant for a late lunch before trekking back to Chicago.

Justin, dipping into the seafood realm. He’s officially eating fish/seafood, after I don’t know how many years of strict vegetarianism.

Our meal included dumplings, tofu with shrimp, squid and scallions, spicy eggplant, and steamed Tilapia. I’m happy to report that both Ben and Justin enjoyed the food, as well as my father’s stories/converastion. I was really proud, and happy I could show off my parents’ place to my friends. And I’m sure my dad was proud he could do the same. :)