You see, the thing is...

 ...I've got one particularly merciless rabid brain weasel being a real menace this week, and when you combine that with not-so-great sleep, a bit of general apathy, and a distinct lack of interesting things to talk about, it doesn't make for a very interesting post. Sorry, kids.

I was going to tell you about the big ol' family party, though, so we'll do a brief overview.

It was full of people I only sort of recognized, and certainly couldn't tell you how they were related to me. These were all relations from my father's father's side. He had a bunch of brothers...and maybe a sister or two? I don't know. Hard to keep track. Legit Italian Roman Catholics, amirite? So there were my dad's first cousins, and partners of same, and maybe some of their offspring...? I was the standard bearer for the under-forties, anyway. No actual children-children, thank goodness. I don't think I could have coped with keeping my dad from a major cardiovascular event and keeping my mother sane and small humans running around, even if I wouldn't have had to be in charge of said small humans.

I was having enough of a time being 50% in charge of setting up and taking down and feeding people and moving things around. We had loads of food, and only half the people who RSVP'd yes showed up, and there was a wild turkey who wanted to come in and join the party. I was tempted to let him. Would have livened things up a bit. We booked where we did because they had bocce courts, but no one played, which was some bullshit. At least that would have given me something to do besides hiding in the kitchen with my mother, or sitting at a table with my mother, or fussing over food tables with my mother...are you sensing a trend, here?

Still, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, and they were profuse in their praise and gratitude, and my dad's speech didn't go on for hours. It took a whole lot of persuading to get people to take party favors and leftovers home with them, though, which means that I now have a pile of small Italian flags...anybody want one? You pay the postage and I'll send 'em out.