The Company We Keep

I am madly in love with the way my house looks. I don't say this to brag: I am just amazed how the removal of one wall has changed the total energy of the kitchen and living space.

I've had weekend of family. JB bought the wine and plenty of milk. She made potato salad and I made shrimp jambalaya and before that garlic bread and before that red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. I spent three hours in grocery stores, $ 175 worth of food to feed a household of twelve people over three days. JB's sister from Colorado and her family arrived Saturday afternoon and then JB's niece from Tucson and now Boston and then Jess and Mike and Mr. Ryan and No Longer Baby Drew.

JB and I spruced up the house and fired up the gas grill. Salmon and Swordfish and skewered scallops.

Nothing makes me happier than having Jess and Mike and Mr. Ryan and Drew here overnight.

There should be a picture of my Jess here too, but I will just say she is almost 8 months pregnant and radiates both beauty and fatigue.

Company is a good motivator. JB and I finally got a few things painted, hung, organized.

By my friend Gordon

JB cut flowers from our yard

And we faced and figured out how we would sleep twelve people in our six room ranch. We had an outdoor backup plan :^)

And in the end, we had a great time. Our families come together like this rarely, every few years or so. This is the cost of mobility: sometimes I wish it were not so easily to transplant roots.

The weekend is not yet over: some of us are still here, still eating, still sipping cappuccinos, still sitting chattilly and then quietly together, now waiting for a fireworks show from the park next door. As I type this, I wonder if my mundane family weekend is of interest to anyone outside my family. I often wonder this about my blog; then I remember how much I enjoy the snapshots of daily life from so many visitors and friends I've come to know.

So this is my weekend, in the company I keep.

Love

kj