Cousins, In-Laws and Important Developments.

This past weekend, as advertised, two cousins, CL and EL,  the daughters of my dad’s youngest brother, and their mother E came to visit my mom and dad.  My mom fixed the famous potato dish, the famous green bean dish, ham and lasagna.  We had the drinking of the Margaritas, and we chose up sides and photographed various groupings of everybody with everybody’s camera, like you do.  My oldest cousin CL brought her laptop on which she had a bunch of old photos of her folks and of her when she was a ababy.  I had some old photos of my dad, their dad and their family that I shared with both of them.  My youngest cousin, EL, has been bitten by the genealogy bug and has gotten a trial membership at Ancestry.com.  My mom has quite a data base on both sides of the family, which was printed out and shared.  I hadn’t seen that particular bunch of the family since EL’s wedding five years ago, so it was great fun catching up on their goings and doings.

As promised, here are some pictures from EL’s wedding.   My father was the fourth of five children, and his brother K was the baby of the family.  My dad was always closer to him and they and their respective families have remained close over the years.  K passed in 1992, and when EL married PG in 2009, she asked my dad to stand in as father of the bride and give her away.

It was both a joyous and a touching moment for both our families.  CL’s two daughters, Mo and Ma, were two of her three bridesmaids.  It was a beautiful ceremony, and the bride and groom left for their honeymoon in a white convertible amid a cloud of eco-friendly bubbles (Small bottles of bubble liquid were provided to the guests as favors instead of the traditional rice, which is not only wasteful but when thrown on concrete presents a potential fall hazard to those who have mobility and/or balance issues.)

As I mentioned in a previous post, I had found an apartment that suited my needs very well.  Monday I submitted my rental application, and today I found out it had been accepted, so it’s official.  I’m moving in May.  We have already put down a deposit, so it’s officially mine, and only awaiting my moving in.  I may start bringing stuff over on the 16th and hang drapes, but I don’t think I’ll actually move on the 16.  Maybe on the 19th or the 20th.  I need some time to check for phone jacks, cable connections and see where the plugs are.  I’ll sell at least three of my living room lamps, if not all of them.

As I also mentioned, I have bought new drapes and a new area rug for the living room.  The rug is 5 feet 2 inches x 7 feet 3 inches (157.48 cm x 220.98 cm).  It picks up the green of the drapes and anchors the furniture.  I think I’ll be able to keep all four of my end-tables (I don’t have a coffee table and don’t want one — I like access to seating to be unobstructed).  I think I’ll be able to keep my little birds-eye maple escritoire which I have in my entry way.  It doesn’t take up all that much room.  I have a dish on top for my keys, a little lamp I turn on when I leave, I stash my purse inside and my shoes underneath it (I don’t wear shoes in the house as a rule).  I don’t know where I’m going to park my wagon — maybe in my office.  I can tell there is going to be a lot of tape measuring in my future, not to mention boxes and packing tape.