Day 49 - All in the Family

Lauren's plans of a Labor Day barbeque came to fruition. I can say that I stayed out of the way for the majority of the preparations, but I did watch the chicken on the grill when Lauren had to run an errand. She asked everyone to be here by 2:00, but no one arrived until 3:00. The first guests were Lauren's parents, then her aunt and her grandmother showed up. These are some of the most vibrant and friendly people that I have ever met. Lauren's mom, Pat, was borrowing purses from her closet, her dad took his shoes off and made all kinds of clever comments about the tennis match on television. Aunt Joann is Pat's sister, and the grandma's name is Vera (coincidence, I think not). They talked about their relatives, old times and the old school concert they were attending later on tonight. They asked me all kinds of questions about home and my family, and I don't think that it was my rum and coke that made me feel so comfortable.

Later on Rob, Jerry and Kay came over. Rob is Lauren's friend from college, which she thought I would get along with. Jerry and Kay play tennis with Lauren. I didn't get to speak to Kay and Jerry very much because I was locked into conversation with Rob. To put it simply, Rob is a nerd, which in this case means, a man lacking swag. I thought that I was a nerd but he takes it to another level. Not to say that he wasn't entertaining, but let me say that the conversation ranged from how Hitler could have won World War 2, how he spends his time reading textbooks (he graduated last year), how he will go all day without eating because he refuses to eat out. He doesn't have a job, he wants to join the Peace Corp, and he lives at home with his parents. Grandma Vera asked him when he was going to get married and have babies. When he said he wanted to get a job first, she said that would be best. Once he got wound up, it was hard to get him to stop talking, another opportunity for Conversation Exits 101. However, I am trying to explore the city more and he is from here, so he may be quite useful. He has interests in history and nature, so he might be a good companion on city strolls.

I was having some serious doubts about my compatibility with Lauren over the past couple of days, but today was very nice. I felt that she was super sincere and generous with all of her friends and family, I believe that she is a decent person. There are certain aspects of her personality that don't make sense to me but they are tolerable. By the way, autumn is coming proceed with caution...