A narrow escape

We had a lot of fun last evening, at the little birthday party for my sister Sue. Her daughter, my niece Jana, and Jana's husband Brian had it at their house. Their house used to belong to Sue and my brother-in-law Dave, and when Sue and Dave bought a new house, Jana and Brian bought theirs. Still with me? It was neat to see what Jana and Brian have done with it--really warm and interesting paint colors, a corner fireplace on the main level, a home theater on one of the basement levels, and Brian works from home, so he has a really nice office. Jana has done a great job with decorating, and definitely has the knack for it!

Jana made manicotti, and it was very good. We all brought various other things, and had a nice time visiting and eating together. My youngest great-nephew, Hunter, was there, and he's gotten so big! He's a doll, and reminds me very much of my nephew Steve (his Dad) when he was a baby.

I got there a little early at Jana's invitation, because I didn't want to stay late since Ken was getting back from Iowa last night. Also, my night vision is terrible, and I try not to drive at night. Well, that didn't work out so well, because I'd forgotten how quickly dark falls at this time of year. I drove home in the dark, and it was also raining lightly, so that made it worse. I even wore my glasses instead of my contact lenses, but wow, it bothers me to drive in those conditions! I made it home safe and sound, obviously, but I definitely breathed a sigh of relief when I got home. I'm not sure why it's so bad...I guess my eyes are just bad in general, and bad night vision is a part of it.

My Mom called early yesterday afternoon to see if I wanted them to pick me up. I thanked them for the offer, but explained that I'd be leaving earlier than they would probably want to. I hadn't talked to Mom yet about the election, so we chatted about that for a bit. She's hoping that Obama does well, she likes him a lot, and believes he's an extremely intelligent man. I said I was happy I got to talk to her before our get-together, because I figured that it wasn't something that I was going to bring up that evening. She laughed and said, "Yeah, that's probably not a good idea."

Soooo...a few hours later, we're all sitting in the basement, having our dinner. Jana is to my left, and Brian is across from me. The rest of the family is at the larger table to our left. Brian and I heard Susie saying something like, "I have to say that with this election...." Brian and I looked at each other, and Brian said, "Oh no, did she just mention the election?" I said, "Yeah! I told Mom earlier that I wasn't going to bring it up!" Jana missed this part, and asked, "Are they talking about politics? I told Grandma [my Mom] that we can't do that to my Mom on her birthday." Brian said, "Your Mom is the one who brought it up!" I'm laughing about it now, but I suspect that both Brian and I had a moment of panic, where we thought, "Oh no, this could really hit the fan." Brian started talking about seeing deer in their back yard, and he was effective in distracting me from the conversation at the other table. I'm happy to say that no voices were raised, and it seemed to be a civil discussion. I look forward to getting past this initial stage, so that I can feel free to discuss politics with my family again. I think emotions are still a little too high right now.

So once again, you all can be proud of me for not stirring the pot. You don't know how tempting it was, but it will keep for another day.