CRIMSON COMMENTS by Rose McGlew
The Fourth of July is our country’s birth date and boy, are we celebrating! For the second year, we’re having about 35 people over. Most of them are family. Some of them are staying for the whole weekend. This is a sleepover birthday party that really stretches the limits.
As a little kid, the Fourth only meant fireworks and hot dogs to me. As I got older it meant lousy tips if I were waitressing that night, but the opportunity to snuggle on a blanket on the beach with my boyfriend. I remember the Bicentennial Celebration in 1976 and feeling very patriotic and proud that year, insisting that my parents stick flags in our flower pots. I think last year was the most emotional celebration, after the country rebounded from 9-11. This year’s should be good but hectic. Have I mentioned there are going to be about 35 people at my house?
We started making preparations in the beginning of June as far as issuing the official e-mail invite to everyone and warning them to bring their own towels. As each consecutive weekend remained wet and wetter, I began to worry. Having a pool in July is a good thing. Having a pool in a soggy July is useless. Having a pool on a rainy Fourth is a hostile taunt to kids. Having hostile kids in my house at any time is very bad. So I have been praying for all the rain to go away ever since we decided to host this shindig again.
Preparing to have people at our house is very stressful for everyone. We are not the most tidy family and, although you won’t catch a rare or tropical disease at our house, you may get lost in the paperwork. Almost as soon as I sent out the invitation, I began making the List Of What Has To Be Done. The list is extensive and time-sensitive. You can’t clean the toilets the second week of June and pressure wash the sidewalk July 3. There has to be an order. Many of the chores will become obsolete the closer the actual start time approaches. Things that seemed so important in the first making of the list will no longer matter when it gets to crunch time. Paul, of course, seems to have no concept of re-prioritizing. I don’t think he as a man is alone in this lack of skill, either. They all seem to pick the most useless thing to do right as people are arriving. Paul usually picks that time to mop. Or, as in the case of our New Year’s Eve celebration, redo major plumbing projects. Yes, we were caulking the new sink and vanity as people were arriving. So far, on the list of chores for the Fourth, we’re a little behind. But we’ll get there.
We have several older people coming to our house and we are worried about who’s staying. Not that we’re worried about them, per se, we’re worried about where they’re going to sleep. We do not have a guest room and we do not have a pullout couch. Of course, the oldest couple automatically has dibs on our bed. Other than that, we have only the boys’ twin beds in separate rooms to offer. Our yard is big enough to pitch all the tents people might need, but somehow the camping spirit seems to have fizzled over the years and I am ever thankful that we decided to carpet the basement and spring for the really cushy padding. Sleeping bags will be fine down there. Plus, all the mice should be long gone at this time of year. Kidding!!
I am not killing myself with food preparation this year that’s for sure. We are going all-American with hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill, rain or shine. We may go crazy and grill some chicken and a few vegetables, but no seafood. Unless someone has a really nice piece of salmon. Or a tuna steak. Paul’s cousin will probably bring bratwurst, which I have never tasted. Potato salad, coleslaw and tortellini salad. Baked beans and corn on the cob and that is absolutely it. Except for watermelon and other desserty stuff. For beverages, we have found that our families follow along the trend and seem to be drinking lots of bottled water these days rather than soda, so we’ll ice down the Poland Spring along with a few Cokes. And, being McGlews, we might have a bottle of Tanqueray tucked in there, too.
So, if you’re not doing anything, head on over. We’ll never notice an extra head or two and even if we did, Paul’s family is way too polite to ever point it out, so you’ll be fine. Just remember to bring your own towels and the good bed is already taken.
Rose McGlew lives in Robbinsville. Her column appears weekly in The Messenger-Press.