Cousins

A few weeks ago, I was invited to my cousin's 40th birthday bash.  He grew up in a small town just south of Martinsville, and his parents still live there, but he moved to the city long ago.  Thankfully, he does still appreciate his 'country roots.'   Jay was working nights on this particular weekend, so I talked to my other cousin, we'll call her "Danielle" or "D" and we made a date for the party.

I had been shopping earlier that day and had found the cutest boots but the store didn't have my size.  I had them call another store in Robinson and they did...so I put a hold on these cute boots and our first stop on the way to the party was Maurices.  Of course, Maurices is a great little store and we had to look around for a bit...and then we heard the chime on the door, lo and behold, a friend walked in.  We knew right away what she was doing...she was on her way to the same birthday party because her husband and our cousin were cousins...only on the other side of the family.  (Does that make sense?)She too was picking up something for the party...jeans.  It was hilarious.  I traded shoes and she traded pants right there in the store. 

Just a few of the cousins.

The party was at a place called the Bella Vista (you know, I'm not actually sure of the name), but it was a cute little place in downtown Palestine and we had the whole place to ourselves.  D's sister, "Michelle" and her husband, "Pete" also made the trip down to the party.  We even got a group photo with the birthday boy.  Yes, he's the bald guy.  After all, he is 40;)

We had so much fun teasing our cousin about proposing to his girlfriend.  He was probably ready to kill every one of us for it too.  There was a moment when "Darin" bent down next to his girlfriend to ask her about getting the birthday cake ready, and I hollered out, "He's down on a knee, I think he's proposing!"  He gave me quite a look and rolled with it.  Thankfully, this bunch has a great sense of humor.  We would love for his girlfriend to become a part of the family and will probably continue to nag him about it.

I think he must have gotten this sound system and DJ equipment for his birthday.   He was playing all kinds of good 'oldies' on his new toy.  We told him that DJ equipment could come in handy at a wedding reception, HIS wedding reception.   We left the party before the dancing began, but from the photo album, I think they had a great time.

It was good to see him and spend time with a couple cousins.  Of course, we must get together more often and try to get the rest of the bunch to come too.  It's so hard when we're all different directions with all kinds of stuff going on.  D and I always say we need to get our dads together and record them telling stories...because they know how to tell stories.  It's always a great time when they start in.

D and I spent lots of time together growing up because we were the same age, same class, neighbors and part of the same family.  We don't see each other quite as much these days because we're both busy with work and our families, but when we get together...it's as if nothing has changed.

By the time I got home, my face and mouth were tired.  We laughed and laughed and told stories (that part runs in our genes).  We nearly hit a deer in her new car on the way home and even that had us crying with laughter.  We shared dentistry nightmares and talked about how much alike we were when it comes to our dental anxiety.  We talked about work and how crazy it was that some things with our jobs were sooo similar. 

If you didn't know it, you'd think we were related or something...