artykins

Well, today was party day at the house. Since Jeff had to work Thursday night (Jeremy's birthday), the entire family got together again this afternoon at the house for homemade tostadas and an afternoon of fun. Jed (Jeremy's best friend) surprised Jeremy by coming over around 2ish. Of course, the rest of us had already known about this. In fact, we plotted with Jed to come over.

Anyway, the tostadas were yummy. Grandma always makes a great tostada/burrito/taco/fajita bar. Today was no exception. There were frijoles (beans), carne (meat), crema sin sal (cream without salt...or sour cream), queso (cheese), tomates (tomatoes), cebolla (onion), lechuga (lettuce), tortillas (tortillas), guacamole (super yummy avocado stuff) and hot sauces.

So needless to say, we all feasted and then all suffered from a state of semi-food comas. We perked up again around the time Jed got there because it meant that Jeremy's present could be unveiled. Matt and I went to Mi Pueblo (a little Mexican market nearby) and bought a piñata for today. It was shaped like a many-pointed star and looked kind of like a small land mine. Only without the explosive nature.

Well...I suppose that's not true. Piñatas have explosive natures, just not deadly ones. Unless, of course, you're at a party with Alf and you knock back one too many tequila shots and them go on a rampage with a baseball bat. The problem is, the neighbors dog, although resembling a Mexican cabra (goat), is not a piñata and should therefore not be hit. So while piñatas may have explosive natures, they're very rarely deadly ones.

But I digress.

I spent a happy half hour or so last night filling the piñata with all sorts of goodies. By the time all was said and done, the thing weighed about fifteen pounds or so. I then covered the hole to the piñata with some yellow tissue paper and set it aside on our wicked cool chair to spend the night.

This morning, it was transferred to the back seat of my car. Our laundry was in the trunk, which really wouldn't have mattered since Matt and I had discovered that the piñata didn't fit in the trunk of the car anyway. It was too big. And the thing we got was considered 'medium' by Mexican standards, which makes me wonder just how big the 'large' ones really are. They didn't have any large ones left by the time we got to the market where they are.

You may have noticed I'm speaking of the piñata in the past tense. Well, that's pretty much because it was destroyed this afternoon.

Once Jed arrived, we all gathered in the front yard. My dad, Matt and Jeff hung the piñata up with some rope strung between one of the porch posts and the nearby telephone pole. At that point, Jeremy was blindfolded, given an old umbrella (we couldn't find the baseball bat) and the fun began.

I was given the delightful job of spinning people around five times before pointing them in the general direction of the ill-fated piñata. I then got to step back (I did so quickly!) and laugh myself silly watching people try and break the brightly colored star to expose the candy inside.

Jeremy went first, followed by Jeff and then by Matt. Jeff broke a portion of the piñata off and only a little bit of candy exploded. Jeff was swinging so hard that he actually knocked a piece of candy out of its wrapper and then proceeded to hit a piece or two onto the roof of the house.

It was Matt that succeeded in breaking both the piñata and the umbrella we were using. We all gathered together afterwards to pick up all the stray pieces from the lawns, walkway and various flower beds. I found a Mr. Goodbar lying half smashed underneath the Japanese maple tree. I also found a mango-flavored lollipop, which made me happy. I was also able to gather an apple-flavored Jolly Rancher, which I tucked away and ate about an hour later while watching the US Open.

The rest of the afternoon was spent enjoyably. Matt and I went with Jeremy and Jed to do some filming for a movie they were inspired to do. The cone-shaped spikes coming out of the piñata looks like Olympic torches when held properly. The brightly colored tissue paper all around it helped make it look that way too.

The point really is, I got to wrap myself up in a sheet, stick some leaves in my hair and play a mute Greek goddess that controlled the silliness of the games.

Dinner came after we got back, which all of us enjoyed. I then beached myself on my uncle's sofa downstairs next to Matt to watch some more of the US Open. I don't really understand much about tennis, but it's a mesmerizing game to watch.

Once through with that, it was a quick trip to the post office on the way home to mail a letter that's going to Texas and then we were home. I put all our clean laundry away (Sunday is normally laundry day, which is fine with me because I can doze in and out of consciousness while things are going) and took a shower.

Carpal tunnel is still giving me grief, but I've faithfully been wearing my brace when not doing something potentially messy like eating or wrestling in the mud (which was an idea of Jed and Jeremy's when it came to plotting out their particular Olympic games to film).

Anyway, the weather here is deliciously cool! We saw fog rolling in over the bay when we went to the post office, which is just a couple blocks away from us and on the beach. There's nothing quite so beautiful as fog rolling in over the gate and bay during the summer. With cooler weather, I'm sure I'll be getting a lot more restful sleep.

And that's exactly what I'd like to do right now.

Later Days,
Arty