PS- The title of th is post was supposed to be "Meet the Jersey's". Typepad and I had a little disagreement about how this should be set up. Grr. And I had half of this post written and it just erased itself. Oh well, starting over.
Friday I had a half-day off of work because I had a doctors appointment down the Shore (I still have Ulcerative Colitis, boo.) So I thought that since I'd be home at my parent's house after that, that this might be the perfect time for Achoo to meet my parents. He has met everyone else in my circle, including some crazy aunts and uncles, so I figured after almost 4 months, parent-boyfriend night should happen. I invited him to come down for dinner, and he was going to leave after work and head down.
After my doctors appointment, I headed back to my parents house around 3pm. This was actually really nice because I got the opportunity to hang out with my mom for a bit. I'm really lucky that my mom, G-Mac, and I have an awesome relationship, and I can pretty much talk to her about anything. My dad got home around 5, and we all went out on our back deck to sit, chat, and wait for Achoo to get there.
He arrived around 5:45, and I went out front to meet him at the car. I have to be honest, I was probably more nervous than he was. I'm not really sure why, though. I've talked in the past about my dads alcoholism, but I don't think I was really worried that my dad would get shit-faced and embarrass me; he's been a lot better lately. I think I was more worried that he wouldn't like Achoo. He didn't like Red. Here's why:
Red was "Straight Edge". For those of you who don't know what that is, it's a social movement originating in the Punk scene in which individuals pledge to remain drug and alcohol free. Some take it to even more extremes. But for Red, it was just no drinking, smoking, or drugs (yet he'd take medication if he wasn't feeling well... hypocrite). In addition, Red is a performer. He is the guy who gets up on tables and dances with lampshades on his head. Only clearly he isn't drunk and does it knowing he will A) be the center of attention, and B) entertain you.
Now picture my father: the beer drinking, former smoker, blue collar working man from an Irish-Catholic family, who hates the neighbors dogs because they bark and spends his days reading detective novels and playing Scrabble with my mom by the pool.
Yeah, they were never going to get along.
But, back to Achoo. He is much more reserved, quiet almost when around new people, and gladly threw back a few Heineken's with my dad. I talked the most throughout our chicken parmigiana (props, G-Mac, it was delicious!) dinner, mostly because I talk A- LOT when I'm nervous.
After we finished eating, we sat around the dining room table a little longer talking. My dad replenished Achoo's beer without him having to ask, and I think my dad was secretly thrilled that he was able to do that. We finally got up, and I wanted to take Achoo for a drive. He had been to the touristy part of my town before, but I wanted to show him how close I grew up to the water, my favorite place to go crabbing, and go down to the ocean and stand on the beach under the moonlight.
We then went to get some ice cream (our thing) at my favorite ice cream parlor. I had some impressing to do. Achoo got the weirdest combination of ice cream: Birthday cake ice cream with peanut butter cup topping and whipped cream. Ew. But he loved every minute of it.
When we arrived back at my parents house, it was clear that it wasn't really time to leave, but sitting around watching TV (my parent's nightly ritual) would be a little odd. So I, in all my clever ways, challenged my parents to a doubles game of darts. We have this fantastic old dart board in my den (which I've put dibs on when they either move or die) that they play on about every year or so, so I figured this was as good of a time as any.
My parent's whipped our butts in the first game, but with giving us a handicap, we held our own in the second game and lost by only 1 point.
After that we packed up the stuff I needed from home and then headed out. Achoo followed me until his exit, and then called me to remind me to text my parents that I made it home. As I was driving, I received the following text from my mother:
"He's a 10 on our scale!!!"
And so, in conclusion, Achoo passed the test. My mother pretty much all but said that I should marry him. Today the coin is flipped, and I'm going to his aunts house for her birthday dinner. Of course, he tells me last night that they are making chicken for me special because they know I don't eat beef or pork. I feel terrible! I never want my diet choices to be inconvenient for anyone. I'll be meeting his grandmother, and spending more time with his family than I ever have, so we'll see what happens.
I'm just glad everyone gets along. I'm off to work-out (I feel like a giant heifer) for a bit. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
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