Silverware

My mum is turning 80 this week. We were visiting her in Florida for Christmas and decided that there was no way we could let her have a party with just her Florida pals and not celebrate with US! So we abducted her and brought her home. She didn't protest too much, so I think she was happy about the abduction. This is mum when she was a little younger.

We decided to have a dinner party at our house. The house is fairly tidy (since the kids are away at school, Bill and I don't do much to mess it up) and I figured we could throw something together pretty easily. And then I thought, holy smokes.... she's 80. We have to do better than throw something together.
So, I got Will out of bed to move some furniture so we could seat 24 people in the dining room. It can be done  - but it's tight. Then I pulled out 3 sets of silverware. Mine, my mother's mother's and Bill's mother's. As my mum made some really bad cookies out of potato chips (maybe more on that later) I got out the polish and started polishing.

It was snowing outside, the jazz channel was on (channel 436 for those of you with OnDemand) and the kitchen was warm... and best of all  my 79.9 year old mum was beside me. She was telling me stories of people I didn't know - it's ok - its what she does. And there was a real sense of peace that I actually stopped and noticed. I looked at the silverware and I felt satisfaction. I didn't use that easy dipping stuff (which I think ruins the finish) I used the old fashioned pinky-brown stuff that gets globby if you leave it too long. The results are below. Gleaming, eh?

Bill came home shortly after with 4 big cases of booze - wine and liquor. Because he wanted to make sure that everyone at the party had exactly what they wanted to drink. Obviously, he thinks about the important stuff.