Em N Ru: Kathy's Retirement Party

While Ruben was having fun at the beach the adults were sweating it out in the valley. Saturday was Mom and Jeff's much awaited housewarming/retirement party. They finished all their building, decorating, and gardening and have officially settled into their cottage. Mom had her last day of school, forever, on Thursday. No more working with the behavior kids in the basement, she gets to spend her days however she chooses.

I got a wild hair last week and thought about hiring some entertainment for the party. I looked online at musicians who played the Saturday Market in Eugene for some acoustic people, and I sent my friend LeRina a text asking if she would have any dancers available on short notice. She replied the next day that yes indeed some were available.

(I met LeRina a few years ago when her son was in my class at school. He's now a Junior at North, but LeRina and I have stayed friends. For a while I was taking Polynesian dance lessons from her in exchange for teaching her sons Tang Soo Do. I had to quit after about a year because my hips and feet couldn't take it. Anyway... Back to the party.)

Cab and I arrived at the peak of the heat of the day, 100 degrees by my car's thermometer, and we got ourselves a beverage and said our hellos. The house and grounds looked terrific! Mom and Jeff had rented tables and umbrellas so there would be places to sit in the shade. We chatted with family and their friends, and drifted from the air conditioned house to the yard, to the shop, and back to the air conditioned house.

The dancers arrived and I helped them set up and showed them their changing room. I brought them water and told them to take their time cooling off between songs. We set up the sound system and enjoyed a great barbecue lunch while watching the dancer's perform. At the end of their show they invited us all to dance with them, and the awesome, brave, fun ladies joined in. Mom even got a special outfit!

Cab and I hung out a while chatting and admiring, then went back to Salem intending to go to the World Beat Festival downtown. The heat was just too much so we decided to enjoy his central air and watch a movie.