I have not written about second-cousin once-removed David...

...because I just have not seen him for a long time -- and then I've run into him the last two weekends.

I went to pick up carry out at an Italian restaurant two weeks ago, and there was David, working, part-time, just weekends. Being a blonde-Aryan creature, he did not exactly match the motif of the restaurant but it was good to see him. We said hello and that was about it.

This last weekend, I ran into him at a fruit stand. His Intended, her two kids, and the two German shepherds (Nitro and Glycerin, as know as Bamm-Bamm and Fluffy) were in the new van (which, I imagine explains the weekend job). Again, it was hello, how are you, and that was about it. (When I asked him how he was, he said "Redwood." My guess is that means "getting older" in Dave-speak.)

Through the family grapevine, I knew that the wedding is still on for early next year. The current rumble is that only his immediate family will be invited from his side. This means that the aunts will not be invited. The aunts are always invited, to everything. Since they are all widows that usually means cash as a noticeable gift. They also don't eat much, so it's almost all pure profit. Some of them are not even actually aunts -- I have an Aunt Catherine, an Aunt Mary, and an Aunt Agnes who are not related to anyone in the family, or to each other. It might be an Irish-thing.

Anyway, the aunts, including my mother, are fumed. In retaliation, mother is boycotting Italian food. (I know, but does evey thing your mother does make sense?)