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Oct 19, 2006

Compliments and Cuteness
My parents' party was something I had wanted to do for them for several years now. I wanted to celebrate what they had together and remind them of both how special and how rare it was. It was truly something I was doing for them without expecting anything in return (except maybe a brownie point or two to be put in the coffer...good daughter points!). I never expected to get the praise or compliments I got. They were overwhelming and greedily devoured and stored in my Compliments Vault. The general gist of the compliments were one of three things:

A.) "You did such a great job with this party!!" (Said by almost everyone. God Bless them.)

B.) "I am so proud of you!" (This particular compliment was given repeatedly by my friend, Lindsay. Her face lit up every time she told me, and it made me grin in bashful acceptance again and again. It was also proffered by several friends who had patiently waited for this party to be over so they could have their friend back, but there was something in the way Lindsay said it that just made my day that day.)

C.) "This is the best lasagna I have ever had!" (That was such a wonderful compliment. I was so worried about cooking it ahead of time and freezing it, but I figured if Monica could do it on Friends for her mother's party, then I could do it too!! Several people told me it was good, and I noticed as we rinsed the dishes for the dishwasher that almost everyone cleaned their plate!)

Those compliments combined with parents who were exhausted until Tuesday from the excitement and elation made everything worth it. All the secrecy, all the work, all the money, possibly even all the friends who were about to kill the stressed out Me--it was all worth it.

Along with the loving praise, were several great conversations.

One was between my parents' neighbor Betsy, a thin, beautiful woman of about 55--a Southern Bell type, but slightly Texa-fied--and me.

Betsy: What's for dinner? (her loud southern drawl both grating and beautiful at the same time)
Me: Lasagna, peas with pearl onions, salad and garlic bread!
Betsy: Did you cook all that??
Me: Yup! Made four lasagnas last Sunday and froze them.
Betsy: Ty! Haven't you ever heard of Stoffer's?? They sell big lasagnas at Sam's! No one would know!
Me: Well, I thought I could make them and they'd taste better. But let me know what you think when you eat.
Betsy: You're right, let me taste them!

Overheard two hours later, after she had cleaned her plate:

Betsy: And here I was tellin' her to buy the lasagna at Sam's! I should have known! This lasagna may be the best lasagna I've ever had!

Overheard compliments are the best aren't they?

On the other side of the party was the son of some of my family friends. He is 2 and a half or so, and has suddenly come out of his shell. He was always excrutiatingly shy but suddenly he is the life of the party! He walks in with his parents, stands in the foyer, and yells "Hello everyone!"

Later, as we watched the slideshow, he found a seat right in the middle, in front of everyone, and as a picture of my Grandmother Anita around my age played, he beams, "Miss Tyyy, that's YOU!!" pointing to the screen, with his little blue eyes wide in excitement. I explained that no, that was my grandmother, and he let out a long, "ohhh..."

Some time after that, he and his father went outside for a little walk. About thirty minutes after their walk, he comes up to me, his little matchbox truck in one hand, and we have this conversation:

Connor: Miss Ty? Do you own a Nissan??
Me: {trying not to smile} Why yes Connor. Why do you ask?
Connor: Is it yellow?
Me: {looking away to avoid laughing, composing myself, and turning back to this tiny car salesman} Yes it is.
Connor: {this is said with a nod of his head and furrow of his tiny brow that say he approves of my vehicular choices} Mmm. It's a nice car.
Me: Well, thank you Connor. {with this he walks off to find other people to discuss cars with}

I asked his dad what in the world that was about, and he explained that they had been looking at the cars outside on their walk and he had wanted to know who owned each car. Apparently, Connor is officially obsessed with cars. He LOVES them. In preschool, he will walk up a parent, and ask things like, "Miss Tracy, how is your Maxima doing?" With all the seriousness of a doctor.

He is truly adorable, and made my evening just a joy.

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posted by Ty @ 10/19/2006 | 0 comments