The dinner last night was great fun. Met Alison and Mike in the K-Mart parking lot to find there had been a change in plans--or rather, a change in venue. We were going to friends of DIL, Lisa's parents, who live in Beach Haven West, instead of Long Beach Island.
The back of the friends' house faces the street and is fairly modest, an ordinary frame ranch with stones for a lawn--but after you go in, oh, my! They're at the end of a lagoon or canal, on a kind of cul-de-sac, but of water, not concrete. A wooden deck with built-in benches hangs over the water and you feel as if you're in a different world. The hosts, Rick and Jill, have a boat, but for some reason, haven't put it in the water this year.
We ate outside--chili, rice, salad, cornbread, and sides, plus my lemon squares, which went over big--and had a rare good time. The pastor of their Moravian church was there, a great guy named Jeff. Aside from him, there were just the hosts, Lisa and Rob, their kids, Lindsay, 4 and Lucas, 3, her parents, and us--a nice group.
I know Lisa and Rob, of course (Rob is my SIL's son) and have met Betz and Dale, Lisa's parents before. We talked and laughed and generally enjoyed the evening muchly.
Got home a little after 9:00. I had called Pat twice and he got along fine. Good thing, as I'm going to meet Betty and old friend, Hazel P., for lunch today in Ventnor. The three of us were friends since we were 7 or 8, I guess, but I haven't seen Hazel for several years. Should be fun.