I was right! Last night was FILLED with laughter. What a wonderful time we had! Spider Monkey and I raved our way up to Carlsbad in all that traffic, dancing in the car and having some serious flashbacks induced by her selection of music for the ride � we felt like we were reliving our summer, now a year and a half ago. Then, still dancing and marveling at how much fun that was, we talked about how much has happened to each of us since then. Seems like yesterday, seems like a decade ago, all at the same time, in a million different ways. Oh, sweet perspective.

Dinner: Karl Strauss in Carlsbad, Spider Monkey and I were early, just the way I like to be, and we made ourselves comfortable at the bar to wait for Punket and family while we indulged in a few libations. I tried the bartender�s own Caramel Apple Martini, which tasted just as good as it sounds! He asked me if I liked it, I said yes. He then asked, �Really?� To which I responded in a dry tone, �No, I�m just saying that because I want to make you feel good,� then, �I said I liked it, didn�t I?� He laughed, nervously at first, then as if getting a joke belatedly, he laughed louder and more naturally and went about his bartending, leaving me to enjoy my martini and Spider Monkey�s rhetoric.

We were outside smoking a cigarette when the birthday boy arrived. Shit, I just got a blueberry from my muffin in my bra � that�s gonna stain. Anyway, Spider Monkey handed Punket his gift, in a big bag with a cartoon lion on the front, and layers of yellow yarn attached as a mane � hee hee! To dinner we went. Punket, his mother, his grandmother, his aunt & uncle, a cousin, and US. His two VERY BAD influences, partners in crime, Spider Monkey and Barbarella. SM thinks we scared the family. I know differently, because I was sitting right across from Grandma. She leaned over several times to say, �I�ve NEVER seen him talk like this, smile this much� I never see him talk!�

Punket was flanked by us, and we talked in front of him, over him, to him and to each other, laughing and telling stories, going off on tangents, and sometimes just being simply ridiculous. The rest of them watched on. At one point, Punket was talking about a stripper he dated that was a born-again Christian. His mother asked me what we were talking about, and I said, �Oh, he�s talking about a nice young Christian woman that he dated in LA.� A few minutes later, she interrupted our conversation to say to Punket, �Wow, I couldn�t do that, I couldn�t date a man like that.� Wondering just HOW much she had heard, he said, �like what, Mom?� She replied, �well, you know, a Christian,� having completely missed out on the stripper aspect of the girl we were talking about. Hee hee. We had a good laugh over that one. Lots of close calls, talking about our lives, drug and sex innuendos, JUST out of the hearing distance of his family�

Punket said at the end of the meal that this was the most surreal birthday of his life. Then Spider Monkey said, �We do parties, too!� Haha. That�s right. Want to avoid talking to your family? Bring us along, we will flank you, protect you WHILE entertaining you and deflecting comments and contact by your family all at the same time! That�s it, I�m starting a business. Ah, too much fun.

I got home early, wrote for a bit, read for a bit, relaxed with my cats and slept soundly. Tonight is some huge Willy Wonka party! Complete with chocolate river, shrinking room, a maze, and so much more. I may just have to go. Bring me the weekend NOW.

-Barbarella

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