Gilding the Lilly

Hell, just fantasizing about my sweet, VERY blonde friend and her darker lover had ME drooling every time they came to mind. I love Lilly and would have, I was sure, NO problem loving the man in her life. She has a good mind and great, loving heart, I knew that anyone she chooses to love would be an awesome person. Actually, it made me a bit envious that she had found a great lover to be her partner. Oh, yeah, he HAD proposed, early on. They were BOTH smitten. That made me very happy, she deserved a loving mate.

So, with Thanksgiving coming up in a short time, I figured a great way to celebrate her (and his) good fortune, was to have a fancy dinner party on Thanksgiving for them and a few of our close friends. I hadn't done any cooking for that kind of party in awhile but was looking forward to going all out with turkey, ham and all the trimmings. I love to cook and bake for a bunch of people and hadn't gotten much chance since my kids moved out and started their own families. I began baking pies and decorating the apartment on Sunday of that week. The Cats loved to get into the decorations and play with anything that dangled or sparkled. That was a job, keeping them out of too much mischief. And the butterflies in my tummy built and built as the Day for meeting Lilly's LOVE drew closer. Lilly means a lot to me, she is a great Friend and has helped me through a lot. I wanted this to be perfect and her lover to find me acceptable as a friend, also. I had no idea how things would REALLY turn out, definitely NOT to my expectations.

Hard work, huge cases of 'the nerves' and huge flocks of Butterflies winging their way through my tummy (and more intimate areas) and Finally, Thursday, Thanksgiving was here. Dinner was supposed to be late afternoon with the guests arriving all day. Joe and Helen, folks I had worked with at my last position, were first to arrive, Jean and Eloise (close friends and 'play friends') were close behind. Angus and his wife, Leslie came in all decked out in Scottish finery (Angus was Scots and had met his Lady when he moved here; they loved showing off Scottish Culture). Finally, I am sure wanting to make a Grand Entrance, Lilly arrived with her Fiance' in tow. Simon, for all the world to see.