Landed Gentry

That's us. Excuse me while I go laugh myself sick in the corner with all the dust bunnies.

We may live like rednecks most of the time, but when called upon, we put on a good show. Our house is cold and constantly in need of repairs, but it comes with some great perks. Antique furniture and china overflowing the cupboards, for instance. These sorts of things are the benefits of living in a house occupied by the family for 6 generations. So if we put a modest amount of effort into cleaning up the worst of the pet fur and stow away the stacks of magazines and books that normally breed like rabbits around here, the house looks really impressive. Impressive enough to fool people for a few hours anyway.

Which is all we need today, as we get ready for a rather large birthday tea the MiL is hosting for her mother's 85th birthday. Only the MiL is courageous enough to host over 50 people here, and feed them all. My inclination would be to put out some chips and dip and call it a day, because I'm lazy like that. But of course, the MiL is on a whole other level. She's making little pastry puffs with chicken salad in them, for chrissake. It's a good thing one of us has some class.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go clear away the sheep tail docking equipment that's been sitting in the dining room for a month now. Classy indeed. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, what my life has become . . .