Meeting the Family
I cannot begin to tell you how very nervous I was driving out to the family farmhouse on Friday night. Friday night, the night before the party, where I had been invited for tea, and to meet GM's sister (the one who was engaged) and her fiance, and the rest of the clan.
And yet, when I arrived, it was lovely. They are the most lovely people. His sister, Mandy, and her fiance were just delightful, and his parents were beautiful too. We all had dinner together, and it went off a treat. Especially considering that earlier in the day their dog had been run over by GM's dad, and had subsequently died. They were pretty upset about it, as you can imagine.
GM's dad has a wicked sense of humour. In regards to the dog incident, on Sunday round the firebucket, he said:
"Yep. It had a bad case of Dunlop-itis."
"I dunno what Mandy's complainin' about. I paid the vet bills didn't I? What more does she want!"
and "I wasn't pissed, it ran under me wheel."
So we stayed out at the family farmhouse on Friday night until about 12.30pm, before heading back to GM's place (which is 3kms down the road, on the same property, nearer to the dairy). Saturday saw us heading to my VERY FIRST Clearing Sale.
Mrs. Macca already knows how excited I was at the prospect of gearing up in my flannelette shirt, my hat with the cattle tags through the brim, some old, cow poo-y jeans, and a stick of straw hanging out of my mouth, kicking things with my blunnies on and yelling "Hey Darl, whaddya reckon bout this?" about random things I'd no idea the name nor purpose of. I thought it was going to be awesome. And it was.
Now before you die of shame because you know me, I did not get myself up like that. But there was enough collective flannel and cow poo to keep me happy, and the auctioneer had a cattle tag through the brim of his hat and he had a belt buckle bigger than his head and that made me very very happy. Also, I arrived with my lovely GM with HIM driving, as he has gotten the all clear from the docs and is now allowed back on the roads. So we were both feeling very satisfied.
We arrived early, (after getting lost - another thing we have in common - no sense of direction!) and got our buyers number. We checked out the spray unit that GM was interested in, and it wasn't the right size, so we had a wander about to see what else they had.
The auction started, and it was hilarious. Auctioneers amuse the hell out of me, particularly when they are completely serious, and they do the whole "all done, all done, all done at $2 - *clap* sold to you sir, whats your buyers number?"
GM had a bid on a new thingy (it was blue) and he won! Yay! I had this funny feeling while he was bidding (with a nod of his head) that he was really much more grown up than me. I was still trying not to laugh, while he knew what it was he was bidding on, how much that model sold for in stores, and how much use it had seen (from the handle and the clips apparently). And the way he bid was so, I don't know. Manly maybe. It made me feel like I was standing next to a strong, independent man. I liked that feeling very much. He's like a rock. A solid, dependable, unshakable, deliciously country rock.
So we also bid on some bales of fencing stuff (like chicken wire, only for cows not chickens) and we won that too. So we went over and paid for the stuff, then loaded it and tied it down on the tray of the truck. He looked so hot doing that. I have always had a disturbing thing for men in dirty work clothes, and he gets a great big tick for looking incredibly hot in his farmer GM clothes. I said to him, "God you look hot when you're all "Farmer GM"" and he came round the truck and pashed me.
Then he drove us to the Farm Store and we bought a poddy feeder, some drench and I FINALLY got my blunnys and a pair of gumboots.
HOW FREAKING AWESOME IS MY LIFE RIGHT NOW!! (From where I'm standing anyway. If getting pashed against a truck that smells like fresh cow pats by a man in filthy farm clothes isn't you're cup of tea, you may not think so. But trust me. From where I'm standing, it doesn't get any better than this.)
So after that, I got him to drop me off at home, so that I could do some stuff (like ponce about the house admiring myself in my new blunnys), and he had to go help get ready for the party. I said, I'll see you tonight then. He said no worries, see you about 5? Yep, no worries.
So I went to see my family, and it was the nicest afternoon I think we've had in a long long time. Dad washed my car for me while I sewed up my brothers shorts, and my sister and her girlfriend cleaned out their car. Then we just all sort of sat about out the front of the house doing various things, talking and laughing and enjoying the beautiful sunshine. We played with the dog, and we really talked to one another. You know when you suddenly realise that you actually like your family, and that they are all individual people with their own thoughts and feelings and abilities and fears? Its a wonderful thing to know that I have family who are also my friends.
After that, I headed for home, and got changed and tarted up for the party (read - put on some makeup and changed my outfit about 15 times).
GM called me about 5.15pm, to see how far away I was (missing me - how sweet is that!), and not long after that, I got on the road.
I said my hellos to everyone, and to GM who was talking with his boys around the fire bucket. So I headed in to see if I could help in the kitchen, and ended up taking a teatowel and doing dishes for an hour. I met GM's Nanna, who sat on the couch and just watched me. It kindof creeped me at first, but I think she was just checking me out to see if she liked me for GM. It was something I had to get used to throughout the night, as I'd often look up from what I was doing and see someone staring at me. (It could also just be 'cos I'm so hot) (lol) I later heard that she thought I was lovely (she told GM), so at least I passed that one.
The party went off a treat, and every one of the 200 odd guests seemed to have a lovely time. I got slightly messy on wine, and towards the end of the night found myself dancing on the top of the iceboxes behind the bar. Which I figured was probably OK, as I was dancing next to GM's sister, and her maid of honour to be. (When in Rome and all that jazz)
And throughout the night, I lost count of the number of people who came up to me to talk about GM. Typical of these exchanges was the one with Mandy's fiance late in the evening. He came up to me as I was standing by the jukebox and put his arm around me (I didn't quite know what to do at that point) and said "You know what? I've known GM for 5 years, and this is the happiest I've ever seen him. And its all because of you. He's changed so much since you started dating. Its great."
This sort of comment just kept coming throughout the night. And he's obviously been talking A LOT about me to his family and friends, as they know the ins and outs of my life fairly well. No one had to ask where I lived / worked / grew up / met GM, and they all knew Nicky's name and that GM thinks she's wonderful. (Which was rather lovely to hear back too!)
Also during the evening, I was approached by The Tease, and I took him aside. "You know the deal we made last time?"
"Yeah"
"Well, I'd like to cancel it, if we could."
"Why? Don't you think I'm hot enough? Don't you want to sleep with me?"
"It's not about you. Its not about any of that. Its about GM. I love him, I think he's amazing, and it feels wrong to have made a deal like that. I've been feeling really guilty about it."
"Does that mean you wouldn't consider me if you two broke up?"
"I'm not discussing this with you. I'm just saying that I can't have this deal with you."
"Ok. No worries. We'll cancel the deal."
"Thankyou."
Later in the evening, he approached me again.
"You still think I'm hot though, don't you?"
"I'm not discussing this with you."
"Do you like big guys?"
"I'm not discussing this with you!"
"It'd be good though, wouldn't it."
"Oh, give it up! I'm with GM!"
Laughing, we changed the subject and more people joined us. As soon as I was able, I made my apologies and went to stand with GM. By comparison, he's so very trustable and solid, and he's not playing any games.
I feel like the next time this happens, I need to have a better response than "I'm not discussing this". Something to think about. I wonder how he doesn't feel guilty for talking a) behind his girlfriends back like that, and b) behind his friends back like that, to his friends girlfriend? Men are strange creatures at times. Suggestions welcome.
I hit fadesville about 3.30am, and went to have a kip on the couch inside. No sooner had I closed my eyes than GM's mum and Mandy were standing over me. They tucked a blanket round me, and I think I probably started it by saying (slurrily) "thanks for having me I had a lovely time"
GM's mum say's "You're always welcome love, you've made GM so happy, and we love to see you"
"Yeah," says Mandy "He's a different person"
"I don't want to make him a different person though, I like him the way that he is. Just exactly the way that he is."
"Puke" says Mandy
"I'm sorry, I know it makes you sick, but I think he's wonderful"
"No no no!" in stereo, "It doesn't make us sick! Its great to see you guys together. You both deserve to be happy."
We all said goodnight then, and they went to bed, I went to sleep. GM came and hopped on the couch with me a couple of hours later, and then another fella, who was staying at GMs house, came and woke us both up and I drove us all home.
Sunday the boys got up early to go to the dairy, and I had a sleep in, then we went out to the family farmhouse for a recovery breakfast. Mid afternoon I went into town to pick up Nicky, and I took her back out to the family farmhouse, where we'd been invited to stay for tea.
Mandy was very taken with Nicky, and GM's youngest sister (14) was too. They played all afternoon in the garden, running around, playing chasey, petting the dogs. GM went to the dairy to do the evening milk, and when he came back Nicky spotted his truck coming up the drive. She got Mandy to piggyback her to the gates, and when GM emerged from the truck she jumped over to him and he carried her back down to the fire bucket. I'm so very glad that they get along so well, Nicky and GM.
When it got dark, we headed inside, and Mandy let Nicky help her unwrap their engagement gifts. They were all so very sweet to her, and made both of us feel like part of the family. GM went out to sit with the boys round the firebucket for a while, but he came in later and sat with me on the couch to watch the gifts being opened.
I took Nicky home after dinner, and it just felt like everything had gone so much better than I could have ever hoped.
Later GM said to me that Mandy thought I was fantastic - which was good, "'Cos her's is the only opinion that really would have mattered to me." (Phew!)
So there you have it. Three fantabulous, fun packed days at the farm and surrounds.
