Party Central

Grandma is in town and that means one thing. Party Time. We've had an impromptu margarita (and chocolate milk) party on the deck with steaks and corn on the cob, a breakfast tea party complete with cookies (cookies for breakfast is the ultimate sign that grandma has arrived) and an upcoming picnic to celebrate Bella's birthday hosted by great-grandma and a great-great-aunt. This will be an all-out affair, I can assure you. By themselves each of these women cooks for an army. Together, there's no telling. I've already been informed that several turkeys are being slow roasted to fall-off-the-bone perfection for the picnic sandwiches. It's a good thing four generations of Montgomerys will be there to eat it all.

All of this indulgence is fun, but the most interesting of the parties on the itinerary this summer is one my friends and neighbors Mary and Sherry are devising. Mary and Sherry are the mothers of two of my childhood friends and in recent years I've developed a friendship with them in my own right. We were chatting today, as it's Old Home week around here, about a friend of Mary's who's son, Greg Mortenson, wrote the book Three Cups of Tea and has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize this year. While recovering from a difficult mountain climb in 1993 Mortenson dedicated his life to building schools in war-torn Afghanistan and Pakistan and has so far succeeded in building over 90 schools that educate over 34,000 children.

In support of this mission we have decided to throw a party and invite all the neighborhood kids (and adults) to come and gather their change, allowance and collected donations to give to Pennies For Peace, Mortenson's charity organization. I think it will be a great lesson for the neighborhood kids and a good counter-balance to our somewhat hedonistic summer.