Introvert on the Run.

The time for introversion never lasts & just now recovery times are shorter than usual.  That's the way it goes.  

Saturday I was invited to join my DIL~2~B for her pre~wedding do with her bridesmaids. We went here:

Yep.  All the way into town.  Now my sense of direction is non~existent ~ & driving in Brisbane  does not bring me joy ~ so OT arranged for me to go in with his fiance & her mother.  He was a bit concerned because his fiances family are Anglo~Indian & *Their culture is very different, mum.* I think my kids think I've lived under a rock my entire life.  My favourite author is Rumer Godden.  If  in no other way, I had learnt something about Anglo~Indian culture just from her books.  In all honesty I probably knew more than my son because history is my *thing* & I know all sorts of esoteric things about all sorts of esoteric things.  Besides which, one of the odder things about me is that I accept people as I find them.  Race, colour, religion ~ I seriously don't care.  Are you kind?  Are you interesting? Are we simpatico?

What I wasn't expecting was to be grilled & negotiating a class inquisition is not something I'm very good at.  Had I bought my dress yet?  What does one say to that?  I have not owned a dress since I left high school over 40 years ago & my one skirt no longer fits me.  Nor was I planning on buying something especially for the wedding. Ummm.... I own one pair of shoes: flat sandles which I happened to be wearing @ the time.  I am not a clothes person.   If it's modest & comfortable I am a happy bunny.  I do a lot of my clothes shopping on~line. 

Then it was ~ I guess you've not worked.... *sigh* I've had all sort of jobs: librarian, social worker; teacher's aide...but the honest truth is I always found working & running my household really difficult.  There was always so much to do @ home whereas my son's MIL regrets giving up work because she is bored @ home. I never regretted giving up working outside my home!

There was the assumption that I must hate where I live, so far from the city, when my whole attitude is:  Why would I want to be in Brisbane amongst the smog, the noise, the pollution, the crowds... 

It was like trying to dance through a minefield without blowing the whole place up.

Then about halfway into Brisbane everyone suddenly twigged we were going to a restaurant that specialises in seafood!  Consternation all round.  I live on an island & I don't eat seafood?  Why do people always equate island living with the enjoyment of seafood?  That is not why I choose to live where I do. Despite my assurances that it was fine, I would manage, this is not the first time I've had to negotiate this particular social quagmire, the fuss continued.

By which point I was becoming exhausted.  As an introvert I only have so much social energy & it was being depleted fast.  Then I was being introduced to so many strangers as OT's mum while trying to stay out of my shell enough to be polite & the majority of the 10 or so people were raging extroverts who all knew each other. 

I am, by nature, fairly quiet in a crowd.  I don't mind just being left alone to observe & listen, though as the restaurant filled up listening became more & more difficult.  It was very, very noisy.

And I did manage fine when it came to the food.  Whatever they called this [ saganaki, I believe: grilled Haloumi & capsicum something or other] it was wonderful!  I am not a big eater & often have an entree as my main ~ which is what I did.  It was quite enough for me.

And dessert ~ my speciality, because I do love my sweets & am choosy~ looked & tasted fantastic! The choices were fairly standard: sticky date pudding [apparently their speciality but I don't like it so not an option], pavlova, creme brulee, creme caramel ~ all of which I do like but experience has taught me that it is usually the simpler desserts that are best so I chose the strawberries romanoff .

It really was excellent!

We had a window table with expansive views of the Brisbane River from the  Eagle street pier.

And there was not much left when we were done!

However when we were done I didn't get to go straight home.  We spent some time with DIL~2~Bs parents ~ which was fine & lovely & necessary because we are all about to become family but by the time I hit the jetty it was dark & I was exhausted to the point of nausea.  It is going to take me some time to recover from this week because Sunday was another full on people day!