Lawrence Welk

"Can I see it?"

"Hey, Lucky- I have a girl up here who wants to see the bubble machine."

I look around the ceiling of the shop while I lean on the counter, reading the text on the mylar balloons stapled to the wall. Out of the back, an old man name Lucky emerges with what is presumably the rentable bubble machine. I was hoping to see it in action, but I realize that would be a silly request as it appears to have just been cleaned.

I twirl the little wands and pretend to look it over- I don't have any idea what I'm looking at.

"Um..I see that it comes with a quart of fluid in the rental cost. Is there more available for purchase?"

Lucky looks at me. "A quart makes a helluva lot of bubbles."

"So...this machine puts out a lot of bubbles? Do you have a second machine...in case I need twice-a-helluva-lot of bubbles?"

Lucky raises a brow, "Do you know the Lawrence Welk show?"

"Can't say that I do."

"Hrumph. Well, look it up."

"Does Mr. Welk have a lot of bubbles?"

"Yes. (pause) Are you....finished looking at the machine?"

"Ah, yes. Thank you."

I had walked into Baxter's Party Shop on Broadway seeking out chair rental. When I realized the chairs I wanted were considerably less than what I expected, of course I wasn't thinking, "Well, look at all the money we'll save" but "What other awesome things could I rent?"

A bubble machine was already on the top of the list, but I'm thinking of going after the old fashion-y popcorn cart machine, too. I was also thrilled to see their large assortment of weird and wonderful party favors that will be just sweet to stuff the pinata with.

Did I mention the pinata? I think I've insisted on having a pinata since near the beginning of all of this. Only recently it's evolved into two pinatas- one for the kidlets running around filled with candy and weird plastic toys...

...and one for all of us older-ish kids filled with mini booze bottles and scratch offs. Yup.

So, now its just a matter of money. I've been glued to the computer every waking moment getting an enormous eBay listing together for this weekend. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping to be able to reserve chairs/bubble machine/popcorn machine next week- and make another payment on the photography. Little by little, its coming together.

I had a bit of a freak out yesterday, I'm the type of person that likes things to be done with plenty of time in advance. Joel was kind enough to calm me down and remind me that this was going to be the most awesome weekend in the world whether the chairs were rented now or a week prior.