SS28 suffers from some social problems that make it difficult for him to find a girlfriend. He did finally snag someone, whom I met in a parental meet-and-greet this past summer. She's a profeesional chef, and seemed OK, if a little enmeshed with her cell phone. Not everyone objectds to their dining companions staring at a screen during dinner, but I'm old school on that. Moving on.

She moved with SS28 to a city a couple hundred miles from our fair burg this past summer. The two of them live an hour's commute from each other. If you're going to move with someone, wouldn't you expect to live near or with them? I would, but I'm old school on that too, I guess. Moving on.

The pair of them inflicted themselves on our fair burg for Thanksgiiving..I prepare holiday meals for our family, and I tend to knock myself out. People ask me what they can bring, and I usually suggest a side dish or a bottle of wine. SWhen arranging for the day, S28 told DH he and the cheflet would like to bring dessert. Not "What can we bring?" but "We would like to bring dessert." DH said, OK! and then told me the plan.

To really kick things off on the day, SS28 and GF arrived an hour early. Panic in the kitchen. After presentiong their wine and engaging in greetings and pleasantries, they stationed themselves in front of the buffet, where several homemade delicacies were already set out. I overheard them whispering and muttering to each other, and when cheflet noticed me nearby she turned to me and said brightly, "Dates!" Confronted with a dish of Medjools alongside an actually lovely spread of cheeses and  home made breads, all she could come up with was "Dates!" Not, "This looks delicious!" or "What a gorgous displey!" or similar. Just, "Dates!" She followed this up with a sneer, which of course no one else saw, intended as it was exclusively for me.

So somehow we got from neutral to catty little btch in 6 months. Oh well, won't she be surprised a year from now when SS28 dumps her for an upgrade. (Opposite to their former area, city, what I'll refer to as the mate market is skewed in favor of males in their new area.) In the comfy couples gossip time after our party, DH remarked, "She seems like a very nice girl." "Mm hm," I said. "Hey, there's no gravy left!"

Not going there.