Who Are These People?

I have a lot of people in my life. Most of them are either part of or in some way connected to my wonderful boyfriend’s family. This family is first generation Irish, with many, MANY contacts still in their home country, so you’ll notice the whole Irish thing is a prevalent theme. I myself am not Irish (I may have a little in there somewhere but nowhere near enough to qualify me as a member of the nationality), but my red hair and freckles help me fake it.

Anyways, in no particular order here’s a brief rundown of the people I mention in this blog and why they’re called what they’re called:

JB – my wonderful boyfriend. His name stands for James Bond – International Man of Mystery, because he is constantly traveling for business and no one, including me, ever knows exactly where in the world he is at any given moment. Maybe I should call him Carmen Sandiego. UPDATE: JB has made it known he wants JB to stand for “Jason Bourne” instead of James Bond. I could go either way. I leave the choice to you.

Manned Up – the brother of Good Time and JB. Me, JB, and Manned Up share a house in Boston. His name comes from a memorable dinner at the Union Oyster House – he hesitated slightly on ordering another round and the waitress told him to “man up.” He has been the brunt of our jokes ever since.

Good Time – my best friend and JB and Manned Up’s big sister. Her name comes from a couple of sources. First, it’s always a good time with Good Time. Second, one night when she got drunk, she informed everyone that she was having a roof put on her (not-yet-constructed) hot tub because, and I quote, she “doesn’t want the neighbors seeing her good time.”  

Cuervo – Manned Up’s girlfriend and colleague of both him and JB. She’s named for her incredible obsession with margaritas, which she has a really tough time getting at home in Ireland. She routinely takes back at least two full buckets of margarita mix every time she visits.

Sport – JB, Manned Up, and Good Time’s cousin in Dublin, Ireland. Sport is so named because not only is he obsessed with playing and following all kinds of sports, he is also a sports television announcer in Ireland and somewhat of a local celebrity. In fact, Sport was present when I first met JB, and I actually talked to Sport for a good half hour or so before I talked to JB for the first time (JB says he was “sussin’ me out”). I found out later that JB thought I was one of Sport’s groupies. I loved that.

Elle – Sport’s wife, also present the night I first met JB and a very good argument against my being Sport’s groupie. Elle, as in MacPherson, refers to two things – 1) she is the nicest, friendliest, most kind-hearted person you will ever meet (and for some reason I have an image of Elle MacPherson being a saint, not sure why), and 2) she is drop dead gorgeous. Drop. Dead. Gorgeous.

Smokey the Bandit – a colleague of both JB and Manned Up who frequently accompanies them out and finds himself unable to drive home, so he crashes in our spare bedroom. He is named for his heavy, heavy smoking habit and his fondness for wearing black.

JB’s Boss – this one is pretty self-explanatory. I couldn’t come up with a funny one for him, because, you know, he’s JB’s Boss.

Sam Adams – another work colleague of JB, Manned Up, and Good Time who visits frequently from Ireland. So named for his beer preference and the fact that one night he made me watch Beerfest. Twice.