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We are so close to the finish line, I can taste it. Literally for me, but figuratively for those of you who follow along by reading only.
Last week's episode involved a whole lot of meet the parents for Michelle, starting with Brandon, who started the date by having Michelle run to him. He really took this whole role reversal, guy plans the date thing to a new level there. Taking inspiration from their one on one which was basically a high school re-cre, he took Michelle to watch him epically wipe out on a skateboard over and over again. I would have gone the "impress her" route, but that's just me.
His family meeting time went a lot more smoothly. His dad seems fun and gets along well with Michelle and they go beyond "do you love my son" to our families would get along too.
Rodney is next and he takes her apple picking which is where I sort of tuned out. I get the apple thing was his entrance but the apple stuff needs to stop for a while. There is such a thing as milking a joke too far. Even Michelle seems tired of it because she pelts him with apples so hard when tossing them into a basket that he's probably going to bruise, but she does seem pretty smitten with him afterwards.
When she meets his parents, he comments that his mom is his best friend and it shows in their very similar personalities, but his mom also got serious and pried a lot harder than Brandon's mom did.
Joe takes Michelle to see his high school and looks like he's so nervous he's going to be sick. He walks her through the building as if he's never actually been there before, but have to admit, once he hit the prom part of the date, I'd have been won over too. It's too bad there are no fantasy suites for him to end prom night properly.
Thank gd Joe's mom and sister in law are there for the family meeting or there would be dead silence. I want to see his dad talk to Michelle just so I can see how she navigates the awkward silence gaps. At one point someone said "it was clear that she was pushing him and bringing a lot of energy into the relationship." and I had to question, were we watching the same thing? What energy?
The only one who's family seems a little hesitant is Nayte's. After a fun day of water sports with Michelle, she and his family spend the evening questioning whether he is actually ready for the commitment ahead. She seems more excited to meet his family but also more judgemental with him. Case in point, she asks him if he talks about emotion when she just left Joe and his dad who said nothing to each other all night, and although she says at the end of it all she is going to "do what feels right" when questioned by Nayte's mom, she spends half her ITM questioning his ability to propose.
And somehow after all the melee, and some girl time with Bri and Serena, she made the decision to keep Nayte around and send Rodney home, which leaves us with his smiley face and great attitude in the Men's Tell All. And while they tell all, I'm filling challahs with all I can think of. We've got white chocolate chips, apricot and even some chocolate spread.
Cooking with Tantrums has a great challah recipe and all you have to do to add the filling is, before twisting the individual rolls of challah into a braid, flatten each roll and fill with whatever you'd like, then close the sides and roll back into form before you twist them all together. It's a great excuse to make your own (you know you've been wanting to) and they make a really good french toast main ingredient. Challah at me if you make it and let me know how it goes, and then enjoy your challah while the men yell and holla.