Success!

So, I will say that I think our first party in our new home was a success. Sure, it was a little stressful to get ready for it (mostly worrying that the house was a) clean enough, and b) properly organized/decorated/arranged), but I think all that stress was a good thing. The basement is now way more organized that it ever has been, we discovered a box of stuff that we didn't know was missing but are glad we found, and the place probably hasn't been this thoroughly vacuumed since we moved in. These are good things.

We had a beautiful day for a party. The party was supposed to start at 1pm and my mother, aunt Alice, and cousin Linda arrived about 45 minutes early to help us get ready. This was a good thing, because I hadn't even finished cooking at that point. My mother, though, needs to learn to sit down and relax. She can't just sit and talk with you; she needs to be constantly doing something. I kept asking, "Where's my mother?" and I would be told she's out watering flowers, taking out the trash, doing dishes... for all I know she cleaned our gutters, too. She just works too hard at these events when she should be relaxing. She's our guest, not our housekeeper! Anyway, people didn't start arriving until after 2, which worked out well with my slow cooking schedule. I showed people around the house, and everyone eased into a nice afternoon of eating and conversation. We had about 12 people here, total. Maybe more? Let's count - Mom, Dad, Aunt Alice, Linda, Uncle Jimmy, Mary, Fred, Margaret, ma soeur, Mike, Frankie, Maddy, Maria, Robin, Jeremy, little adorable baby Lauren, Nate, Katie, and then Rose (the dog) and Kittery (the dog). That makes 19 people, counting all the kids. Wow! Not too bad! It was a good number for our house. Not too many, but enough room for everyone. Plus, it helped that we spent a good part of the party outside. Doug picked up a soccer ball at Dick's while he was out getting beer (more Shipyard Pumpkinhead... yummy... but now we also have several leftover cans of Bud Light, too), and Maddy, my soccer-genius of a niece, got us all kicking it around. She sometimes plays goalie, and I asked if she liked it. Her response was no, that she'd rather be where all the action is. That's Maddy! How I love that kid.

Do I have photos to post? Yes, but a paltry few. You see, I was planning on photo-documenting the whole party for those family who couldn't make it, but right after I started taking photos I put the camera down somewhere (I thought in the living room) and then couldn't find it. After people left Doug and I were tearing the house apart looking for it (under the sofa, behind the chairs, that kind of looking), and we even went out with flashlights looking outside, thinking I might have brought it outside. Where did I eventually find it? In my office closet sitting on top of the filing cabinet. I have no explanation for this. None. Anyway, here are a few photos from the day:

This one is of our table set up with appetizers. I don't think I ate any of them, but isn't that the way when you're hosting? You'll notice the nice bouquet of flowers in the center of the table; those are from Mr & Mrs Sisko. We have lots of flowers in the house now. I like this. Flowers are nice and cheery, especially ones in fall colors.

This one is of the sink area after we had cleaned up most of the mess from the party. Notice the tiny coffee pot and the Mr. Coffee directions next to it. This is the first time we have ever, ever made coffee. My mother and sister found this to be hilarious - how do we drink coffee? Well, I've never had a cup of coffee in my entire life, and Doug just buys his coffee out, at Dunks or Starbucks. We're really not coffee drinkers, but we did have the foresight to get this small pot for guests who do drink it. And now we know how to use it.

This one is of Doug outside in the backyard looking for our camera. Yes, yes, yes, I realize that I missed the entire middle and end of the party, but that's not my fault. I blame the cats (or the ghosts) for hiding the camera on the file cabinet in the closet. Bad kitties! Must have been revenge for having people come over and interrupt their sleeping routine.

I do think that my uncle Jimmy will email pictures of the party around, and when he does I'll add them onto this post. But the good news is that as Aunt Alice was leaving I asked her if my name was indeed on the holiday party-hosting list, and it is. She said that if I wanted to host the family's annual Christmas party that might be able to be arranged. So perhaps for that party, whether it's this year or next year or whenever, I'll be able to redeem myself with taking pictures.

Update: Uncle Jimmy indeed sent some photos around, so I've attached them here. This first one is of our house. I actually quite like this photo as it's a good shot of the whole place. We don't have one of these yet. This, we think, is the south side of the house. We still haven't figured all that direction stuff out yet, though.

These photos are of people outside having fun. People in these photos: my sister, my niece, my second cousin (or first cousin once removed? I don't know what my cousin's child is to me, honestly), then Jeremy, Mike, Rose the dog, my niece and nephew, and Aunt Alice and Linda. There were more of us outside, but at least Uncle Jimmy didn't lose his camera and was able to take a few shots of the party! Thanks, Uncle Jimmy!