Dinner Party report

I'm only now feeling somewhat recovered from last night. It went both really, really well and also maybe not so well from a planning/execution standpoint. But did we have fun? Oh, yes, oh, definitely, oh my was my head hurting this morning. But not so much that I don't remember the excellent conversations we had, and I did manage to make it to church to sing a gorgeous piece that I didn't want to miss.

I think I forgot to mention that this was a politically-themed party, and I selected my guests carefully to ensure that we all fell on the liberal side of politics -- not necessarily Democrat, but definitely liberal. This close to an election, I get very, very sensitive about politics, and I wanted a group where we could loudly declaim this or that policy, and not get into actual fights about it. That's exactly how it turned out -- we had wonderful, very loud discussions about a fascinating array of topics.

The loudness was one of the logistical problems. Kiddo, E. (5) and A. (2) were upstairs with the hired sitter, as planned. But they did not go to sleep. I've discovered that our house, with it's open floor plan, is just not suited for our party-loving children to tune their party-loving parents out enough to go to sleep. Hence, Kiddo and I did not go to bed until 1:00 AM. Oops! I think next time, I'll have him stay at Yia Yia's and Papou's house.

Logistical problem #2 - the schedule slipped due to A. still being asleep at 5:30. So the first guests didn't arrive until about 6:15. The rest of the adults trickled in over the next hour, with the final couple arriving at 7:15 or so. No big deal...Ms. C and Ms. J brought appetizers, so no one was hungry. I had made some cheese quesadillas for the boys - since they arrived a bit late, it was already too dark to play outside, so they went upstairs to the pinball machine, skipping dinner downstairs. I think it was close to 8:00 when Ms. C reminded me that they should probably be fed! The parenting skills were definitely a bit loose last night.

Logistical problem #3 - after we had soup, we convened back in the kitchen so I could cook the dinner. I don't have enough burners on my stove for the menu I had planned! So it took a fair amount of time -- enjoyable, loud, fun time, and Mr. M and Mr. E both chipped in to help (they are both excellent cooks in their own rights). So, in a way, this was not at all a bad thing. Dinner parties are NOT restaurant experiences!

I think we finally sat down to eat at around 10:00. On a plus note, everything turned out absolutely perfectly. On a minus note, I made waaaay too much food. I think we have enough chicken/duck to last a week of sandwiches. And I've frozen the turnips and turnip greens in the hope that they will reheat well for Thanksgiving.

Mr. D called to say he and Ms. P and their girls would not be able to make it after all, which was too bad. But the ice cream and dark chocolate bark worked just perfectly for dessert. And then everyone pitched in to help with the cleanup. Mr. T and Hub stayed up until 3:30 or so gabbing (T is Irish and Hub is Scottish, they are both champion talkers), and then Hub stayed up even longer to do more cleanup.

Exhausting, fun, delicious and we met two new friends who are thinking of moving to the area (Ms. C and Mr. M brought them, and we clicked immediately). Overall, a success. I'll be ready to do it again in about six months. :)