Celebrating the Season with Friends

In bed at a decent hour the night before, I woke Saturday feeling well rested and sometime just after 7a. It looked cold outside, frosty even. A quick check revealed that it was 28 degrees. The sky was clear foreshadowing a lovely sunrise. I started some Starbucks and then did exercises and took Frankie out. I enjoyed coffee while playing on the internet, where I stayed until almost 9a. By then, Mindy was up and tinkering on the internet too. I stretched and left for a run a short time later. I ran only three miles, something that’s become the norm for both Saturday and Sunday now, and bringing my weekly mileage total to 26.5 per. It was already warming up, gone was that winter bite that’s been in the air for several days now. Meanwhile, the forecast called for a high temp of 45, but also the arrival of another winter blast only this time after beginning as heavy rain. Figures to be snowing by early Sunday morning. We would soon see. After my run, Mindy shared her plans for party day. To begin, she was heading up to Dublin to the Morgan House to pick-up a couple elf dolls and then to her mother’s to borrow her punch bowl. I’m thinking there was another errand lumped in there too, but can’t recall what/where. While Mindy prepared to leave, I continued playing around on the internet. Up to that point, we hadn’t yet decided or booked our winter ski trip destination, but we had decided to wait at least another year before taking the kids. But don’t feel sorry for them. We’re taking them to Holiday Valley for Xmas and most likely again a few weeks later. I checked airfares to Oregon on Southwest and found them about as cheap as they’re going to be for the dates we had previously identified for our getaway. Before Mindy left, I asked if she was ready for me to go ahead and commit. We talked about it for another ten minutes and agreed to buy provided she could block the time off via her school’s time-off website first. Oregon it is. That settled, I clicked the “buy now” button. I then sent Glenn an email detailing our intentions, the dates, and flight information. Thinking we want to do Mt. Bachelor (Bend) in lieu of Hood, however. We want Tom Shepperd to be part of our trip, too. We plan to invite the regulars as well, so we’ll need to wait before making lodging reservations. Mindy was gone for at least 90 minutes. I didn’t get a shower until just before she got home. I laundered my running clothes while she was out. Mindy started prepping the house for our annual Xmas party soon after her return home. She had an obvious plan and even had tags and lists for all the food. I helped where I could without messing up her organization. She/we are getting better at this, less cooking, baking, etc, and more buying. I prepped coolers, fetched ice, cleaned, etc. Mid-afternoon and feeling party stress, I walked down to the neighbors after pouring myself a rare afternoon beer. I talked with Kenny who was busy cleaning/organizing their 3-car garage. I visited with Kenny until Chrissy advised that GD Kaileigh was at our house dropping off a poinsettia we bought from her over the TG holiday. I hurried home to see her. She and Shelly didn’t stay too long, just long enough to say hello and get a hug. Mindy made arrangements with Shelly to have Kaileigh over around 2p on Xmas Eve. Mindy’s invite stated that the party would begin at 630p, that early to accommodate those bringing young children. And speaking of children, Jimaken dropped off Bella around 430p. Jacob was at a birthday party for a friend and would be arriving home with one of our guests, Dena & Tony. The last couple hours flew by. Mindy shared that she was expecting around 50 people. I doubted it, but OK. During the last hour I iced the beer, racked the wine, and cut up the spiral sliced ham. I convinced Mindy to serve the ham cold. Good call. It was delicious. Mindy headed upstairs to change at 6p. I only asked that she be back downstairs before the first guests arrived. I don’t like being the greeter. While upstairs, she got Bella ready too. We had finger food everywhere, on every surface available. Over the top, even. I was a little stressed. To combat the party jitters, I poured myself a Jack & Coke. There, now things aren’t so bad are they?  Our first guests arrived just after 630p, my friends Jill and Donnie Roberts and their two daughters. Mindy hadn’t met them before. Heck, I hadn’t seen Jill since shortly after Mindy & I met. Bella quickly warmed to their daughter Bella and took her up to her room. There were just a few minutes before our 2nd guests arrived, but then they began streaming in one after another until our house was chalked full of humanity. Our guests were a good mix from all walks of our lives; family, friends, and co-workers. Guests came and went throughout the evening. Because I had started drinking Jack, I decided it unwise to switch despite all the quality beer I bought, not to mention what others brought. Two guests gifted us with more Jack Daniels. Sweet! Worth mentioning, Doomie showed up wearing the wig I let him borrow last Saturday as if he’d been wearing every moment since (maybe he had). :) Also worthy of mention, discovered our friend Grandpa Tom knows my dad’s neighbor, Parkinson, whose hoarding habits and propensity to start and never finish a project are apparently well known. I ended up with quite the Jack buzz going as the party drew to a close. Mary Ann and Bob stayed later than most, Mary Ann helping Mindy clean-up most of the party mess. I’m guessing folks were gone by 11p. I had to laugh when I checked the coolers only to find as much or more beer than when the party started. Kenny’s daughter Lillian was still at our place playing with Bella. I walked her home. Kenny had a house full watching the UFC fight. I watched a little, but it’s not my thing. I headed home after maybe ten minutes. Then, after a little more general cleaning up, Mindy and I headed for bed.