The Open House went swimmingly, thank you, with only a few glitches.

I was a little stressed to find out that the invitations said 1 to 7, instead of 2 to 7. I found this out about two hours before guests started arriving. Not good!

Sister-In-Law, wonderful helper and guide that she is, arrived 30 minutes early with not two, but FIVE pans of potato salad. She's still a little miffed at me, I think. Forgot to put on my sweet and wonderful suit for a few minutes there. Whoopsie! But she did turn out to be a big help and her potato salad is very good.

So if you want some...

Also, several of my favorite people were no-shows due to a variety of family troubles. I missed them.

We ended up having almost exactly the right amount of food. I was a bit worried when some of my family members were going back for THIRDS but it turned out right in the end. And people were amazed that I made all the food myself. They didn't know I had it in me. :)

Big Boy was his usual gentlemanly self and very gracious with the hugging and kissing. He hates that stuff but understood that this was a requirement for the day. The only time he failed was when The Girl was here and they would sneak off to a quiet corner together. But by then he needed a break, I think.

The Girl's mom was here. She stood in the driveway with her coat on and wouldn't eat or drink anything. They finally convinced her to sit on the deck stairs but that was as far as she got. People who wanted to meet her had to go outside.

I can't say I totally blame her. I would have liked that, too!

The party really was cranking around 3pm with the arrival of Hubband's cousin and her new twin girls. Adorable! We all had fun passing babies around. Then several other people came with young chillin's and it was like Romper Room in here.

The weather? B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L! Sunny and low 70's all damn day! A friend of mine accused me of selling my soul or working some wicked wicca, but I think we just deserved it.

The crowd had thinned considerably by 6:30 so we lifted the moratorium on alcohol and popped the cork on a couple of bottles of wine. Hubband brought up the cooler we'd had on ice all day and let the beer flow. We had only a few good friends left by then so we sat around the fire near the garden (which garnered many compliments and looked amazing!)till almost 2am.

We left most of the mess, hit the sheets about 3am. After drinking the better part of two bottles of wine, I slept fitfully til about 4:30 am. Got up, used the "facilities", felt much better and slept until Little Boy stomped into our room, stating,"It's 9:30 and I've missed Spider-man!"

Hubband was a God yesterday and did all of the icky cleanup! He said I had worked hard enough. (And this is just one of the reasons why I lurve him so much!) I enjoyed peaceful morning on the deck with a book and my paper journal. In the afternoon we went to see "Star Wars...", which left me struggling to stay awake and failing through parts of it. (Not really impressive, if you ask me. I expect a little more from Mr. Lucas.) Returned home to finish out the "Trading Spaces" marathon in bed. A beautiful end to a beautiful day.

Now, I'm my brain is struggling to come up with reasons why I should not go to the gym. But I will not let it. I am going. I am going. I am going...