As promised, here I am, resolved to be a more considerate diarist. (Diaryist?) We'll just eliminate some of those non-essentials from my schedule like eating and sleeping.

The party was a blazing success. (There actually was blazing when one of my candle thingies caught fire, but diaster was averted by a psychic moment.) We had about 90 people through (including rugrats and the host family). The food was ahhed about. The decorations were oohed about. Hugs were given and many little hostess gifts were received.

We opened our "wine cellar" this year, which I think people appreciated. We're not wine drinkers. He doesn't care for the taste and to me it all tastes the same. (Sorry, but when you're looking for someone to judge fried bologna sandwiches, I'm your girl!) Anywho, every year we get anywhere from a couple to a dozen bottles of wine as hostess gifts. Generally, we accept them and then get distracted and move on so we end up with quite the dusty old wine cellar. As I was setting up the party stuff this year I noticed that we had a 1998 Merlot and a 1999 Pinot Gringo (Allie, help me here! Is that right?) We had a couple of other things, too.

So I popped the corks on those bad devils and let the festivities begin. The stuff just flew out of here. One of my friends drank the Merlot almost entirely on her own.

Then my friend brought some of her homemade wine (four bottles) and that was gone before I knew it.

So I guess we got us some wine drinkers amongst our clan now.

And, of course, after Memorial Day when we had to go on 3 extra beer runs, we decided a 1/4 keg wouldn't do and got a 1/2 barrell. Yeah. Anybody want some beer? Really. We got more than enough left over. Probably due to two things: 1) I didn't start drinking until about 8:00 and then only finished about 3 beers, and 2) Obnoxious Neighbor had to work so he came early, left early and didn't drink at all.

Next year's plan? A couple of good bottles of wine and back to the 1/4 keg.

Other good news:

We invited Grandma's cousins again (they live near enough but we rarely see them because that would involve Grandma picking up the phone). Last year they couldn't come but this year he came. Unfortnately, his wife is in a home due to Alzheimer's and a stroke, but he came and that made Grandma very happy. Everytime someone new would walk in she would introduce him as if it were a reception for the king or something. I'm glad I could make her happy and hopefully it will entice her to give him a call every now and then.

Cute Trainer Boy was here. He RSVP'ed in the middle of the party, but at least he called, to say they would be there later, rather than earlier. And...NOTHING!! Let me put that differently. It was great to see them - BOTH of them - and I was all about big hugs and making sure they had enough food. But they stayed inside all night and I was mingling and there were other people there that I needed to see and it really made me feel good to not have that flutter-kick thing going in my gut. Instead I just had this nice warm feeling from being with my friends and we had some nice conversation. They're practically living together now (jeez what a shock) and he's still trying to find the right niche for his talents.

Only two real problems for the day:

Hubband's Sister made a big deal about the fact that we're planning our own open house for Big Boy's graduation this year. She thinks he's upset by it. He didn't seem upset when we asked him if he would be upset but we're going to revisit the topic sometime soon. Meanwhile, she can feel free to keep her nose out of our business, but I'm sure she won't.

A couple from Hubband's work came WITH THEIR 5 CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 10!!!!!! We love kids. We encourage people to bring their kids. Max likes to have chilluns to play with and we'd hate for their parents to miss the party just because they couldn't get a sitter. But if people are going to breed like rabbits, they really need to work out some sort of plan where the party's hostess is not a babysitter!

Aside from the fact that they reduced my goody bag count by 1/3, they then took the contents of their bags and strew them about the house, causing the mother to accuse one of my friends of stealing her kids bags. (I know, I know. Next year I'll give them the things on the way out, but I thought they would be nice entertainment.)

The parents of these kids (two more exhausted people you'd never want to meet) spent the entire night telling each other, "It's your turn to watch them" and then ending up looking for one or more lost children. I sustained a number of bruises, myself, trying to keep the middle one (a rather active little boy of about 3 or 4) from running out the front door in the dead of night.

These people stayed for 4 HOURS!!!!!

Hubband says he thinks the last one was an accident. I told him I'd think by the time No. 4 rolled in they'd have figured out the cause!)

So, that was a struggle. But all the other children were more than wonderful. And Max had a great time. And we had a great time. And our friends had a great time.

Yesterday was all about the cleanup. We're pretty much back to where we were, with the exception of leftovers.

Hubband had a couple of his buds over to watch the football game and help him try to polish off the keg (not even close).

(Incidentally, could the person paying the Lions to lose every damned game please call my husband because he just doesn't believe me when I say that must be the cause.)

I went grocery shopping for real food (as opposed to party food) and spent the remainder of the day doing dishes (it seems). I did make some pretty good homemade Mac & Cheese for dinner. I'm the only one who apparently cares and that's all right by me.

I'm thinking hard about trying to get back to working out on a regular basis while also adding a few more hours to my work schedule. I want to be able to do both and I think if I develop a good routine, I should.

Well, I'm tired and hungry. I'm going to eat and watch "Buffy". Then maybe pay some bills. Then go to bed. (That will hopefully take care of the tired part!)

Talk to you soon!