Party recap part one.

This year’s party is over, done with, and on the books. It certainly goes down as a memorable one.

Ordinarily I say don’t reveal what the plan was, only what the results were, focus on what went right, not what didn’t get done. I am making an exception tonight only because so many things fell short of the goal. Sigh.

So I was an hour late to the party, for starters. After setting up, (for HOURS longer than anticipated) the boys and I went home to get Kat, then to Nolen & Elisa’s to get food, then drop everyone off at the venue. Then I took Matthew and his friend Brittney to collect his friend Romeo and get the eggnog. That is when I realized that I had left the punch ladles at home. I had to stop at the store and purchase soup ladles to serve beverages with.  In the mean time, Kat made the punch wrong (totally not her fault).

Also, we had no ice. Who has a party without ice?  The white wine wasn’t chilled.  We forgot the champagne.  Even though the dessert table was lovely with the silver serving platters and bowls, Kat felt it was bare in comparison to the savory tables. 

I forgot, again, to take pictures of the centerpieces, but luckily Katie Powell remembered and did an amazing job.  But I forget to get a family picture, or at the least a picture with Kat. Sigh.

So, with all that went wrong, how was the party?

Kathleen says that Christmas doesn’t begin for her until the party.  What I learned this year is that, like Christmas, it is going to come anyway. It will come without chocolate covered pretzels; it will come without pictures, without ladles, without ice, without champagne. It came without ribbons, It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags…Then I thought of something I hadn't before. What if Christmas… doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more?