A weekend to remember

They came, they ate brownies, they didn't sleep very much....

Sounds like the makings for a festive weekend, no? Friday night, JoJo and MC arrived from parts distant to help me prepare for my house-warming party on Saturday. MC drove, and we picked up Jo and our friend AI, who was returning home from a business trip, at the airport. There was much gorging on Mexican food (which was not dampened even by spontaneous vomiting at the table by AI's young toddler) and then a sleepwalk through the grocery store to get the last provisions for the weekend.

MC reported that she slept better in my guest room than she has in several years. I credit the soothing blue tone. Jo later reported similarly sound sleep on her last night in town.

Have I mentioned how awesome my friends are? My girls did major work prepping food and keeping things well-stocked during the party. My man-friend came over once the party had started, and he brought wonderful home-made food and later helped with clean-up. The whole party was a pretty major event with some serious worlds colliding: work folks, my sometimes eccentric family, my oldest friends and newer ones.

It made me very happy that my girlfriends liked my man-friend. It hadn't occurred to me that they wouldn't until that one split second just as they were meeting. The same feeling overwhelmed me the first time my parents came to see my house. The lesson here is to trust your intuition; things will be fine.

Everyone seemed to have a lovely time. The entertainment turned out to be AI's and another guest's toddlers having a Baby Meeting of the Minds. Their ritual, not unlike dogs sniffing each other, was for each to poke a finger into the other child's mouth. Then they exchanged purses and got along beautifully.

Another highlight: some dear friends from college, Dave and Page, have just moved back to town. They came to the party and then Sunday we checked out their new house and played with their 2-year-old son, who is dangerously cute.

Really, it was all quite perfect. I'm already considering the next party. Will it be a brunch with MC's killer cheese grits and mimosas from the several bottles of champagne people have given me? Or perhaps this fall, a dinner party on the patio. I need a little more recovery time. Haven't been this tired since college, I think.