Getting Good at Entertaining?

New house?

New opportunities to entertain.

And entertaining we have been doing!

First - Jane and Junior came to see the new house.  We met them at Stone House in Delphi for lunch one day and they followed us to the new house to see it.  It was important to me, at least, that they be one of the first to see our new place and to know that they were always welcome to visit us.

Next - the "surprise' Housewarming Party.  Jan's idea, but the girls carried it out.  It was a small crowd due to numerous conflicts, but it was fun and I loved showing off the new place to our family and friends.  The comment that meant the most to me was that Gary and I seemed really happy here.  And we are.

Karen's Surprise 60th Birthday party was the next time many cars came up the lane and parked at the Party Barn.  That event originated with Amanda, then she pulled Shelby, Megan, and Hilary on board with the planning and execution of the party.  The best part was that I had to do nothing, absolutely nothing, except have the house ready for the bathroom brigade and I did that before the Las Vegas trip.

Sandy and Kent celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary with the next party in the Party Barn.  It was a small event, but I was more involved with planning the menu and cooking the food.  One of the things I really remember about that day is that Hilary was here for most of it and she commented that she really enjoyed the day, just sitting in the kitchen, talking with Karen and me, helping out where needed, and listening to the kids playing.

Sometime in there we had three visitors individually.  Tina stopped by after an REMC Board of Directors meeting in Delphi.  I had baked an apple cake and we enjoyed that and a cup of tea and chatted for an hour or so.  Having a friend stop by for an afternoon visit was fun and i hope she does that often.

Rebecca, our realtor, stopped on morning also.  We had a gift to thank her for everything she did to help us find the new place.  It was fun to show her the improvements we had made and listen to her reactions and comments.

Chris and I became friends when we were both teaching at night at Ivy Tech, she as an adjunct.  We started to have dinner out somewhere on those nights before the 6:00 start time.  Of all the people I knew at Ivy Tech, she is the one who makes the most effort to keep in touch and get together.  We met at Stone House also, then came to the house so she could see it and we chatted for a couple of hours, just to catch up on everything.

The most recent event was the visit from Melanie, Brian, and their girls.  They were Mom's neighbors in Wooster and we got to know them well over the last years of her life and while we were cleaning out the house.  Melanie's step-father was also our auctioneer/realtor for the property.  We had given them a gift certificate for a photo session as a thank you for all of their help, and they redeemed it by coming for Hilary's mini-photo sessions for the holidays.  Last night we invited them along with Megan and Hilary and their families, plus Karen and Amanda for pizza, salad, breadsticks, and desserts.  The kids played all evening, and the adults played a fierce game of Shanghai Rummy which was really intense at times.  It was a fun time.

And now we head into Thanksgiving week.  Starting on Wednesday the house will be full of activity again.  Greta and Kent are coming on Wednesday and will leave on Saturday.  Mike, Angie, and Nick will be here late Wednesday and leave either on Thursday night or early Friday morning.  The house will be full of the rest of the family for Thanksgiving Day.  And that is the way it should be!

Entertaining used to scare me.  I dreaded it.  I was embarrassed that the house might not look as good as it should, that the tub was old and the enamel was wearing off. On Thanksgiving everyone seemed to crowd around the table, shoes were piled by the door, and there wasn't room for everyone to sit comfortably and visit ---anywhere.  Now with the new house we have more room and no scarred tub and everything is in better shape that it was in the old house.  I like the way the new house looks, the room that we have, and the counter space that will be able to hold all of the food that will be prepared that day!

Yes, we are getting better at this entertaining thing.  That's the way it should be!  Next up will be Christmas!  Yeah!