Party Rundown
This past weekend was a whirlwind of family, friends, and activity.
Here’s the rundown:
Friday:
My dad picked up my middle sister at the airport a little before noon and they showed up at the house around 12:30. With lunch, which was good.
Much of the day was spent doing last-minute cleaning and organizing. We picked my friend Sam up at the airport around 5pm—he and I have been friends since we were kids and he came all the way form Chicago for this. My youngest sister’s bus was late getting in so we went to pick her up around 8pm or so.
Came back, grilled dinner (steaks for the guys, salmon steak for my lovely wife, hot dogs for our daughter, veggie burgers and veggie dogs for the girls), did a bit more around the house, then crashed. Sam took the futon in the office while the girls slept on an inflatable mattress in our daughter’s room. She was thrilled—she’s been talking about it for weeks.
Saturday:
My cousin and his wife got in around 10:30 and took a cab to us. We were already up, of course. A final touches to the house and then people started getting ready for the onslaught.
The first wave arrived at 12:30, an hour early—I answered the door in T-shirt and shorts. Managed to change into more presentable clothing a few minutes later.
The actual baby-naming was supposed to be at 1:30 but we delayed until about 2pm because the rain (it poured for most of the afternoon) was slowing down arrivals. All but one guest was here by the time we started, however.
dochyel did the honors, and very nicely, too. Our son was very attentive and well-behaved, as were most of the guests. The actual ceremony is short, so after that it was just hanging out and socializing.
We had a total of forty people over, all of them either family or close friends. Our son was held by at least six different people during the course of the day, and our daughter played with not only her cousins and her playmate but her grandfather, her aunts, and other relatives and friends. My lovely wife did an excellent job with the food (she started cooking on Thursday) and we still had ample amounts afterward despite everyone eating their fill. Drinks we ran pretty close on but we didn’t actually run out; it’s just that afterward there wasn’t much left.
A few people left around 4:30 or 5pm. More left within the next hour. By 8pm it was down to just us, our houseguests, and my dad. Which was fine. We cleaned up, picked at leftovers, hung out, watched SNL (first time I’ve actually watched it since my daughter’s naming—my cousin and his wife are fans), hung out a bit more, then all collapsed.
My cousin and his wife took the sofa bed in the family room, so we had a total of nine people in the house. We could probably fit another one on the living room couch if necessary.
Sunday:
We got up around 10am and nibbled breakfast. My cousin and his wife caught a car to the airport, missing my dad by only a few minutes (he had meant to take them but had forgotten his cell phone and hadn’t called to confirm).
We relaxed and nibbled lunch before taking my youngest sister to her bus. Then a little more time at home and off to the airport (LaGuardia) with Sam, then down to JFK with my middle sister.
My dad spent the night with us, so after all the airport runs we simply relaxed and ate a little dinner and all went to bed at a (for us) reasonable hour.
Monday my dad left early for the airport. I got up at my usual time an hour later to go to work.
It was an excellent weekend. Busy, definitely, but it was really nice to see everybody. As with any event of this nature I wish I’d been able to spend more time with most of the people who showed, and I was happy I got to see my cousins and my friend and my sisters for a bit before and after.
Most of the food is gone now. The house is basically cleaned back up, though for now we might leave the living room in its new, more open configuration. Our daughter misses having her aunts and her grandpa and her cousins staying with us. Our son probably misses having so many people to hold him—he was rarely set down during the weekend because there was always someone else willing to shoulder him.
I think we’re still catching up on sleep.
Here’s the rundown:
Friday:
My dad picked up my middle sister at the airport a little before noon and they showed up at the house around 12:30. With lunch, which was good.
Much of the day was spent doing last-minute cleaning and organizing. We picked my friend Sam up at the airport around 5pm—he and I have been friends since we were kids and he came all the way form Chicago for this. My youngest sister’s bus was late getting in so we went to pick her up around 8pm or so.
Came back, grilled dinner (steaks for the guys, salmon steak for my lovely wife, hot dogs for our daughter, veggie burgers and veggie dogs for the girls), did a bit more around the house, then crashed. Sam took the futon in the office while the girls slept on an inflatable mattress in our daughter’s room. She was thrilled—she’s been talking about it for weeks.
Saturday:
My cousin and his wife got in around 10:30 and took a cab to us. We were already up, of course. A final touches to the house and then people started getting ready for the onslaught.
The first wave arrived at 12:30, an hour early—I answered the door in T-shirt and shorts. Managed to change into more presentable clothing a few minutes later.
The actual baby-naming was supposed to be at 1:30 but we delayed until about 2pm because the rain (it poured for most of the afternoon) was slowing down arrivals. All but one guest was here by the time we started, however.
dochyel did the honors, and very nicely, too. Our son was very attentive and well-behaved, as were most of the guests. The actual ceremony is short, so after that it was just hanging out and socializing.
We had a total of forty people over, all of them either family or close friends. Our son was held by at least six different people during the course of the day, and our daughter played with not only her cousins and her playmate but her grandfather, her aunts, and other relatives and friends. My lovely wife did an excellent job with the food (she started cooking on Thursday) and we still had ample amounts afterward despite everyone eating their fill. Drinks we ran pretty close on but we didn’t actually run out; it’s just that afterward there wasn’t much left.
A few people left around 4:30 or 5pm. More left within the next hour. By 8pm it was down to just us, our houseguests, and my dad. Which was fine. We cleaned up, picked at leftovers, hung out, watched SNL (first time I’ve actually watched it since my daughter’s naming—my cousin and his wife are fans), hung out a bit more, then all collapsed.
My cousin and his wife took the sofa bed in the family room, so we had a total of nine people in the house. We could probably fit another one on the living room couch if necessary.
Sunday:
We got up around 10am and nibbled breakfast. My cousin and his wife caught a car to the airport, missing my dad by only a few minutes (he had meant to take them but had forgotten his cell phone and hadn’t called to confirm).
We relaxed and nibbled lunch before taking my youngest sister to her bus. Then a little more time at home and off to the airport (LaGuardia) with Sam, then down to JFK with my middle sister.
My dad spent the night with us, so after all the airport runs we simply relaxed and ate a little dinner and all went to bed at a (for us) reasonable hour.
Monday my dad left early for the airport. I got up at my usual time an hour later to go to work.
It was an excellent weekend. Busy, definitely, but it was really nice to see everybody. As with any event of this nature I wish I’d been able to spend more time with most of the people who showed, and I was happy I got to see my cousins and my friend and my sisters for a bit before and after.
Most of the food is gone now. The house is basically cleaned back up, though for now we might leave the living room in its new, more open configuration. Our daughter misses having her aunts and her grandpa and her cousins staying with us. Our son probably misses having so many people to hold him—he was rarely set down during the weekend because there was always someone else willing to shoulder him.
I think we’re still catching up on sleep.
posted by Gryphon Rose @ 1:57 PM
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