I'm Still Here

Somehow I decide to have some sort of party. And then it begins. The decisions on food, decorations, rearranging the furniture, drinks to serve, etc. The preparation. Tidying up things and tossing the excess in my office and the spare room. Then there are guests surging in, drifting out and finally the cleanup and moving our real life back in. And I wonder why I do it, but I also know. I like entertaining people even though sometimes I don't like going to parties at other people's homes.

I put up signs for some parties to help people find their way around the house. I invited fifty people over for a Christmas party once. I made signs to distinguish trash from recycling and hoped to have the folks help keep things tidy and the cartoon is one illustration from that. I also have a 'dog jail' sign I reuse and I put my dog and all the junk that would otherwise be cluttering the rest of the house in my office and hang that up. By the end of the party people always want the dog to be released. She, of course, wants to scour the floor for dropped food.

Anyway, I'm not blogging because I'm dealing with all the little details of letting a friend give a play in our media room tomorrow night. It's his guest list but I know a lot of the people, of course. And it's time to get busy and get the evidence of our messy life out of sight, lay in supplies of stuff and prepare to move the furniture around to 'set the stage.'

A day before like this I'm always a little tense. There are so many little things to do. I have help, of course. Already FFP has tidied up the yard and put out some flowers and plants to add to it's spring look. A caterer is bringing hors d'oeuvre tomorrow. The playwright and his friends will help move stuff around. But there are things I feel I must do. And I better get cracking.

When we downsize, we can't entertain this many people. That's either good or bad. I'm not sure. Of course, we can rent a hall so to speak. Entertain in the club room of the condo or at our club. It's not the same as moving your real life out of the way and turning your house into a party venue.

I read that Austin now requires parties in retail stores and such to have a permit for 'changed use.' SXSW got the police to shut down private parties during their event. All for people's own good, of course. The article said that parties in private homes didn't require the permits which would require a visit from the fire inspection people. Most homes wouldn't qualify! No sprinklers or fire exits. Ah, regulation. Good they saw not to apply it to private homes although I'm sure someone will use it to their own devices somehow. But at least that isn't on my list: get permit.