The party was a lot of fun. We counted up the number of guests at the end of the night and we believe there were 42 people. It was a fairly easy party, because B and Bond really stepped up and helped more than usual with all the prep, plus Wil came on Friday, and my youngest son arrived at 1:00 pm on Saturday and they both helped, too.
The soups and chilies were a big hit. The weather was chilly and we had everything set for a fire on the patio, but then it started drizzling, so we never lit it.
Around noon the day of the party I told Bond about an idea I had for solving how to manage the "down part" of the cat highway (the one that goes over the light trough that runs along one side of the family room.) We've had a cat tree setting below the end of the run until we figured out a solution and it really clogs up the entryway. We had considered making a rope bridge from that corner to either the fireplace pillar or over the entry way to the closet by the front door. The ceiling peaks in the entry, but the closet only goes to 8' and is open above it. Neither idea thrilled me as we'd be adding more things overhead and the idea made me feel claustrophobic. My idea was to put a hole in the all for access into the dining room, with staggered shelves for the cats to traverse up and down. I was expecting I'd have to sell him on the idea, so I hadn't told him my idea when I first thought of it, because I was so tired all week that I didn't have the energy to champion my cause.
It was kind of funny, because when I told him I had a crazy idea, the first words out of his mouth were, "Does it involve making a hole in the house?"
He loved the idea and was all over it. Two hours before the party started he had a hole sawed through the drywall, and found an unexpected wire (!!!) that he'll have to move. We weren't able to get the shelves up before the party, so we pushed the cat tree into the dining room below the opening. The cat tree is too short for Max to go from the dining room into the family room, but I believe he'll be able to go from the family room into the dining room.
Party stories....
OMG, this was so funny. A poly friend comes in the kitchen, hangs her coat on one of the hooks over the bench in the kitchen, gives me a hug, and whispers in my ear, "Who is the handsome young guy? And is he available?"
I look in the direction she's indicating, and it's my son. I laugh and whisper in her ear, "My son, and he has a girlfriend." We both had a good laugh over that.
Later I was sitting at the dining room table with Franki and Smatch, Michelle and the Drummer, and my son. A friend comes into the room and I wanted to make room for her at the table as it was her first time coming to one of our parties and her partner had to work, so she was solo and didn't know a many people there. I asked my son to give her his chair and for him to grab the stool that's right behind him for himself. He jumps up, she protests, and I say, "It's okay. He's mine. He won't mind."
She raises an eyebrow and says something like, "Really? How did you manage that?"
I'm was so amused, and in that moment I'm desperately trying to come up with an answer that isn't crude, because all I can think of is, "I pushed him out 26 years ago."
Taylor laughed and said, "I'm her son."
We all laughed so hard.
She stopped me later to say how much she enjoyed talking to my son and how much he reminded her of her partner's son. She then asked if it was okay to take a picture of Tay and me together.
We sent her home with a bunch of keto food for her partner. They started keto in early September and they're doing good with weight loss, but they don't have many recipes and variety yet.
The other friend that was eyeing up my baby boy, we sent her home with one of my favorite paintings, Love is Love. It simply belongs in her house. They have one of the most gender-fluid, polycules you'll come across. Her wife is trans-gendered and they've managed to keep their marriage intact during her shift from male to female, which I think is quite remarkable. She had asked to buy the painting months ago, but when she found out my asking price she backed out, because she couldn't afford it which made me feel super bad that I had priced it out of her range. She's had a rough year of health problems, mostly undiagnosed, so she has not been working. She was so happy when Bond and I told her that it was to go home with her. She was fighting back tears.
Love is Love (24" x 36")
Her wife stopped me later to thank me, and she was tearful, too. It's definitely going to the right home!
So many good things happened that night and I could never convey it all to you, or capture the wonderful spirit of it. I am not that good of a storyteller. I wish I were, but I'm not. It was a good night. Good weekend, actually.