My kids were going to be away this weekend, so to battle the loneliness that I figured would be inevitable, I decided to have a Columbus Day BBQ. I invited a few people. Then I thought of a few more people who know the first people I invited, so I invited more people. And more people. I invited the people I work with, the entire Leadership class, college friends who live out of town, local friends, Facebook friends I don't see very often... this was turning into a whole big thing! And I was excited, but also a little nervous. I don't do big gatherings at my house very often, and I wondered if I'd really be able to pull it off and have it be enjoyable for everyone involved.
Friday night and Saturday morning I spent some really good, quality time cleaning. I bagged up the mountain of outgrown clothes that were in the hallway nook. I swept every room, and swept them all again. I put away stacks of books and laundry. I dusted off the phone stand/shelves. I threw things away (which I don't do often enough). I cleaned the piles of papers and toys off the dining room table. I scooted from room to room, music in the living room blasting some good-to-move-to, heavy rhythm type tunes, and was moving as fast as I was able. Dancing, singing and headbanging as I went, but moving quickly all the same. When I finally allowed myself time to take a break, step back and look at my house, I was amazed. In just a matter of a few hours, I had transformed my house from "cluttered" to "lived-in." And, yes, there *IS* a difference!
Ok, now the house was clean, so I needed to start preparing the food. I cut up and skewered chicken, peppers and onions that had been marinating in Italian dressing since the previous night. I slathered BBQ sauce on a small rack of ribs and set them on the grill. I started forming hamburgers after mixing some spices into the meat. And all the while, still dancing, moving, singing and occasionally headbanging. This is how I work best.
My neighbors showed up. Then a co-worker. I slowed down for a bit, while the burgers were cooking and the 4 of us sat outside in the beautiful sunshine, chatting and soaking in the gorgeous autumn weather. A few more friends arrived, and I started moving again. I don't like to sit still, truthfully. Especially when my OCD kicks in and I feel that everything needs to be exactly perfect when friends come to visit. More friends arrived. And more friends. My energy level was over the top and my excitement was overflowing. All in all, there were probably close to 30 people at my "little" BBQ, and throughout the day nearly all of them commented to me what a great party it was. I enjoyed every moment, from when my neighbors walked in at 12:15 until the last 4 people left at 9:30.
Holy crap. I did it. I successfully pulled off a fairly large party, and everyone seemed to have a really great time! I am basking in my own AHA!
This was a great sense of accomplishment to me. I was thrilled that so many people made the effort to come to my house. I know that I have lots of friends, but somehow having that many people at my house - because I invited them there - emphasized that people really do enjoy spending time with me. I was honored that a friend drove an hour from Rochester, and two others drove approximately three hours from near Albany to hang out for the day. Again, basking in my own AHA of knowing that people will go to that length to have a good time because I asked them to.
As the sun set behind the trees and it started to cool down outside, people began to leave and the party moved indoors. Little by little people fell away, until there were 5 of us left. 2 of these friends and I all went to college together and participated in a whole lot of music activities and functions together. As we were reminiscing and telling stories, I kept saying, "I have pictures of that. I *KNOW* I have pictures of that!" Finally, I hunted around a bit and pulled out two old photo albums. One from 1994-1995 and the other from 1995-1996. And wouldn't you know- I did have pictures from all those events we were reliving and remembering! So the 5 of us huddled around the photo albums and looked, page by page, at two of the best years of my life. Even the 2 who hadn't known us in college were laughing out loud at the stories that the other 3 of us had to tell! Phenomenal moment of AHA!
I began scanning all the old college photos, with the grand intention to digitally create a Music scrapbook. These photos, and memories, are much to precious to be lost. The AHA has been overflowing the past few days, and I have literally been laughing hysterically out loud as I'm looking at these pictures and remembering all the goofy things my friends and I did at 22-23 years old. And every moment that I think of these people I spent so much time with, and the bonds that we formed, and the friendships that we still hold so dear, the AHA overflows some more. It's a very beautiful thing!
Hey your BBQ was awesome and I didn't know the skewers were your doing. I loved them!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, just letting you know people are still reading your blog.
-Sarah Foster-Peck