My first dinner party

This past Saturday I invited my family (all 19 of them) to my house for our pre-Christmas celebration. My aunt and her family of 5 couldn't attend, so including Mr. Right and myself, we had 14 people in our home.

There are several reasons this is remarkable:

* i have OCD tendencies, and don't like people messing up my stuff

By the grace of God, I was able to not be a perfectionist for a change. My guest were to arrive at 5 o'clock, and at 4:15, I was on the couch, enjoying my Christmas tree and a magazine.

My house was clean enough and the two dishes I made were sufficient. (It was a potluck finger food party - I made chili-cheese dip and pasta salad). I had planned no activities, knowing that this crowd has a way of entertaining themselves.

* Mr. Right and his father have both criticized the house for enough living space

When we first moved in I had to ask Mr. Right to quit commenting on the inadequacies of the home. By my standard its huge (about 500 sq ft bigger than the home I grew up in) and I didn't appreciate anyone, even my beloved, saying otherwise.

While I'll agree the layout of the living room leaves a little to be desired (too many walk ways take away the usable space), I'll reiterate that 14 people were in my living room comfortably on Saturday. How small can it be? (Some of us young whipper snappers sat in the floor, while others pulled in chairs from the dining room.)

*Mr. Right had post-party car trouble

This is the one moment that my anxiety level was high. After our guests left, the hubs wanted to go to the store for some tobacco. Crappy Chrysler #1 wouldn't start, so he went to the gas station in Crappy Chrysler #2. He called shortly thereafter and told me that #2 wouldn't start and he needed me to come jump him off.

I drive tiny toyota to the gas station and have to wait 30 minutes for him to fix Crappy Chrysler #2. He boosted #2 off, but then as he put it in reverse, it died again.

I had two levels of frustration - the first being my sink-ful of dishes. The second is the fact that he has two vehicles and neither is 100% reliable.

If I were to add a third, it would be the country giving billions of dollars to bail out a company who can't make a vehicle that starts properly in the rain. But that frustration came after my kitchen was clean. :)

Over all, I think the dinner party was a success and we plan to have it again next year. My aunt quit hosting the event because it was too much work and money. So maybe when I have children I won't continue the event, but for now I look forward to making pre-Christmas mayhem at my house a tradition!