I’m getting old.
Seriously, I have put on parties of this size before. And I used to do it without the luxury of a car, so I had the added aggravation of lugging groceries and decorations all over creation. I used to bounce back relatively quickly, but today, I am in pain. But happy pain. Not happy pain as in, “Oh spank me again! *squeal* Yeah baby!” but more like the afterglow of a really good orgasm. Only problem is, my fingers hurt too much to even bother doing that. 🙂
All in all, I’d say it was a successful soiree. The usual suspects Shawn, Scott, Dave, Paul and Bryan showed up bearing gifts of food and drink. Shawn made kickass kebabs. Paul made some addictive bean dip (which Angie’s husband Shawn — yes, another Shawn. Oh my! — noted that the secret ingredient had to be crack, because none of us could move away from the bowl!). Scott made some mean baked beans. Everyone brought some variant of booze, beer and mixers (which means I just need to have another party REAL soon!), and we ate like queens kings.
I was pleased to finally meet the legendary Silver Blue, Tink and PoloRandy, who drove up here from Virginia Beach, bearing gifts and a blue bunny.
Speaking of four-pawed wonders, Miss Maddie chose to hide under my bed for most of the night, but I think she had a contact high from some of the smoke in the house, because when I brought her out to meet people (it was Hans who really wanted to see her, and she was quite compliant as she cuddled up to him — it’s been awhile since she’s been near a straight man!), she was cool. She even hung out in the living room for awhile, crashing on her kitty couch and just kinda checkin’ out the scene from the corner of the room.
Short Bus Cat (known now as “Shorty B.”) stayed caged for most of the night. Unfortunately, she scratched up a number of people, and at some point, she got away and was running around the house. Because we had the balcony doors open and I didn’t want them closed (it was 70 degrees last night!), I trapped her in my room, chased her for 15 minutes, and corralled her back into her cage. She finally realized that she was safe and could also watch the action from her little vantage point, so she didn’t whine too much.
I was also thrilled to see my friends Dawn and Rob, whom I haven’t seen in the flesh in at least a year and a half (with Dawn) and probably two years (with Rob). (Rob, by the way, came up with the “Shorty B.” moniker — it has stuck so far!). They brought me lovely set of handpainted martini glasses (and, no, Rob, I didn’t put them in the dishwasher. Yet. LOL) and many Skyy products. Ah, they know me so well. 😉
All in all, other than the fact that a piece of my grill is in FUCKING PITTSBURGH and I had to run around town to find a cheapie, tiny grill and charcoal, the party turned out OK. I had hoped to have food grilled before the guests got here, but because I only bought the grill right before they showed up, it didn’t happen, which sucks because people left before I even had most of the food out (although the Sweet Lebanon in my cheese plate, and my secret-recipe sweet pepper relish dip from Harry and David (yeah, there’s the secret!) were happily consumed until the grilling could begin).
Grillmaster Scotty K. chose not to live up to his name last night, opting instead to imitate Grandpa Simpson and snooze for an hour-plus on the couch during the height of the soiree. 🙂 But Shawn and Paul valiantly took over, and the day was saved. And I’ve got about a trillion hamburgers, hot dogs and kebabs sitting in the fridge, crying to be cooked, because that little grill only managed to cook enough for those of us left slumping slurring standing at the end of the evening. 🙂
I have photos of the party-goers in my camera, which I hope to upload later this week. I also have some shots of Scott dressed as Flo for Halloween (complete with his pantyhose and the boxers he wore under them!) that will find a home at Chez Caterwauling in the very near future.
Well, time to go feed the kitties. Shorty B. has been rather good today, and I want to reward her before I get another claw in my temple. 🙂
Anyway, just wanted to give a shout-out to all my peeps who made my apartment-warming special!!! 🙂 Thanks guys!!!