The Christmas Party

Our annual Christmas party is a major event for Mimi. It is not unusual for her to start planning several months in advance. She spends countless hours baking and decorating cookies, planning a full buffet, and decking out the house. Many of our friends are scattered around the metro area from Warrensburg, VA to Annapolis, MD to Martinsburg, WV. This is our opportunity to see friends we only get to see once or twice a year.

This year, Mimi got a special treat. Her mother, May, arrived on Tuesday to help Mimi get ready for the party. It was perfect timing! Mimi was in class all week and was not getting home until after six. Mimi had done a lot of prep work (i.e., making cookie dough, etc.), so her mother took care of baking during the day and Mimi continued her efforts after work.

Friday and Saturday were the typical frantic days. Mimi took off work and went into high gear. With the help of mother and friends (and some help from me!), everything was finished and we were ready for the party on Saturday night!

We had a little bit of a scare with the weather. Possible ice and sleet was predicted to roll in about dusk. I had visions of eating leftovers for a month! Luckily, the Weather Service was wrong and we had a great turnout. I think there was somewhere between 45 - 60 people that made it this year. For a brief moment, I thought we might run out of food! OK, it was only a brief moment. It was probably the closest we came in a quite a few years!

Everyone appeared to have good time. Old friends, some new friends, co-workers, and neighbors made there way here and gave Mimi her "party fix" for another year. As much as we enjoy it, I am glad we do not do it more often. I was beat the next day.........

It is easy to get caught up in the trappings of the season, but there are certainly some nice benefits. Spending time with our family and friends is certainly at the top of this list!