Mami Drama

So I got to live out a fantasy a week ago, and my gratitude to my mother, sister, and various friends-and-relations knows no bounds. (An aside, thank-you notes are in the offing from both Shay and me.)

I wanted to throw a graduation party like those I remember. You know, family, friends, punch and mints and finger sandwiches. Boring as hell if you’re a kid, I suppose, and next time I will probably ask for input. But this time I got to use my china and my punchbowl, and I made delicious punch and disgusting mints and my mommy made sandwiches and I had a ball!

We were blessed to have half my folks and my sister & brother-in-law, Papa & 2 of his sisters and their hubbys, and many friends. We missed the people who couldn’t be here, but I think we had a good time, anyway. I think there was a total of around 40 people. Not a lot of leftovers, not very much mess, not very much stress. It was awesome!  My mom & sister kept control of the chaos, as usual, and made it so much easier on me.

It was a fantasy because I’m not very good at entertaining. I am all about ideas and making stuff look pretty, but I suck at execution. & I REALLY suck at mingling. I have the attention span of a gnat. I wanted to relive my childhood, and for a few hours, I really did. I felt what it might have been like if I’d not left the Midwest, and for me that meant everything. My homesickness comes in waves of nostalgia and I am finally figuring out ways of staving off the worst of it by bringing elements into my life that remind me of the best of it.

Thank god for my mother. I appreciate my sister and our friends, but my mom understood what I wanted even if she doesn’t get why I needed it. I had sweet-tart punch and sour cream mints and ham salad & egg salad sandwiches and bars and salads and pretty things on my table. I had a punch bowl and a coffee urn filled and hostess plates & cups and pink china. I had people sitting in my living room and eating and playing outside, all to celebrate my oldest baby graduating. It was one of the coolest days I’ve had in a long time. Cuz, you know, it’s all about me:)