THIRTEEN PARTY THOUGHTS
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Aren't parties great? People mingling, good cheer flowing... the occasional interruption by the police... Seriously, I'm going to a party this evening and naturally, my TT thoughts have turned to parties in general.
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1. Believe it or not, I prefer hosting parties over attending. This surprises even me because I'm not really a take-charge type by nature. But I love planning, cooking, decorating... all that stuff.

2. Favorite parties? Christmas parties. This is pretty much the only time of year that my house is all decked out and I always have the urge to show it off.

3. Speaking of Christmas, I just heard recently about a new trend: Ugly Christmas Sweater Parties. Oh yes. I think I shall have one this year.

4. College parties always made me nervous. I was (and still am on occasion) a little shy in large groups and being in large groups of drunk horny 20-somethings just put me off.

5. My ex-husband and I threw probably the best housewarming party ever--for ourselves. We lived in a little log cabin in the country and invited friends, family, neighbors... It was a seriously good time--in fact, the ex said that when he died, he wanted me to throw him a party exactly like that one: "Just plunk my ashes down next to the Weber!"

6. "A party's not a party 'til the cops show up." The first year I lived with FS, we threw a heck of a holiday party. Things were in full swing when, ding-dong! Our neighbor (the nutty one) had called the cops because someone had parked on the street. It was the end of the world, to be sure--but we were afterwards heralded as "awesome" party givers.

7. My first party memory was my brother's graduation from high school. It also served as a family reunion since everybody showed up. My dad turned the garage into a bar. It was cool.

8. I never had a birthday party as a child. Birthdays were private family occasions. When I turned 40, the girls at work decked out our office to celebrate. It was so sweet. I just love them all.

9. I think one of the worst parties I ever attended was a kid's birthday at McDonald's. So. Loud. By the end of it all the kids had cried at least once. It was awful.

10. I threw my son a birthday party when he was in Kindergarten. We gave invitations to the whole class, 8 people RSVP'ed, and 16 kids showed up. Can anyone say chaos?

11. Oh, and then there was the bonfire party at my girlfriend's house where my ex showed up in the back of a police car. What a way to make an impression!

12. Then there was the time we had a cookout and the ex wanted to light the bonfire--due to the various chemicals that had been poured on, we had a wall of flame about two stories high for a good five minutes.

13. I think my least-liked parties are the tupperware-tyes, where you feel like you have to buy something. BTW, that's the kind of party I'm attending tonight. (But I'm assured of cocktails and appetizers, so I think I can handle it.)

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Okay, your turn: share some party thoughts/memories with me!

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