Ponder the Party

The day was filled with parties. The first was a reminder in many ways. Our littlest cousin, Kate turned one. Bob and I smiled that knowing smile of parents. We could see ourselves in each parent. They all had little ones running, crawling and toddling around. Mom chasing the little boy around, dad holding the new baby and talking with other dads about naps, pacifiers and sports. We appreciate and sympathize with these brave souls. We were there about 8-9 years ago. We look back with great memories but also with gratitude. Grateful that our girls are older and that we are no longer sleep deprived due to them anyway. I will be sleep deprived again in a few years when Sid starts going out with friends, driving and dating. UGH.
The kids were all adorable and it was a great party for an adorable one year old.
We stopped by the store to get ingredients for artichoke dip. I made it to take to the neighborhood party. I snuck in an hour nap too. Riley got dropped off at her buddy's house. They were going to an outdoor movie on the lake. I thought through what I was going to wear, what Bob would wear, what to take for wine, etc. I even took the time to blow dry my hair straight which is no easy feat. We arrived a bit late, everyone was starting to eat. Lots of people were there, socializing on the extremely large deck of this over 4500 sq. foot home with a lake view. I was so pleasantly surprised to find out that I actually knew the host and owner of this home. He is just about the cutest man I have met. He walks his golden retriever past our house most mornings. His dog is obsessed with an outdoor cat that wanders around. We have waved to one another and stopped to chat on a few occasions. His wife and daughter are wonderful, having just moved in about six months ago, from Bellevue. We met some extremely interesting people with the most fascinating professions. A man that thinks up new ideas for toys and pitches his ideas to toy manufactures, his wife an artist. A marine biologist turned baker. A woman who told me she and her husband were "peacenicks" and they are appalled but proud of their son who is an officer in the Army. A guy that works for Microsoft in the XBox division. When everyone found out where we lived, they just about kissed our feet. So happy were they all. The previous owners had let it go to various family members and caretakers. The original owners were pack rats, there was talk of pit bulls, old cars and drugs. They welcomed us with open arms and loads of gratitude. The "peacenick" woman thought that I should hire a Shaman and have a sage burning purification ceremony to rid the house of all of the negative energies or influences that had lived here. She said that I didn't have to hire a Shaman, that I could do it myself. I thought Californians were eccentric...I thanked her for the advice. So back to my carefully blown dry hair do... it began to sprinkle while we chatted with strangers, it began to rain in earnest as we worked to get to know strangers and have them get to know us. I began to have garish thoughts of my hair turning into a hairsprayed glob of fluff and fourteen pounds of mascara and Mac foundation running down my face. As I managed to work my way under an awning and out of the rain, I caught a peek of my reflection in a window, it was okay... thank goodness.