Entertaining

Tonight was the night for our small little Happy Hour gathering. It turned out to be just HUGE. WAY huger than anything I could possibly have imagined. It was really just absolutely stifling if one most know the truth. I realize, that as Chris' wife, I am called upon from time to time to host these types of events...but they are truly out of my comfort zone for sure. For one...most of these people are strangers...at least to me...or even if I have met them casually a time or two...they are still strangers. LOTS of them. It is not a far stretch to say that I have some crowd issues. I avoid them at all costs. REALLY. I HATE it when someone moves into what I consider MY space at the gym. The aerobics studio is a big place, you know what I mean? Yet inevitably someone wants to stand right NEXT to me. UGGGGh. I hate grocery stores when they are crowded, rarely attend concerts, avoid 4th of July gatherings and don't even like school plays, etc. I really am not a crowd kind of girl. But tonight....crowd was the word. There were so many people standing around my kitchen that it was just disorienting. The night ended up okay. Although...it is stressful for me when so many people are around because when there are SO many people, it is just so hard to focus on any of them really. I found myself at the beginning of the night just visiting with a couple of folks that I already knew mostly outside of Ventana. But I knew that I had to move on from that and mingle with Chris' coworkers....hard as that is for me. So...I navigated my way to my favorite bottle of wine...because these things just require it...and jumped in and started working my way around. I talked with too many people. More than I can really recall. I made sure to hit the important ones...Chris' boss and his past one...though at one point I really wanted to snag the boss and discuss with him how I don't appreciate AT ALL him snagging MY hubby as one of the ONLY two in the whole darned company who has to go to Turkey here next month...but I resisted. Made meaningless small talk instead. Circulated some more...walked people to the door...circulated some more. All in all, when the door was closed to the last guest it was LLLLLLATE! And I was tired. I was just thinking at that moment of my little girl who was at her very first ever sleep over with a friend and thinking that "Wow! She really stayed over!"...when the phone rang. And it was my dear friend phoning to let me know that my girl was not really going to complete the whole sleep over thing and that she was on the way over with her! I smiled to myself...thinking she had ALMOST made it! When my friend pulled up both my girl AND hers were OUT dead asleep in the back seat. It's a whole 4 minute drive from my house to hers, so I knew our girls must have played so hard. She confirmed that they truly had. And as I carried my baby girl in the house she woke up just long enough to tell me that she "just couldn't bear to be away from me all night long". How sweet was that? I am choosing to truly treasure these days...days when my daughter would rather be here at home, with me, than off with any friends. That no matter what the world offers her (and tonight the offerings were pretty awesome) she prefers her family and her home. We had a sweet snuggle as I carried her upstairs. I had to admit that I too will sleep better tonight knowing that she is just at the top of the stairs. And that we will all wake up in the morning and start the day anew....together. Tomorrow...she just might be ready to head off into the world without me. But tonight...well, it's a sweet, sweet thing to have my baby close to home! Life is good in the desert! Crowds and all!