I never do weekend recaps, but this weekend was special because it was my goddaughter's 9th birthday and I had agreed to help organize my friend's house before the big day and co-host the slumber party. This was my first mistake.
As much as I love organizing, I find it very stressful to organize other people's houses because you're essentially making decisions for them for how they'll live and utilize their own possessions. It feels a little invasive to me. But I did it anyway, with the crux of my efforts being focused on her kitchen and I relearned a lesson I'd forgotten: cleaning is a lot of work!
Come Friday morning, I was already sore and tired and the bleary weather was echoing my energy levels perfectly. Nevertheless, I returned to the scene to begin party preparation. 3 hours in, when things were looking festive and somewhat put together, I was feeling a tad bit more cheerful. Then they began to arrive.
I like little girls. I usually find I can slip back into that mindset and find things to chatter about and entertain each other with. But 3 girls in and the shrieking had already begun. 9 girls in and I was having trouble with the headcount. By the time all 13 had arrived, Melisandre and I were in combat mode. "You get them started on the pizzas, I'll try to find a new place for the pillowcases, girls STOP FLIPPING ONTO THE COUCH, THAT IS WET PAINT!!!"
I'll skip all the gory details and get straight to the lessons I learned (sorry for the repeat, FB friends):
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| The invitation flyer we made for my goddaughter to pass out to her classmates (32 all told, thank goodness they didn't all show!) |
As much as I love organizing, I find it very stressful to organize other people's houses because you're essentially making decisions for them for how they'll live and utilize their own possessions. It feels a little invasive to me. But I did it anyway, with the crux of my efforts being focused on her kitchen and I relearned a lesson I'd forgotten: cleaning is a lot of work!
Come Friday morning, I was already sore and tired and the bleary weather was echoing my energy levels perfectly. Nevertheless, I returned to the scene to begin party preparation. 3 hours in, when things were looking festive and somewhat put together, I was feeling a tad bit more cheerful. Then they began to arrive.
I like little girls. I usually find I can slip back into that mindset and find things to chatter about and entertain each other with. But 3 girls in and the shrieking had already begun. 9 girls in and I was having trouble with the headcount. By the time all 13 had arrived, Melisandre and I were in combat mode. "You get them started on the pizzas, I'll try to find a new place for the pillowcases, girls STOP FLIPPING ONTO THE COUCH, THAT IS WET PAINT!!!"
I'll skip all the gory details and get straight to the lessons I learned (sorry for the repeat, FB friends):
- Craft supplies must be WASHABLE! (But really, paint of any kind is a terrible idea)
- Twister probably would have gone over better than movie time
- 13 is a LOT of children
I wish I had pictures for you, either before and afters of our massive cleaning endeavor, or the party decoration, or just me and Melisandre before we became no-nonsense drill sergeants with an intolerance for gymnastics and a newfound loathing for fabric paint. But in the chaos, photos were the last thing on my mind.
I am however, going to share some other weekend pictures with you, because I'm feeling chatty today.
Ryan and I were poking around in a newly acquired baby name book and discovered that my name and my 2 sisters' names were the top 3 most popular girl's names in the 80's. In birth order, though my mom claims not to have known this when she picked them.
One of my awesome coworkers gave me a huge pile of her old maternity clothes and I have discovered a newfound love of stripes! They accentuate the belly and I'm finding myself actually liking how it looks instead of feeling self-conscious and worried that I might be gaining too fast or whatever. Also, maternity clothes are magic and I am wearing the first size mediums I've owned since maybe middle school. :P
We went to a comedy club!!! I've been wanting to do this for ages, so it's nice to finally be able to check it off my list. I was a bit nervous because I picked the show and then we ended up inviting people and no one really gave any input so it felt like it would be all my fault if it wasn't funny. Fortunately, Justin Willman is hilarious and he did a comedy/magic performance that had us discussing the definition of "magic" and how he could have possibly pulled off some of his tricks the whole way home.
AND THEN I had to get caught up with client projects, one of which ended up taking me approximately 8 hours longer than I expected so I got 1 hour of sleep last night. (Side note: Word sucks.) Plegh. I could use a few days of doing nothing.
AND THEN I had to get caught up with client projects, one of which ended up taking me approximately 8 hours longer than I expected so I got 1 hour of sleep last night. (Side note: Word sucks.) Plegh. I could use a few days of doing nothing.
How was your weekend? Any mistakes made or new adventures had?
