Confession: I Love a Good Party!

Confession: I LOVE THROWING A GREAT PARTY!   Why?  All right, I'm just going to come right on out and say it.  I'm not shy.  There. Shocking, I know.  I love spending time with the people I love, and more often than not a Party is a great way to make that happen!

True, at times I might feel a little overwhelmed and ask myself, "What Were You Thinking?!?!?!"  And my back might ache, and I might hate the clean-up part, and I may even need a very long nap when it's all said and done.  But, still, I LOVE parties!  

The nut doesn't fall too far from the nut house, I suppose.  When I was little, I can recall many a-party my parents threw.  Don't get me wrong -- we weren't rich by any means, and neither "big" nor "fancy" would be anywhere close to describing the houses we lived in.  But my parents didn't care.  To them, it wasn't about showing off what we had or keeping up with the Joneses; it was about spending time with family and friends, laughing and eating and genuinely enjoying each other's company.  I've always admired that about them.  

As we got a little older, we were often allowed to have parties too-- just friends coming over for games or movies and I loved it.  Still do.  Although, I'm probably not nearly as humble as my parents, because I don't have a lot of space and my house is always falling apart here or there, so I've pretty much avoided having people over.  Correct me if I'm wrong -- I just figured cramming into a tiny room holding buckets to catch leaks, getting the guests high off the roach-kill fumes, or giving a 20 minute pre-party tutorial on how to flush my toilet without it all coming back to haunt one just aren't good party tricks. But hey, I suppose if I get desperate...

I have loved planning each of my kids' birthday and Halloween parties over the years and the word "theme" honestly gets me excited.  You can imagine my elation when I was the "party mom" for my kids' classrooms when they were in elementary school.  

Well the good news is, The Man's house is much bigger than mine and his yard is awesome and he has a huge deck, not to mention his house isn't a piece of dilapidated you-know-what, like mine.  I'm grateful he often indulges my party-throwing "itch" and doesn't complain one bit!  I've had a blast planning a backyard summer bbq (complete with a s'mores bar) as well as Little B's Halloween Party.   I was thrilled earlier this summer to help throw one of my besties a birthday party at the park, complete with a Candy Buffet.  There was also a "party" with one of my other Besties when I went to visit her in Californee and we had a Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown Dinner followed by all watching the movie together, of course.  The kidlets loved it. Heck, who am I kidding?  *I* Loved it!!!

**Dramatic Sigh**  I think my favorite part of the party is when everyone tells me good job and I get to bask in the glory of their awe, quenching my insatiable thirst for attention, everyone is having such a great time, they don't want to leave and when they do, they have big smiles plastered on their faces. 

Well, the season for more parties is upon us, and in spite of the chest palpitations and the nerves making me dizzy, for some reason sitting down and making a list for an upcoming party soothes me [soothes me] ("Brick Heck" style).  

Upcoming events I'm excited for? Well, since you asked -- an upcoming Ugly Sweater party, a Cookie Exchange party, and  as an As Seen on TV Gift Exchange Party.  That's all assuming the big white van doesn't come to take me away first.

What about you?  To party or not to party?  That is the question!