Cuz All I Want is Here and Now, But It's Already Been and Gone

Coadster with some of her show choir friends at the party.

Before I start in on Sunday, I just have to tell you a good thing. My brother decided to give Coadster some money to buy a laptop for her graduation gift. He gave her enough to get a nice Dell, but she had her eye on a Mac. I mentioned to my friend B. (who is a computer guru) in passing that we were looking for a laptop and if he had any advice, we'd love to hear it. He sent me links to different laptops and then found one on Craigslist where a guy was selling his Macbook that he bought for about twice what we had. Then on Friday night B. told me that he bought that laptop. I assumed he meant for himself. So, I asked him if that was his first Mac. He told me, no. He bought it for Coadster. He got an amazing deal on it and we could easily afford it with what we had. Then he updated it and added all the stuff he had. We picked it up today and Coadster is about ready to explode with excitement for her new toy. Nice.

The cake with text hearts and emoticons. Hilarious.

So, I hit the ground running on Sunday. I cleaned, I cooked, I got the girls in gear and my sister and brother-in-law were nice enough to pick up some ice and a few things and there was much hub bub and last minute stressing out. My exes brother showed up an hour early. That is one of the meanest things you can do to me. Show up on time? Great, but early is B-A-D for a procrastinator like me. Anyway, by three I was close to being there, but not quite. G., D., and Dex showed up. I quickly informed them that I was ready to start breathing into a bag. G. said, "Tell us what to do, and if you can't think of anything, I'll start bossing everyone around. D.'s here and she's good at that too." They swarmed the kitchen and washed the few remaining dishes, put out the last of the food and we were completely ready the minute everyone showed up. I really do have the best friends and family in the world.

The spread.

The party itself was very nice. Once it started, I calmed down and tried to say hi to everyone and got interrupted a hundred times. I hope no one was offended. I just didn't have time to have long conversations with anyone.

Some of the kids Coadster babysits for showed up too. There was a pretty intense kick ball game going on in the backyard.

When it was about 5:15, Coadster went to the backyard where her dad's family had congregated (they were the last ones left) to let them know she was leaving. She had sent a Facebook message to them the night before letting them know she had other parties she'd love to attend and so had to stick to the 5 o'clock deadline. They were all very good about taking the hint and by 5:30 everyone was gone except my sister's family and I told them they were welcome to stay as long as they liked, because I can relax around them.

Coadster's shrine.

After they left, I changed into shorts and picked up G., D., and Dex and we headed to our friend H.'s birthday party. That was a lot of fun too. All my favorite Dubliners were there, so I made the rounds and tried to talk to everyone at least a little bit. I even had a couple of beers, which really, really hit the spot.

My nephew as the return of creepy ham face monster. EW!

At some point, Coadster texted me to let me know she was home for the night. She said she was finally grad partied out. Even though I was having a great time with my friends, I started thinking about it, and realized I'd really rather be at home hanging out with Coadster. So, I said my goodbyes and went home. Coadster and I sat around and kind of half-watched the Hangover, while she opened her envelopes and made a list of people to send thank-you's to, while also making plans for trips and activities for the Summer. Coadster also made a big point to tell me how thankful she was that I put so much time and effort into her party. She said it was exactly what she wanted. Hearing that was worth any bit of stress I experienced from it. Not a bad way to end the night at all.