Wednesday, June 02, 2010

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.

9 comments:

rel said...

Churlita,
I remember those graduation parties as wonderful experiences, especially the day after when everyone shows up safe and sound.
rel

Tara said...

Showing up an hour early is way too excessive. That kind of adds to the stress and craziness. I can see maybe 15 minutes, but no earlier.

I love your kitchen cabinets in the backround of that first photo.

SkylersDad said...

That sounds like about the perfect party, well done girl!

laura b. said...

Another successful celebration! I know how much work it is, but it sounds like you did a fantastic job...and Coadster was happy!
Glad to hear you got some Churlita time in too.
And how about that B. and the computer! Awesome.

My word verification is: Worth.
It was totally WORTH it :-)

Ananda girl said...

Phew! Now you can wind down and relax knowing what a fabulous job you did. Aren't quiet times like your ending great? I see a lot of love here. Very cool beans.

booda baby said...

FantASTIC!! (I thought you were hardly bothering with food stuffs, but jeeeeze - you were in full on party mode! What a table!)

Graduations were barely celebrated in my family, what with all that being just standard expectation stuff, so I really REALLY have to do the vicarious stuff. (Which I'm sure accounts for today's word v: lotedice. I do not make this stuff up.)

Finally, the mac story is really the best. My new, best experience? Don't sweat a THING, just get thee to a mac store and make that genius take care o' business.

Big congratulations to you.

Mnmom said...

Good Job Mom! Party looks marvelous. I'm sure Coadster appreciated it.

We might be making an "official" visit to IOWA for my twins, and of course visiting friends and relatives at the same time. Can I look you up? I'd give you plenty of notice on FB.

Churlita said...

Rel, That's exactly how it was here too. I'm glad we did it, and I'm glad it's over.

Tara, Thanks. I might blog about those cabinets next week.

Skyler's, Thanks. It turned out pretty well. Whew!

LauraB., I bet you're an expert at grad parties by this time. Just two more left, right?

Ananda, It was a nice evening with just me and Coadster. I try really hard to create as many of those as I can right now.

Booda Baby, I'm a feeder. There will always probably be too much food at any party I throw. Ha ha.

Mn Mom, You should definitely look me up. I'd love to meet you in person. Let me know.

Johnny Rojo said...

What a nice guy your brother is!

Congrats on the graduation. And I'm sure you're glad it's all over.