Kittens in the Shower

Lord knows, Bruce and I have hosted many parties, both big and small. Each one holds special memories, whether it was me getting crazy drunk one time or Bill's bloodied face at another. Now, that's not fair of me is it? Bill having a bloodied face--what in the world could have happened?

This story goes back quite a ways, in fact, all the way back to when Bill and Dave were in the 8th grade and having their first boy-girl party at our home. Bruce and I tried to stay in the background, however, when trouble arose, we were Johnny on the spot. You may find this hard to believe but, it's a true story! Back then Jolly Rancher candy was quite popular. As such, I placed some bowls strategically around the party area. Well.....the kids began throwing said Jolly Ranchers with one making an unfortunate landing on Bill's hairline. Someone came running saying Bill's face was covered in blood. Can you imagine his embarrassment? Because there are so many blood vessels on our faces, any cut tends to bleed profusely. Thank a razor nick gentleman. Poor Bill--I put him over the kitchen sink, eventually getting the small cut to stop. Now that's a party story for you! It still makes me laugh.

Saturday's party will be remembered as well. Friday afternoon I spent time organizing things inside after mowing the lawn in the early morning before the heat became unbearable. Where to put the plates? What about the food? Centerpiece? That sort of thing. Because Bruce was working from home, once the lawn was done, he put up my tent. One thing off the list.

Although I get most of the credit for hostessing, without Bruce there would be no party. He does all the behind the scene work such as putting out trash cans, filling torches, getting extra chairs out and the list goes on. In this case, while I was at the market on Saturday he put up Beth's tent, moved the tables, and got everything ready to go. Once I returned around 2, after a quick dip in the pool, I finished things off. Trish arrived around 3:30 with fruits and vegetables for trays.

Although the party was scheduled for a 5:00 start, some guests traveling from St. Pete couldn't wait, arriving at 4:30. I was still in my bathing suit! I threw on some clothes, no makeup, nothing done with my post swimming hair and it began.

Between replenishing the food and cutting the cake, I took a few pictures. Presenting the bride and groom:

I must say that we have an excellent layout for hosting parties, with guests having multiple choices of seating and in general moving around. This particular party, each and every room saw some action.

I was surprised at how many people went swimming:

It made us happy that so many folks were able to enjoy the water:

There were children:

 and old folks, or at least one of them. This is Mr. Roger's 82 year old mother:

This cute boy told me he wasn't allowed to swim because of bad ears, however that didn't seem to keep him from having fun.

Then there was this young girl who was too shy to have her picture made:

Although we had the tents set up in case of both rain or heat, the weather cooperated beautifully with only a very few sprinkles around 5, followed by clear skies and a drop in the temperature.

By now you must be wondering, if you pay attention to my titles, what could today's title possibly mean. Pretty much what is says.

As the party continued I saw quite a number of people heading into our bedroom which surprised me just a bit. If the guest bathroom is in use, by all means use ours, however that was not the case when I saw this happening. I discovered that a couple brought some very tiny kittens in a carrier to the party. Wondering where they would be safe, Bruce suggested they put them in our SHOWER! Count me flabbergasted on that one!

Soon thereafter, a couple asked if I would mind if they set up a portable crib in one of the bedrooms for this little guy who wore himself out:

That was fine by me, however, some of the guest had used that room for changing so before he could go to sleep I thought I'd moved all the clothing to my office.

A little later yet, I saw a young man heading to our bedroom while the hallway bathroom was vacant. I was, once again, flabbergasted when he said he was going in there to take a shower. Say what? A shower, he replied. All I could say was that he'd have a problem in my shower because there were kittens in there! Furthermore, I neglected to move his shirt from the room where the toddler was sleeping. Oh my! Opening the door I discovered he was lying there awake peacefully listening to the sound machine they brought. Fortunately I was able to grab the showering young man's shirt without incident. What next?

I'll tell you what was next--after cleaning up the kitchen, putting my counters aright, I went to bed!  Bruce, by this time, was dozing in his chair. I told Beth and Eddie to wake Bruce up when they were ready to leave so he could extinguish the candles, the torches and lock up. Because I was dead asleep I never heard a thing.

5:30 Sunday, there was my darling husband in the back yard taking down the tent to load it for market day. Once again, without Bruce, there would be no Gail, Out & About Photography. Instead, we might just be home on Sundays enjoying that pool together. Now, that's a thought!

I hear the garbage truck out there emptying the four giant cans, the last of the evidence of what I hoped, was a good time had by all.