...o' chaw tebaccer for the miner in Corona. A guitar for a cowboy way out in Arizona...

I mentioned our new water heater, the work was done and the water warming up just in time for me to take a shower before the party.

Had a nice party. Lots of people showed up, we talked. Some of my friends from one circle met others from another part of my life, so that was good to get the cross-pollinating conversations going. We also didn't have wallflowers ("I don't know anyone here") either.

Jarod Nandin stopped by to drop off my cups from the picnic last week. If you include him, we had 44 guests: Mom and Dad,

glittercat13, Kim, Jeff, and little Michelle Bergdahl,

colleency, Mike Donahue, Bill Ellern and Anne Morrel, Jennifer Ernster, James Flynn, Richard, Jace and Connor Foss,

xkokuux, Greg and Bonnie Hemsath, Anastasia Hunter, Evan James, Jack Kim, Pat and Eric Larson,

ala_mokita, Jennifer "FER" Morgan, Laurie, Tom, Zach, Sam and Tess Nalezny from next door, Maria Rodriguez, Mikal Saltveit and Brooke Downer, Arlene Satin, Chuck Shimada,

midnight_rocket, Tom and Marina Stern,

neo_serenity, Matt Tsang, Elaine and Dale Vander Linden, and Matt Wells. So the number of people who showed up without RSVP'ing a day or more in advance balanced out the no-shows who said they'd be here. It all comes out in the wash...

The chili went over well. The amount was good: 6 lbs. of meat made enough for everyone, there was a small amount in the crockpot at the end of the night. We could have used sturdier tortillas, because the Trader Joe's Handmade Tortillas don't hold up. The burrito size seem especially ill-suited for making burritos; the smaller size didn't work well either. Grrr. The guacamole in the living room was used up, but hardly any of the salsa in the dining room; either people don't like salsa as much, or it wasn't convenient enough. Next time I skip the salsa and just concentrate on the guac. (I don't have the red salsa in the living room because I don't want such a risk of drips on my carpet.) We had chocolate nibbles left over, so I was right to limit our TJ's chocolate treats to two.

I overbought on the Ranger cookies. We went through less than half of the four dozen cookies I bought. The cakes were just about right: the key lime torte, the tiramisu, and the chocolate overload cake added up to about 36 or so servings, and there was some left over at the end of the night. The next-door kids (Zach, Sam and Tess) disappeared for a while and missed the cake-lighting, but we still had some tiramisu and key lime torte when they came back which made me happy. I wouldn't have wanted the kids to have missed having birthday cake... Laurie and Tom also came to our rescue with an extra bag of ice, a stack of plastic cake plates, and ten extra chairs. Thanks much!

I could have used more ice -- I should just buy one 20-lb. bag for each ice chest I'm going to use, counting the "ice" cooler. We had one for the soft drinks, one for water, one for the "bottle" drinks - Tejava, cherry cider, and one for keeping ice for drinks. And I could have used a place to put beer and wine -- Tiffany brought wine (almond-flavored champagne), but it was warm from the car, so we put it on ice and forgot to serve it. Next time I should make sure I have use of up to 5 ice chests (!) and that I've bought five 20-lb. bags, or buy 100 lbs. at Orange County Ice. And I should buy a little beer. We were in and out of Trader Joe's in such a very short time Friday night, I need to make sure my TJ's list includes some beer browsing. (And if someone invites me to a party in the next few months I might be able to bring the almond champagne and the big bottle of chardonnay to share... hmm.)

Signs on the coolers, good idea. ("Water" -- "Soft drinks, caffeinated on the left, diet on the right" and so forth.) Signs for "Empty cans & bottles" on all our wine and Tejava cases were good, people put their empties there instead of the wastebaskets so cleanup was easier.

I need to encourage my mom to bring a fresh fruit platter, period, instead of making the curried fresh fruit salad. Some people like it, sure, but not enough to finish it off and a lot goes to waste.

A note of explanation for those who haven't come to my parties: if I invite you to a party, you'll get fed, assuming you don't have any allergies that I'm unaware of. I don't expect or require you to bring anything. Some of my friends have potluck parties, and that's fine, but as a host I don't want the uncertainty of relying on what everyone will bring.

That being said, some people like to bring something to contribute. Richard Foss brought "Wild Coho Salmon Three Ways" (Japanese, Thai, and French style) and a Fig, Cheese, and Walnut Salad. Chuck Shimada brought two twelve-packs of diet soda, flavors that weren't already in the cooler. Kim Bergdahl brought a bunch of her mock-Doubletree cookies. I mentioned Elaine and Dale's potato dish and veg tray -- they stopped by our place on their way to a family engagement, then doubled back to join us after their obligatory appearance there.

Next time we're having people stay over in the guest room, we need to empty that room of the other guests' coats and purses at midnight or one o'clock.

More notes later...

(Oh, and while I don't issue blanket "if you read this you're invited to my party" notices on LJ, if you've been following this and wish you'd been invited then just tell me, I'll put you on my list for the next one.)