The Hiatus of She

Ever since my grandma passed away in March, life has been a whirlwind.  I normally start on my April and May obligations much earlier, but my late start was the major cause of my stress.  My April event was, to put it nicely, not so good.  I kind of dropped the ball and felt horribly guilty.  At the last minute, I had to confess that I wasn't able to pull it off and requested help.  Another person had to totally fill in for me and do a lot of work because of my failures.  She assured me that she understood and reasoned that everything turned out great.  She's kind.

I wasn't even there for the night of the performance.  We had our vacation scheduled that week and Hubby wasn't willing to end it early.  I don't blame him at all.  We had a super fabulous time in the mountains and I spent so much time relaxing!  I can't even remember if I highlighted my trip on my blog.  I drank hot tea on the deck in the mornings and soaked in the hot tub in the evenings. Afternoons were spent reading, shopping, and eating!  I started and finished The Help, which now joins my favorite books list.  McAlister's Deli is my favorite vacation lunch spot, as we don't have them here.  We also found an awesome pizza joint and a superb Japanese steakhouse.  That's my kind of eating, people!

Next, we move on to May, when things became extremely hectic.  The last two weeks, I figured out I was working an average of 7 hours a day on my banquet!  Whose great idea was it to hand make all the dainty crafts and favors???  (This lady!)  Our theme was From Paris with Love.  It was so easy to go overboard with decorations!  Now, you all know that I'm an aspiring photographer and I snap pictures of anything and everything.  How many photos do you think I got of all the beautiful decor?  Zero.  What an idiot!  I was way too busy to enjoy my camera that day.  One of my assistants was photographing everything with her phone, so I'll ask her to forward those to me.  The displays were definitely Pinterest worthy.

I wrote the play and all the songs for the banquet.  I made crafts, favors, decorations, and costumes.  I organized the seating chart, fought with the banquet coordinator of the restaurant, and took the reservations.  It turned out to be fabulous, but there were some quiet moments of the play when I expected laughter.  Oh well, not everyone gets my goofy sense of humor.  My great friend, who sat all the way on the side of the room, was actually disturbing the actors with her laughter.  That's why we're such close friends.  When I finally get the video edited, I might try to upload a snippet here.

At one point of the production, I stood in front of the microphone (which I hate doing) and said, "Twenty-five years ago, my mother welcomed me to my first Mother Daughter Banquet and said she was so proud to have me there.  This year, I'm going to do the same thing as I welcome my little (her full name) to her first banquet.  I'm so glad to have her here with me!"  Having Big Sis at the Banquet for the first time was a great blessing for my mother, the former coordinator of 30 years, who lost her mother a couple months ago.

So, that's basically what I've been up to in my absence.  I went on a pontoon boat, celebrated another year of marriage, gained a teenager, and washed A LOT of loads of laundry.  I spent Memorial Day with my entire extended family, really missing my grandmother.  I helped out with Field Day at Big Sis's school and even got my house clean.  I am so ready to enjoy the upcoming Summer!  Hubby was off two days last week and we really enjoyed spending time together and getting things done.  I'd love to spruce up my patio this summer...anyone handy with bricks or willing to donate a built-in grill?  I love my backyard and can't wait to spend countless hours out there.

AND- we started another business recently.  We now own a photo booth.  It's something portable that we can transport to fabulous events.  We had our first gig Saturday, which went incredibly well.  It's actually a lot of fun to see people ham it up in the booth.  My next chore is to finish the website and host it.  It's a little over my head but I'm getting it.  Managing this blog has definitely helped there.

OK, now I realize I'm babbling.  I guess it's been too long.  So for now, I bid you adieu- from Paris with love.  (Yeah, that was our closing line.  Hee hee!)