a fun party ... with a small conflict

On Saturday we went to our neighbor's graduation party. She earned her MBA--while working full-time and with a family (she's got 3 kids ... and a hubby). Pretty fantastic!

We knew we'd have a really good time at the party. They're fun people who are easy to be around. We hang out once in a while, have a few beers together and chat often when we're out doing yard work, etc. Our kids play together most everyday and get along most of that time--typical kid disagreements sometimes arise, but nothing major.

Their families and friends were there for the party, too. (I'm a little jealous of people who have family who live within a half hour ... that hasn't been the case for us since we were in college. Sigh.) Talk about a diverse and crazy bunch of people. It was fabulous!! I felt right at home!! Debbie's family often and lovingly refers to themselves as "the dysfunctional family" ... but I have to say that there wasn't much that would separate Shane's family from that label, either. And those of you who are aware of the Schario family--we are what I would consider one of the most functional dysfunctional families around ... which is why I felt so comfortable with these two groups.

A funny little note: when Shane and Debbie are relaying something that's going on with Debbie's mom, Carol, they either immediately qualify during the story or ask for clarification whether they're talking about "Carol or Absolut Carol". She's animated, out-spoken, funny and quite accident-prone when she's Absolut Carol ... as you might imagine.

Around 11:00, after most people had left, Debbie mentioned that she wanted to go out to a bar for some dancing. Sounded like a lot of fun to me--it's been more than 2 years since I've gone out with the girls dancing. I really wanted to go. But there was one problem: there wasn't anyone who I thought was legal to drive. Debbie and I definitely weren't. Her friend Mary thought she was because she only had "4 beers, and you gotta know--that's not a lot for me." Yeah, I'm not convinced--thankyouverymuch. And there was Sheila. She had only arrived about 45 minutes earlier. She'd had a beer and a shot, she said, but I was pretty sure she'd had 2 shots and a beer ... and she didn't plan to stop drinking then. Regardless, I wasn't comfortable with that scenario either.

I recommended we call a cab. The bonus with that--besides that nobody gets killed--is we can all drink and do what we want without worrying about who has to drive later. I thought it sounded like a splendid idea. But I was the only one who thought so. Mary and Sheila went on pleading their sober-enough-to-drive cases. I played my broken record listing the perks of calling a cab--and I said I'd pay for it. Still not interested. That's when Sheila surprised me ...

She said, "you know, that's fine. Whatever. You just don't like me and I really don't like you. So, let's just not worry about this." OK. First, what she said was oddly irrelevant to the topic at hand. Second, I've only met her one other time and hadn't formed an opinion about whether I liked her or not--I certainly hadn't decided that I didn't like her. And, third, I'm thinking that I might not have a whole lot of fun out dancing with someone who desperately wants to let me know that she doesn't like me.

So, I told Deb that I'd like to go, but wanted to call a cab. If we weren't calling a cab, then I wasn't going to go. Not a big deal. Then I carried my sleepy daughter home and tucked her in. When I went back over to the party, Debbie, Mary and Sheila had left. Decision made. No sweat.

I continued chatting and laughing with everybody else at the party until Tim and I decided we were ready to head back home.

I had a fun time. I don't regret my decision at all. I hope they had a good time when they were out--and I'm glad they didn't get hurt along the way ... but I wouldn't have done it any other way.