Baby Shower

This is only a small portion of the vast array of gifts.

The baby shower has been the major focus of discussion for the past week or so as we were trying to ensure that everything went according to "plan". Such top topics as food, party games, music and parking were on the agenda and we worried and fussed over them until the day of the party arrived and there was suddenly no more time to think about it. Now it was time to do it!

The event was held at Roxy's condo which had just enough space to house the rather large assemblage of friends and family. The main room was comfortably arranged with a couple of chairs near the front for Deb & Mason to sit upon while unwrapping the gifts, with couches for guests, a small table for food, a larger table for the cake (and more food), and several smaller items of furniture topped with trays and bowls full of candy. Downstairs were games and large, comfortable recliners and chairs and more tables stocked with candies and nuts and other assorted delicacies.

And the band was in the garage, where every band should be.

(The 'band' consisted of anyone brave enough to pick up one of the guitars sitting on their stands and start strumming!)

It was gratifying to see the number of people who came (or watched from afar) to shower their love and good wishes on the happy parents-to-be. There were a lot of people in attendance. There was a lot of laughter and joy in the room. And there was a huge pile of presents to go through!

Kitty wants to see, too!

Practicing

The party started at 1 pm -- although 'started' is a misnomer because it was more like an Open House than a time-dependent event, with people wandering in early and wandering in late and just wandering around checking out the tables of food or going in the garage to listen to whomever happened to be playing at the time. No one was standing on ceremony, but there were a lot of people standing around talking so that the vibe of the house was definitely pleasant and quite conversational.

At 2 pm we spread the word around the house that It Was Time and nudged everyone in the general direction of the main room where Deb and Mason took their seats in front of the huge pile of stuff and proceeded to unwrap each one in turn and thank the person who had given it and express their happiness regarding the usefulness of the gift and the beautiful colors or the sturdiness or the excellent thoughtfulness in finding something so unique and wonderful.

Two people volunteered to stream the video on Facebook. There weren't any available tripods, though, so they just stood (or sat) and pointed their cameras at the happy couple and tried not to move too much. We were gratified to see people texting to indicate they were able to watch!

Sitting slightly behind the couple, to one side of the pile, sister Mary kept careful track of everything as each gift was unwrapped, writing down the details so that Deb & Mason would be able to write accurate Thank-You notes to their generous benefactors. Which I'm sure they'll have plenty of time to do as they sit around the house bored to tears just waiting for the baby to arrive. While also trying to handle their jobs and their house-hunting and all the other things young people do with their time these days.

It took quite a while to open all those presents; by the time it was over, there was a huge pile of boxes and wrapping in front of the front door. We had to take a bit of time to clean it all up before people could leave! (Some suspected it was a Plot to prevent premature departures before all the food was eaten.)

After present-opening, it was time for more food, more games, and lots more conversation. And more singing. I spent a good amount of time playing guitar and singing in the garage with Mason and his dad, Doug. His mom joined in on some of the songs - especially the ones she likes to do on karaoke night. We had a great time!

When we finally ended our singing session, we discovered that the cleanup crew had been hard at work and the only thing left to do was pack up the cars and head home.

So we took all the boxes and presents and leftover food and tossed it in the back of our vehicles and headed for home, ready to sit quietly and snooze while recovering from the joyful excesses of the celebration.