Bummer!!!!

Well my computer guy never showed tonight! I called the office and they never booked the appointment for me. They don't know what happened! Frustrating as I talked to the gentleman who booked the appointment for several minutes. It's not the computer guy that is at fault as he was never alerted!!!! Oh well, what can I do about it now? Nothing!

So going back in time here, we have Saturday. We all got up early and packed the car up with all the party stuff. We headed to the next town over to get 50 balloons. When I got there, they were not done. I was met with a very snippy woman who said "dear, we have had no time to do these as there are only 2 of us." Um, okay. That is my fault? I could have assaulted her with "these should have been ready at noon. This is unacceptable. it's not my fault there are only two of you here!" However, I didn't do that. It's not my style. However, she would have deserved it. She should have greeted me with a "I am really sorry these have not been done yet, we are short staffed today. We are working on it." Oh well, can't get others to behave, right? So being the control freak I am, I told her to go and do what she had to do and I would bunch all of the balloons the way I wanted to and tie them to the weights! I did just that! Another young lady came over to assist me. Well as you can see from the pictures below, the car was very crowded.

So we left the shop and I called our friend Joe. He offered to blow up this huge "Happy Birthday" inflatable for us. When he discovered the size, he said he would meet us at our house, grab whatever we couldn't fit and follow us up to the birthday site. I was so grateful. He is a great guy. He is always willing to help. Trust me, we needed it! So we headed home to wait for Joe and to put a few more things in the car. Shortly after we headed up to Mount Wachusett. It was raining. Pouring actually. It was a pain in the butt to drag everything in. We all ran in with the stuff the best we could. Well all the balloons tangled!!!!! So Joe and Bill had to untangle all of the balloons. After doing that and getting everything put in a safe room for the night, we took off!

We didn't end up doing much else for the day. A few things around the house. We were beat and knew the next day was going to be wild and crazy!!!!! Bill napped. Ping watched TV. I sat at the computer and basically stared into space. Meri called after she left work and we all headed out for dinner. Nobody wanted to cook. We were all exhausted. We went to a local place that has decent food and isnt' usually too crowded. After dinner and doing my nails, etc., I jumped into bed.

Sunday came fast as always. I overslept. I was so mad at myself. It worked out though. I got ready and got Ping ready while Bill got himself going. We jumped in the truck and went to get Ping's cake. The cake was just gorgeous. So cute and colorful. After visiting for 15 minutes, we jumped back into the truck and headed up to the mountain. It worked out that we were able to meet Donna on the highway as she wanted to follow us. So after Nicole (my godchild) jumped into our car, off we went! We got there for 11, which is the time I wanted to. I immediately got to work with assistance from Donna and the kids. I put out the edible Sandy Candy which are tubes with all sorts of flavored sugar. I also put out the Edible Coloring Cookies, which the kids could color. I swear more adults did. LOL. All the balloons were arranged. There were bunches on each table. The cake was set on a small table. There were two "Happy Birthday" cakes made of fabric that you could write on. We also set up all the favors, the popcorn boxes for the pinata loot and the big "Happy Birthday" inflatable. The party was under a tent and given the terrible rain we have had, they had the sides on the tent. I hated, hated, hated the sides. I thought they smelled and I loved the openness of the tent when I looked before. So I asked them to take the sides off and they did. I was so pleased. I could not have been happier, truly. What a difference it made! Just as the sides were taken off, 12 pm had arrived!!!!!! Around 12:15 people started coming in. It was great to see everyone. I was able to greet and hug everybody.

All I can say is that I have never been so pleased with things!!!! I thought the party went great. There was three hours of food. Burgers, dogs, french fries, bbq chicken, salad, nachos, chili, strawberry shortcake, cookies, big pretzels, cotton candy, fried dough and ice cream treats. Can't think of anything else! In addition to the food, I had a caricature artist come to do caricatures of the children and/or adults. More adults had fun with it than the kids! She asked if I wanted black and white caricatures as they can be done quicker, but truthfully, I really thought everyone would enjoy the color! She was supposed to be there from 1-3. She stayed until the end of the day! So many people wanted it done, so she asked if I was okay with it. I told her to stay to midnight if she needed to. It was an expense that was more than worth it. Everyone seemed pleased with their pictures!

In addition to having a caricature artist, I had Blinky the Clown come at 2. She was supposed to be there from 2-4. She ended up staying till the end too. She said so many people were having such a good time, so she stayed. She figured if I paid her that it would be great. If I didn't pay her for the extra time, she was okay with that! I thought it was sweet. Of course I paid her for the full time. She made everyone so happy. She was so gentle. She didn't come in making a huge scene and yelling. She didn't come drunk either! LOL. Too many movies have had drunk clowns. I had a few friends asking me if the clown was going to be drunk. It became the joke of the day! Anyway, she was wonderful. She sang a song, made Ping a special birthday hat and got all the kids and Ping to sing "The Wheels On the Bus." Ping's favorite tune! Ping was sooooo happy!!!!! Blinky then immediately got to face painting. She said to me at the end of the day, that not only do I have great friends, but that in all the years she has done parties she has never had so many adults get their faces painted She loved it!

At 4pm, we hung the pinata. It was hung before, but taken down due to the rain! The kids all lined up with their popcorn boxes. The darn thing didn't want to break. I had to show Ping how to whack the thing. She got the hang of it. All the kids tried. The small and the big. Finally I whacked it because people were growing inpatient. As soon as it hit the ground, Donna's son Michael picked it up and ran with it. It was hysterical. Donna chased after him, the big kids chased after him. Unfortunately, the little kids cried. They didn't get that he was just being a clown! So Bill ran after it. Bill wasn't so happy. He saw the kids crying and felt bad. Mind you, he is laughing about it now. You should have seen Donna tripping over the chairs just to get to Michael. I was in stitches!!!!

Right after, the cake was cut. Sadly a lot of people were already gone and did not get any. It's hard to schedule a day like this. You don't want the kids missing any of the activities. Some of the smaller ones were tired and so they had to leave. You don't want someone who has been patiently waiting in line for Blinky or the artist to feel like they have to miss the pinata to save their spot! So I tried to plan it so everyone could enjoy each part of the party.

We didn't open gifts. I had decided before even booking the party, that I wasn't going to. This was a day for friends and their children to eat and enjoy the festivities. Nobody should have to sit while a crazed over sugared Ping ripped open gifts. I would have never been able to settle her down for one and trying to get everyone appropriately thanked would have stunk. In addition, I didn't want all the kids getting involved and having things detached or misplaced. How do you thank someone for a gift if you don't know who it's from? Most people totally understood. There was only one or two people who truly cared that the gifts were not open.

At the end of the day, everyone thanked me for inviting them and said they had a great time. I believe they really did. I put a lot of effort and energy into this party and if people are smiling, it is all worth it to me!!!!! I had a great time. Bill did as well. As for Ping, she beamed.

After the party, we loaded up the truck and came home to open the gifts. Donna and the kids came back as did Meri, Joe and Lucas. Ping only wanted to watch TV. LOL. We managed to shut the TV off and open the gifts. She got some wonderful things!!!!

After everyone left, Bill immediately started to snore! I was so physically drained, it was awful. When I went to bed, I couldn't sleep as the day just raced in my brain. It took 2 hours for me to finally pass out!

On Monday morning, I shut the alarm off and stayed in bed. I felt so guilty, but Ping was so tired and so wasn't I. Figures that she got up shortly after though. I didn't take her to school. I felt so guilty about that as I know school is important!!!!! I got up and showered, gathered all the stuff not used for the party and all the receipts and we headed out for many errands! That stunk, but I wanted it out of the house!!!!!!

I am embarrassed to admit that today (Tuesday) I shut the alarm off. Figured I would give myself another 10 mintutes to sleep as Bill was in the shower. He usually always wakes me up when he comes back in the bedroom. He is like a heard of elephants in church!!!!! Well I was really in a deep sleep and he didn't bother me for once. Usually I always feel his kiss before he heads out the door. Well guess what? I didn't. Guess who didn't go to school as it was 8:30 before I woke up? Talk about feeling like absolute garbage. I felt so very guilty!!!!! I truly did. I know it's preschool, but I take school seriously no matter what. I had no business sleeping in. I will definitely be up tomorrow. Truthfully, I think that I am seriously overtired. Additionally, I have had some major leg issues. I think I have tore a hamstring. I have been having a left leg problem for nearly 2 months now. That and I have terrible Plantar Fasciitis. The pain has been running from my heel up to my butt. It's been awful. I can't sleep at night. I am so jiggy. I can't even sit and read a book. The pain just radiates. So I think between that keeping me awake and the the whole party planning and preparing, I am just zonked!!!!

I will add pictures tomorrow. Right now it's very late and I need to get into bed so I do not oversleep again!

I will also reread everything I have written as I haven't got the time or energy to do it now:)

Mama Out!