It seems like friendship and relationships are on my mind a lot lately! We went to a 60th birthday gathering a couple of weeks ago. While there, the hosts commented that the theme was, 60 people for M’s 60th. They had invited only 60 people to the event, which was a phenomenal catered cocktail hour with amazing food, signature cocktails, and wonderful conversation. I had two reactions to the theme. One was, we made his list of 60, really? Wow. And the second was, who would my 60 be?
I guess it’s similar to who do you send a wedding invitation to! And it made me wonder about our soon-to-be-planned open house. I look back at planning our wedding event and that was more about work teams and extended family to consider. Interestingly almost all the people who were at our wedding 34 years ago are no longer part of our life at all. Those work teams are long gone, with very few connections still; we have no work teams these days. We’ve lost touch with much of our extended family and and those we still connect with are not local, so wouldn’t be on an invite for an open house, or a milestone birthday even.
Hubby commented he wasn’t sure he could name 60 people to invite! But for me, I thought about all the various circles we (OK, that’s mostly me) engage in. We have the physical neighbors that hubby talks with on dog walks and the broader (and very conservative) neighborhood residents we know from local events and activities. I have my garden clubs and book clubs; yes, plural on both. We have our theater friends and my liberal ladies’ friends, who support me whole-heartedly. Would I invite folks from cardio drumming or beach yoga, as they have all been following the house recovery saga?
I thought about bringing all these circles together under one roof, and had a pause! Both from a how many would this actually be and then, would everyone get along? But, I thought back to that 60 for my 60th gathering and there were obviously smaller groups that did not interact with other groups of people. It did not matter if everyone talked to everyone. Will it matter if my conservative neighbors know I am very liberal?
Thinking about all those circles of connections, we definitely have over 60 people who might end up at an open house. As we near the end of the house recovery journey, I definitely need to start planning it!
Would identifying your list of 60 be easy or hard?
House Recovery Update: This week we have crept forward towards the “Certificate of Occupancy”. That’s the requirement to moving back in and means passing all the final inspections and meeting all codes. We had granite installed (yay!!), and were able to secure a tile-guy who actually had a delay on another project. Bathroom shower doors, ceiling fans, bedroom plantation shutters, and garage doors went in. There was another round of electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and irrigation. We still have some biggies – finish cabinets, final plumbing, finishing interior stairs, and getting balcony rails in place. But we actually had some furniture delivered (ok-ed by our builder), and it really is getting down to days.
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We could probably round up 60 people, but it would be a stretch, for sure! Almost no one besides family is still part of the picture from our wedding, as with you.
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Now I will definitely need to do head count when we do have our open house! To see if we get 60. It’s probably going to be around Christmas. We need to settle in, figure out where everything goes, and buy things like bookshelves. I’m looking forward to going through everything that’s been in storage for 2 years, and making decisions on do I really need it or not!
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❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️😘😘😘😘🤩I am so happy for you and Tim and will continue to keep you in my thoughts and prayers till the big day. I care about you, I believe in you and I know you will do it!
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Sally, Thanks! It’s been a long journey, that’s for sure.
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Yes! Invite the liberal & conservative friends. Hopefully some of those conservatives have decided to join the sane & love knowing others of same ilk!
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Congrats on being so close to moving in. Gee I wouldn’t even have 10 people to invite. I have my monthly knitting groups but I won’t invite them to a party for me. I’ve never made friends with others in my exercise classes at the Y. Oh well, I seem satisfied anyway. Maybe since I still have a son at home I don’t feel lonely.
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I’m with you! I wouldn’t have 60 either!
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I think the invite is going wide because so many have watched and listened to the saga. The snowbirds are coming back in my cardio class and garden club and every single one is asking me about the house. And are shocked we are still not in yet.
My builder has stopped giving me a date, as we’ve had 3 pass without final occupancy approval. So many little things out of my control – like them delivering the wrong tub and it was 10 days later than asked for. I so want this to be over!
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I am soooo sorry. I simply cannot imagine. The lack of ability to control would end me. My siblings and I are taking a bath on my father’s house but we need it to just be done. Turns out the home inspection found LOTS of things wrong despite the items not being that old. Also a sewer repair we did 2 years ago apparently wasn’t very good with a new bill of $12K to fix it!!! So we are dumping money to the “buyers” for the repairs just so we can walk away.
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I’m SO excited for you and want to come to your house warming! I’ll be there in spirit. And I love those wall tiles in the shower – they’re my favourite style of “subway” type tiles. I’m not sure I have 60 friends, and I remember being stressed out over the idea of trying to mingle people for my 50th and ended up only inviting 20 or so who all knew each other. Have fun moving in and enjoying the fruit of all your labouring. xx
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We creep so slowly to that move in day. I had thought we’d be in way before now, so balancing other commitments I made and still not being in the house has added significant stress. My builder has stopped even giving me a move in date… as it’s been missed 3 times.
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I did 60 women for my 60th birthday. It was a BLAST and not hard but I also had 8 people fly in from other places. Some were work friends and a few of those have faded away but I could easily conjur up 60. I have a lot of circles and they all mix and match quite well at our various parties we host. People usually find common ground. House is looking really good! You are so close to the finish line!!
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I realized I too have a number of circles. It’s nice to hear your’s mix and mingle well; I can hope mine will as well. House is creeping along… my next blog talks about being close to that finish line!
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