Song of the day: The Party's Over- Betty Comden and Adolph Green

"The party's over
It's time to call it a day"- Betty Comden and Adolph Green


Last night's party was great and just as nice as the one the night before. This was a pleasant surprise, as the snobbish behavior we expected from a few of the invited guests never materialized. However, the hosts for each night were all down-to-earth family friends who have always gone out of their way to make us comfortable...and so we were.

Each night, there were lots and lots of people, as well as lots and lots of food. For the second night in a row, we made pigs of ourselves eating barbecued pork ribs and fixin's. I have never in my life witnessed that much cooked swine product being served and consumed at a single private residence. I suppose, that technically speaking, this would make us cannibals...pigs eating pigs. Ha! Ha!

"They've burst your pretty balloon
And taken the moon away"

After the festivities were over, we stayed back to socialize, help with cleanup and then stumbled back to the car for the short drive back to the hotel around 1:30 in the morning. "The Boy" was still wound up and ready to continue. We stayed up, snacked some more and then watched television coverage of Hurricane Gustav.

Eventually we all went to bed, as early Monday morning continued to creep in on us. I took a few hours "nap" and then got up, took a shower and grabbed a few cups of coffee and sausage links from the buffet breakfast downstairs, clumsily packaged them in cups and napkins and brought them back upstairs to our suite. My sister joked and asked about my cup-o-sausage. It took me three trips to get the required amounts of coffee and breakfast items back upstairs to my family. As you may recall, breakfast is usually our family's biggest ontime departure issue. However, we had no issues today. Checkout time was noon, we had packed lightly and so we were ready to go at 11:49.

"Now you must wake up, all dreams must end
Take off your makeup, the party's over"

We are finally home. My sister drove, as I sat next to her in the passenger seat. My husband and "The Boy" sat in back. "The Boy's" first day of fourth grade is tomorrow and one can clearly see that he is in denial. I suppose that I am too. Tomorrow is Tuesday and our regular routine is about to be set in motion again. We have unpacked, but it's time to regroup, get clothes together, do a few loads of laundry and come back to reality. The sun is shining here and I am wondering how things are in New Orleans. I suppose that we will check the news reports a little later on. I pray that all will be ok.

It is almost 5:00pm here and I am sitting in my sunroom, filled with gratitude as I type this. We have so much to be thankful for. I hope that I never get to the point where I take all of this for granted. I am happy to be home. It is September already...I can't believe it! Can you?

Seems like only yesterday Summer was just beginning!

"It's all over, my friend"

The picture is one taken of the pullout sofa at the hotel suite. Under the gray blanket is "The Boy". As you are able to witness with your own eyes: Apparently, like his parents, he is also obviously not a born partier either.

"The party's over"