A Good Time Was Had By All

How do you know when you are having or have had a good time?  I’m not sure that I have fun often.  How do you really know?  I’ve been thinking about that for some time.  I’ve liked things.  I’ve enjoyed things.  I’ve laughed at things.  I’ve enjoyed being around peole.  But, is that having a good time?  Is that having fun?

I can tell you that this past week my days have been filled with what I’m thinking is good times – having fun.  Here’s what has happened in these past seven days.

The anticipation of having friends at my eighty-fourth birthday party was great.  Then, on Friday, when four more of the invited guests told me they would be able to attend, I thought I might have a heart attack!  Four more guests meant my total was up to a count of twenty-eight.  I didn’t sleep well that night.  Would my restaurant be able to accommodate twenty-eight?  We had started with an expected attendance of around fourteen-fifteen; now we had twenty-eight.  I met with the restaurant owners over the noon hour.  They assured me that they could accommodate our numbers.  I can tell you that a sleepless night is not fun, but after my conversation with the restaurant folks, I could breathe very easily and was glad that everyone was planning to attend!

The owners of Los Portales are wonderful people.  We’ve watched their three girls grow up to middle school, high school, and college.  Their staff is always helpful.  And, the food (Mexican) is terrific!  I expected that everyone would have a good time – fun!

Fun for me is also planning the table decorations and getting them ready to put on the tables.  It is also work; so is that really having fun?  Actually, I love giving parties.  Large or small.  They are fun for me; so I guess that’s one for the fun side.

I don’t have central air conditioning in my house.  During the day of the party, I had a surprise.  Keith and I had been talking about a “free standing” air conditioner of some kind.  I hoped for some kind of machine that doesn’t use water in the cooling process.  My lifetime experience includes having to remove all of the furniture from the first floor of my house so the floors could be refinished; we’d had hardwood damage from a plumbing leak.  That was NOT fun, but when it was done, the floors looked good, again.

On the day of the birthday party, Keith had time to install an air conditioner (no water) in my bedroom window.  That is going to make such a difference in sleeping, etc.  Even though I did nothing to help with this installation, it was fun to watch it go in.  And, from here on, I’ll having air conditioned air where I need it.

So, is that really fun?

And, then, there was the party.  I believe having that party, having my guests at Los Portales, was fun.  When I think about all of the preparations, making arrangements with the restaurant owners, creating the badges for everyone, setting up the tables – they are all activities that are a joy to do.

Three friends who have attended the 80 – 83 birthday celebrations were not in attendance, although it was not as a result of the pandemic.  However, we were blessed with three adult new attendees, as well as two young children, Kyle and Greta.  Although, the youngest of our group, they said they had a good time.

So, again I ask.  What is fun for me?  I recognize that having given a party and all that goes with it, is fun for me.  Reading is fun for me; unfortunately, that has pretty much gone to the back ground because of the macular degeneration.  I also recognize that writing this BLOG has been more fun for me than anything I could ever imagine, since 2017.  Even when I get to Tuesday afternoon, and the BLOG is not finished – it is fun!

I asked Kyle, one of those two young friends who attended, if he had a good time at the party and was it fun; his sister, after all, was the only other young person at the party because the rest of us were older – and some of us were really old.  His response was, Yes, He’d had a good time.  And, yes, it was fun.  So, I think that I had a good time, and it was fun!

I think I can honestly say, “A good time was had by all.”  Especially, me!

Be Safe and Be Well

The Cranky Crone

Thoughtful comments are appreciated.