I am such an introvert (and possibly a control freak as well) that it was always difficult to have people over. It's not that I didn't like company, it's just that it freaked me out--I would worry about every detail and worry about feeling awkward and worry about what we should eat and worry about .....well, you get the picture.
When we moved to NYC for seminary we moved into a very small apartment (not bad by NYC standards but small) but in a place LOTS of people wanted to visit. NSLS was in her last year at college and WW was working in Vermont at the time. The first Thanksgiving NSLS invited three of her high school friends to meet her in the city for the weekend. Yikes. We "borrowed" the apartment of a friend who was away, so we weren't all sleeping on top of each other, and it turned out to be fun. That was the beginning of having company far more frequently than I ever had before. NSLS and WW both had friends come and stay, and even when there were people sleeping all over the place, it always turned out okay. Their friends learned that I rarely cooked and I learned that they didn't expect me to be the "hostest with the mostest."
When I moved here I suddenly had a huge house with not one but two guest rooms and bathrooms galore, in another place that people like to visit. I've had company of variousl sorts and here it is so much easier because I have so much room.
But I still rarely "entertained" in the sense of having parties or get togethers. Until a few months ago. Recently I had a "newcomers" reception for about 30 people and then entertained the choir on Christmas Eve between services. And Friday night I had almost 50 people here--church school kids and thepir arents. I didn't know my house coudl hold so many people. Fortunately the weather was nice enough for some of the kids to play outside until it got dark. And I ordered pizza for dinner so that was easy. I think everyone had a good time, and it didn't take me too long to clean up after everyone left.
I guess it's never too late to acquire a new skill ;)
4 comments:
Bravo!
It _is_ hard. You described the reasons we don't entertain, as Taciturn is an incredible introvert.
I'm so glad you had a great time!
it's funny, because we introverts had lots of people over when the kids were small -- and now we hardly ever do. maybe they were our excuse.
I'm glad to hear it can change. I really don't like to have gatherings. I can do it. But I don't like it.
Friends for company, different.
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