When we lived in Maine, we had lots of parties. Dinner parties, parties for the kiddoes, and, of course, Halloween parties. And, when we lived there, most of our friends were neighbors, or parents of our children’s friends who they met at school.

By the time the older three graduated from high school, we were homeschooling Max and Mason. So, finding friends was a bit difficult when we moved to Florida. You’re probably wondering about the neighbors? Well, as you can imagine, some of the homes on our street are empty for part of the year because of snow birds. And, many of our neighbors are far past retirement age (meaning most of them don’t want to go dining and dancing with us).

When the older kids were in school, I would teach them to approach another child, stick out their hand, and say, “Hi, my name is…” And, it always worked…provided our child was not having a shy moment that particular day.

Since moving here, I’ve missed having parties. We were talking one night, and realized we’d lived in this house for more than two years and we only had two close family friends in this area. Since we homeschool, and work together, we’d been living a pretty quiet, home-based existence.

So, using my own advice, Richard and I started introducing ourselves at community events, and even to people we struck up conversations with at restaurants and other places. Richard researches wines as a hobby and it’s not hard to find other wine enthusiasts at nice restaurants in town.

Pretty soon, we were getting texts from our new friends, and arranging double-dates with the other couples. We then started getting invited to parties, and met even more friends. And, now, our dance card is always full. We have far more social invitations than we can possibly accept and we love having other grown-ups to talk to in person again! Yea!!

The best part is we have finally acquired enough friends to have our first BIG party since moving to Florida last weekend! Our friend, Christine, helped cook all day and Richard paired wine with each course. We had appetizers, salad with strawberries, candied bacon and homemade dressing (my favorite course!!), two kinds of lasagna (traditional and seafood), homemade buttery rosemary rolls (courtesy of our pastry chef daughter, Ali), and steaming peach cobbler with ice cream. It was so much fun! And soooo fattening!!

And, of course, we’re already planning the next event. A 70’s-themed fondue party! We had a 70’s party in Maine many years ago and, with just the right wig, I was a dead-ringer for Carol Brady. Richard wore a rocker tank top, with a mullet wig. He was hilarious! I’m thinking I’ll be Chrissy from Three’s Company for this one. Not sure yet. I wonder who I should dress Richard up as? Let me know if you have any ideas! 😉

THIS WEEK’S MASONISM:

The other night, Mason said, “Mom, my throat hurts.”

I replied, “Go get the bottles of vitamins C and D. I’ll give you an extra dose.”

He came back with the bottles, smiling, and said, “I got V-C and V-D!”

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