By June Mathews
In college I was a party girl. Oh, now don’t go getting all shocked and everything. It’s not what you’re thinking. Smoked-filled, beer-soaked fraternity houses were never really my style, nor were the bars across the state line featuring Tequila Sunrises and wet T-shirt contests.
But I was always the first person in the dorm to break out the Jiffy Pop and chocolate chip cookie dough after midterms. And when it came to celebrating really special occasions, I was the one running up and down the hallway collecting enough money to place orders for pizza and a great big Baskin-Robbins ice cream cake.
June Mathews
Yeah, that’s me, all right. Born to be wild.
All these years later, I still like to have a good time, though my version of fun may seem rather tame and somewhat boring to some. But partying is one of my favorite things about Christmas. There’s hardly anything I enjoy more than throwing on a tacky Christmas sweater, slapping on a name tag and mingling my way through a roomful of friends and/or strangers while grazing from tables loaded with sausage balls, peanut butter fudge, snickerdoodle cookies and cream cheese pinwheels.
This season, however, I’ve been experiencing some scheduling issues. Some years every event on the household holiday social calendar falls neatly into its own time slot. Nothing conflicts with anything else and we can easily make it to all the get-togethers beginning with Thanksgiving and going clear through New Year’s Day. But that’s far from being the case this year.
Thanks to an overabundance of invitations and other commitments, I had to miss two parties last week, and I’ll be missing two more this week. And if it weren’t for an understanding mother who willingly cut short our visit with two of my aunts last Saturday so I could get home in time to ride along in the city Christmas parade, I would have missed that, too. And that, my friends, would have been sad. I love a good parade.
Oh, I know I shouldn’t complain. The Reason for the Season isn’t the number of parties or parades on the calendar, and it’s not like I’m missing out on all the celebrations. I just hate missing out on anything.
I also hate to choose. I mean, really, how was I supposed to pick between an elegant buffet brunch at one of my favorite restaurants with my fellow Friends of the Library and a potluck brunch with a roomful of crazy girlfriends and a holiday art project afterward?
In the end, I chose the one that required the least expense and the most casual attire. I’m not sure those were the optimal criteria, but I had to draw some lines somewhere, and those seemed as good as any.
Yeah, being a party girl is tough, but somebody’s got to do it. And now that I’ve been writing about it, I feel a party-planning spell coming on, and you’re invited. So help me out here. What kind of pizza do you like, and would you prefer cherry vanilla or pistachio mint in your ice cream cake? And more importantly before I place any orders: How much cash are you willing to chip in?
Merry Christmas, everybody.
Email June Mathews at jmathews120@charter.net.
