A good time was had by all

I threw my first party last night. It was a rousing success in my opinion, despite the fact that quite a few of the people I expected to show up couldn't for one reason or another. Everyone had a great time, there was no drama (even though there was great potential for it), everyone dug my new place, and any and all nervousness I had playing the host was gone within the first hour.

One thing I never really took into account in throwing a party was how expensive it can be. I went out on Saturday afternoon to pick up the essentials - alcohol, snacks, toilet paper, ice, etc. - and within 45 minutes I had spent nearly $200. Granted, I went for top-shelf beer and liquor, and the new ice chest I bought ran about thirty bucks. I made the party BYOB and pot luck, which worked out really well because the snack trays and beer I bought wouldn't have lasted too long without the extra food.

And what was brought was primo shit. Cookies, cake, hummus...all homemade. Beer, wine, liquor...all from actual liquor stores and not from the QuikTrip around the corner.

I didn't have to lock Chuck in the bedroom for this. Everybody loved him, and the one person I knew that was allergic never made it to the party. Chuck did manage to sneak out a couple times but never got further than a few feet from the door before he got caught. Not like earlier in the day...

To try and de-smoke the apartment, I opened all the windows while I was cleaning up. I had a moment of panic, though. I was washing the dishes and I heard some things crash to the floor in the dining room. I went in to inspect the scene, and discovered that the dining room window didn't have a screen on it, and Chuck was no where to be found. Keep in mind, I'm on the second floor and there is no ledge outside that window. I just had a mental image of my poor cat jumping out of a window and falling twenty feet to the parking lot below.

I frantically looked around the building for him and eventually found him on a windowsill above the front door. I went back inside and opened the window in the hallway to let him in. He didn't even let me get the window open the whole way before he clwed into my shirt and the flesh underneath and held on for dear life. I tried to catch him before he had all 18 pounds of his weight supported by his claws dug into my chest.

Everyone was gone by 3:00, and I fell asleep soon afterwards.