Temp: 20 degrees
Today started off overcast, and the radio said there'd be the likelihood of rain in the morning, but that it would clear up in the afternoon ... let's pray for the best, 'cause today is the big BBQ day!
Yesterday afternoon I had done all the shopping, but there were a few things I had forgotten, so I whipped down to the store again this morning for a few items. I made my world famous potato salad, then spent the rest of the day cleaning and prepping for the party.
By 4PM, which was our official 'start time' on the invitation, we were finally finished the prep and ready to rawk. The first to show up was Ron and Pam at about 6PM, followed shortly thereafter by Wayne, Patty, Remo, and Keith.
Amazingly, the sun came out just as our BBQ started - oh, and it never rained today either!
And hour or so later, there was a surprise buzz at the gate, and Paul and Dan from TYPHUS showed up! I haven't seen either of them in close to three years, but Carole emailed them an invite, and they made it out - that was cool, we did a lot of cathing up and remeniscing, and we all listened to rawkin tunes and BBQed hot dogs and sausages and burgers and steaks, and pork, and potatoes, and you name it.
Then at about 8:30 there's another unexpected buzz, and Carole's friend Linn appears at the door - and a few minutes later, Stevie and Jenny (who we had run into on Bowen Island last week) arrived. So now there were 13 of us, the perfect number for a party!
We gave Paul, Dan, Steve, and Jen a tour of the house, since none of them had ever been here before, and me and keith busted a gut laughing at www.CatsThatLookLikeHitler.com on my big screen projector.
From about 10 to 11:30, all the musicians (me, Wayne, Remo, Dan, Paul, Keith ...oh, I guess Ron and Pam had left by then) piled into my basement studio and began jamming out old Sabbath, Ozzy, Maiden, and Priest tunes - it was a total blast, and it looked like everyone downstairs was having the time of their lives, while the girls sat out on the deck chatting.
Amazingly enough, the whole thing started to wind down by midnight, and everyone was gone by 12:30 - I think this is the earliest one of our parties has ever ended! But this is also the first time ever that we didn't have a "captive audience" either, as everyone here tonight drove, and nobody was at the mercy of the bus system, which shuts down at 10:30 in these parts.
It was a really super time, and everyone behaved themselves (though Remo did start to get into the Absinthe a bit near the end... though I WAS kind of encouraging it, lol) - I don't think there was a single spilled drink, at least not that I was aware of... and only one broken glass, which was a total accident. There was even about a case of beer leftover by the end of it - how rare is that? Good time though, definately a success.
Oh, and once again, my potato salad was a huge success too.