Party planning

I’m not feeling it today. Sometimes I know exactly what I am going to write about – I don’t even have to think about a subject. Today is not one of those days. I’m covering a multitude of different things in my head, but none of them seem “blog-worthy.” Anyway... I’m planning both Greta’s and Charlie’s birthday parties. Greta will be one on March 8th and I’m completely amazed that she’s been here for a year already! Jamie absolutely does not want to combine the kids’ parties, and I am inclined to agree with him. And, though attending Charlie’s party only two or three weeks after Greta’s will be difficult for some of the invitees (namely out-of-town family and friends), I don’t see any way around it. Greta’s party is going to be simple. I’m not doing anything. No major decorating, just some major cleaning to accommodate the people we’ve invited over. (If you haven’t received an invitation, it’s not because we don’t want you, it’s just we’re not sure we’ve got enough room!) Charlie’s party, however, is a different story. Charlie will be four years old this year! I really want to throw him a soccer-themed party; he loves being able to get out and kick a ball around and I love the idea of having all the three-, four- and five-year-olds outside and not in my house. There’s a park nearby called Milt Dickens Park and they’re currently rebuilding the play ground, but there’s also a great soccer field. I thought maybe, just maybe, the Oak Ridge Parks & Recreation Department would allow me to “rent” the field for a couple hours so the kids could use the playground (which should be completed by then) and kick the soccer balls around, while enjoying pizza and cake. I called the Parks & Rec Dept this morning and the lady on the other end (a disembodied voice that sounded deprived of caffeine and as if she were sitting on a bed of nails wishing she were anywhere but where she was) told me in no uncertain terms, “No, we don’t rent out our fields like that.” And then proceeded to hang up on me! What happened to customer service? Good grief! Honestly, when she hung up on me, I was tempted to call her back and give her a piece of my mind; I was seething! But I spent a good five minutes calming down and then decided it wasn’t worth my time. Now I just need to see if I can find somewhere to have Charlie’s soccer party. I still really want to do it and I’m not out of ideas yet, I’ve just been thwarted. Once. It takes more than that stop me when I’m really on about something! Anyway – I guess that’s it for now. TTFN JMS