Dinner, anyone?

You all would be so proud of me. :) I had people over to dinner last night. I am such the hostess, you know. Or maybe you don't know. That hostess comment is dripping with sarcasm.

Ever since we moved in, we've been welcomed by various neighbors. One across the street brought fresh baked bread by the first week we were here, then sent us a Christmas card, and then invited us to come over for New Year's since they figured we didn't have any plans. Isn't that friendly and nice? So I didn't want to think we weren't interested, and I invited them over. They have a 14 month old son and another due to be born in March. And they both work full time. They are really nice and we had such a good time.

A few thoughts about the night:

I realized that eating dinner with Andrew is like inviting a foreign exchange student over for dinner. I found myself explaining his "customs" and "dialect" to our guests throughout the night. Just an observation.

Our house is not baby-proofable. We tried to pick up and cover all the plugs and cover the wires, etc etc. In the end, we baby-proofed the kitchen and family room and blocked off Andrew's playroom. I feel like painting a sign over the door, "DANGER. BABY CHOKING ZONE" I think I'm just going to put a muzzle over Lily's mouth once she becomes mobile. Just strap it around her head. Because the only toys Andrew likes are choking hazards. What am I going to do???

My neighbor is a vegetarian. I planned to make the one vegetarian meal I've ever cooked. I remembered it as being this fabulous bean and veggie pasta. I marketed it that way to my neighbor when I spoke with her on the phone. Then when I went to buy the ingredients I realized...it is glorified spaghetti. Oops. I mean, it's yummy, but my neighbor is probably not going to add it to her rotation of meals. Lesson I learned: don't brag about your cooking skills until you actually get some. I should have known that no recipe I've tried is anything fancy or difficult.

I love having people over. Jeff and I are notoriously lazy about entertaining at our house. We just don't invite people over. But now with 2 kids, I think it is becoming more appealing. I think that's the first Saturday night we've been social since Lily was born (except with family...no offense, guys). I hope to make this another New Year's resolution. Be social!

I think that's all my observations. It'll be interesting to see if I get any better at this entertaining thing. ;)