Evening Tea

This week I hosted the monthly social for our unit’s military wife group. Let me just say that a couple years ago I would have never imagined myself as someone who would join a military wife group, let alone play host in my home for 20 women. Another friend volunteered to help me. We decided on a theme of a spring “tea” because we thought it would be fun and different. (And, it doesn’t hurt that I still have an enormous supply of tea, thanks to my grandma.) I usually get a little neurotic when I know people are coming over. (Let’s just say that if I knew with any certainty when the UPS man might stop by, I’d probably clean up for him, too.) But the days leading up to the social, I felt strangely calm. I even bragged to my mom on the phone, saying something about a “turning point in my life” and “finally getting it together as a hostess.” And then exactly 24 hours before the event, I had my freak-out session, as if on cue. I was in charge of making the finger sandwiches, and after spending hours trying out recipes and tasting the results, I decided that I just wasted hours of my life to make a boring old lunch sandwich. Husband came home that night to a very frantic wife. I made him try the sandwiches, but only after this disclaimer: “I’m in an emotionally fragile state right now, and the only feedback I can hear about these sandwiches is that they’re delicious. Otherwise, I might melt into a puddle on the floor, and you’d have to step in as host for the wives.” He tried them, and not surprisingly, remarked, “They’re delicious!” (True or not, I bought it.) Somehow, though, everything came together. That’s due in large part to my very talented friend. She brought bags and bags of cute fabric, tablecloths, and other décor that I didn’t even know existed. I was relieved when she told me that she used to work for a catering company because I was wondering how someone could just know instinctively that “if we raise the centerpiece, it’ll make for a more dramatic presentation.”

Everyone seemed to have a great time. And even after all my initial worrying, I had a lot of fun. I even thought that I wouldn’t mind doing it again – with my talented friend.