So Saturday was Eldest Cherub's big "Guys Only" Birthday Bash. Newest Sis-In-Law and I took Littlest Cherub and her 3 female cousins to a movie and dinner because we weren't invited to the party (yes, we are girls), leaving Dear Hubby and his 2 eldest Brothers in charge amidst approximately 1 dozen 13 - 14 year old adolescents, dinner to serve, cake to cut, heavy winds and blinding rain. What could possibly go wrong?
Let me stop here and say - BIG MISTAKE!
Coincidentally, because of the heavy winds and blinding rain, a tree had fallen on a telephone pole and the entire neighborhood was in darkness - For quite a while. There are no street lights.
Upon our arrival home, this is what we encountered - At least 8 (possibly more, we couldn't tell in the pitch black) of the young cherubs left in dear hubby's care wandering at the end of the street, "checking out the scene" of the downed tree limbs, broken telephone pole and sparks flying from both, and pretty much just all-around getting in the way of the fire fighters, policemen and utility workers trying to fix the problem. Where was dear hubby, you ask? We found him sitting on a rocker on the front porch of our home, with the dog, drinking a beer. In his defense, eldest brothers had walked down the street with cherubs to check out the commotion. However, (yes there is always a however!) had gotten so enthused at the goings on of the men working, apparently forgot that they had numerous adolescent boys in their charge.
After rounding up all the boys and taking a head count (it is now 1/2 hour after the official "end time" of the party), we realize that 3/4 of the partygoers have yet to be picked up. Into the house we go. In the midst of the mess of strewn clothing, shoes and other various and sundry party accoutrements and items, there are numerous candles dripping a steady flow of wax onto the tables, floors, countertops, coffee tables and any other flat surface in the house. Good for you, Dear Hubby, for thinking of lighting some candles - but again, HOWEVER. did you ever think to put something beneath them to protect all the flammable surfaces in our home? And, why, may I ask are they all lit and left completely unattended while the entire party is outside? And did I mention a reddish-brown, clumpy, smelly, soupy, I-don't-know-what-the-hell-this-is substance filling approximately 1/3 of the kitchen sink. Do I even dare ask?
There are a few flashlights and lanterns, also, left on, strewn about the house and yard - Also unattended. I grab the largest, brightest lantern of the bunch and venture onto the front porch where Dear Hubby and Eldest Brothers have now parked themselves for the duration of the evening. It seems that at this point, a few more relatives, neighbors and random people from the streets have decided to join them. It only took the simple question "Where did the boys go?" for me to realize that they have spent the evening having a party of their own. Of the, oh, I don't know, 15 people milling about, I think that maybe 2 had an even semi-quasi-literate answer.
After, AGAIN, rounding up the boys and asking them to not venture from the yard - Because PARENTS SHOULD BE HERE SHORTLY - I venture yet again to the front porch. "Do you think we should contact the parents and let them know that there is a detour at our street?" "Oh, stop worrying, they'll figure it out."
Little did I realize that the detour WAS our street. Which proved to be a colossal source of entertainment for the 3 Day men. You see, we live directly across the street from a cul-de-sac. In the dark, you can't tell it is a cul-de-sac and the 3 men and various other party-goers and crashers took sheer pleasure in the fact that confused motorists that had been detoured into our little end of the earth would turn into it in hopes that the road was a thru-way to the other side of where the downed pole and trees were. Only to find that it was a dead end and have to turn around and come back out.
As each car turned into the cul-de-sac, and there were quite a few, numerous comments such as "It's a dead end, just like your brain . . . Ha Ha - it goes nowhere . . . Good Luck getting out . . . " etc . . . were yelled with vim and vigor all around. As the cars stopped and slowly proceeded out of the cul-de-sac to find their way out of our neighborhood, more comments were spewed with the same vim and vigor and possibly even a little vulgarity thrown into the mix. THIS. NEVER. GOT. OLD. Not to them.
As each parent pulled up to a stop in front of our home, visions of conversations regarding the "white trash Day family", ". . . and did you see how drunk the dad was . . . ", " . . . can you believe their family members? . . . " and the fact that each and every one of these children would probably never be allowed back to our home floated through my head. Which really might not be such a bad thing. :)
So even after the last young party-going cherub pulled out of our driveway, the party went on. Well into the night. Dear Hubby and his 2 Brothers, a massive source of humor for all who stayed. And we had a great time. Even when we woke to the candle wax, dirty floors and the I-don't-know-what-the-hell-this-is substance still taking up residence in my kitchen sink. We had a great time.
PS - Eldest Cherub said the kids couldn't stop talking about what a great time they had at school on Monday and the substance turned out to be the remnants of a beef stew Dear Hubby had made and lost power before he could turn on the garbage disposal when he dumped it out after dinner.
So, I guess it was a success. And as favorite bro-in-law says - "Hey, no one was lost, hurt or killed - it was a good night."
