The party redux

Who remembers the story from way back in January when Kristin and I went to an engagement party and stayed until 5am? This week, I got an invite to a party from John, the host of the previous event. I couldn't place his name at first, but when I put it together, I laughed and immediately sent Kristin an email. "What do you think of this? Want to go?"

We decided not to decide, but I was pretty sure we'd end up there. It was also one of the reasons I told Owen about the blog--I invited him to join us and I thought there was a chance people would call me "Jamy" and I had to explain that to him ahead of time. Kristin thought it would be funny if I just introduced myself by my real name and see if anyone remembered.

Owen didn't join us, but after a nice dinner and good parking luck, Kristin and I arrived at John's fantastic apartment at 9pm. John greeted us. He remembered our faces, but our names? They were not spoken. It was somewhat awkward. John handed us wine glasses and Kristin and I stood in the dining room holding empty glasses. A woman who looked familiar came up to me. I couldn't place her right away--did I know her from the other party? And then it hit me--as she was saying it, "Hi [Jamy's real name]!" She turned to Kristin, "She's basically my boss. I just wanted to clear that up."

Ah. "I'm sorry," I said, "I'm blanking on your name."

"Stephanie."

"Right. Of course. What's wrong with me?" I spent a couple of days with this woman in California back in June on a site visit. I know exactly who she is. She is my contractor. In a way, I am her boss. Odd.

After Stephanie went back to her friends, I said to Kristin, "Well, I guess we know what name I'm using tonight!" And I introduced myself by my real name to everyone else I met. No one blinked, including a few people we'd met previously.

It wasn't a hilarious good time the way the first party was. Some of that was due to my extreme tiredness. I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open. I drank one glass of wine on top of an actual meal and it's been a few days since I really ate and more than a week since I had a drop of alcohol. That wine hit me like a ton of bricks. My stomach seems to be in good shape, though.

Just as we left, the party started to perk up. Kristin and I talked about the two good looking guys we'd had our eyes on when we walked back to the car. "The one with the curly hair was cute." Kristin said.

"So was his friend, in the jacket."

"They were both cute."

I said, "I wondered how long they were going to stand around talking to those other guys."

"They didn't mingle at all."

"They were just starting to move around when we left. That was our chance. Sorry I dragged you out."

Kristin said, "No worries."

"You know, I wonder, I'm supposed to be doing that? What are the rules?"

"I have no idea!"

I said, "Me neither. Flirting is fine, I'm sure." But I didn't flirt. I still had a good night. Wish I'd been a little perkier, though. Nothing could have topped the first party--and we knew it. I didn't manage to lower my expectations enough. But isn't that the hardest thing to do?

Grateful for: reasonable expectations.

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