The Party

A few weeks ago we received an invitation to a party at David & Jeff's. I made a mental note of it and left the invitation out so Joe would see it. When he did I told him I really thought we should go.

We met David a few years ago at church. He is friends with several of our friends who also go to that church, and that is how we first got to know him. Later we saw him at a holiday party and a birthday party hosted by those same friends we have in common.

Then we ran into David in the Las Vegas airport. Turns out we were all scheduled on the same flight back to BWI, and had arrived at the airport early, so we sat and talked a bit. Our plane was due into BWI just before midnight, and when we found that David would have to take a cab or call his new boyfriend to come and pick him up, we offered him a lift home. He only lives a few miles from us so it was absolutely no trouble at all. This gave us more opportunity to talk.

We learned that he and Jeff had been seeing each other for several months, and that Jeff had just recently moved from Seattle to the DC area to be with David. Remembering that we were having our holiday party in about 3 weeks, I verbally invited David and Jeff, then sent them an invitation a few days later. They came to our holiday open house and we met Jeff for the first time.

A few months later, in the Spring, we got an invitation to David & Jeff's for a "last party before the house gets torn apart" party. They were about to add a large addition to their house and wanted to have a party before the place was in shambles. For some reason (I'm not exactly sure what) we weren't able to make it. I think we already had plans.

Then around the holidays we received another invitation from them, inviting us to a holiday cocktail party. We planned to go, so I RSVP'd 'Yes', but with everything so hectic at the holidays, we just plain forgot. There was no calendar conflict or anything; we just forgot to go, and I felt badly.

So, when we got the invitation a few weeks ago, I told Joe that we needed to go to David & Jeff's party. Of course I wanted to go anyway, but I told him we really should go, since we'd been invited before and hadn't gone. It was the same weekend as Mother's Day, so I knew we would be in town and not at the beach.

Sat morning we had a little breakfast and then got started with our painting. We painted the foyer, hallway and vestibule area that leads to the TV room, guest bedroom and bathroom. We decided on a gorgeous, rich shade called Baked Clay. (Most people would call it Terra Cotta.) We painted until 1:30, washed up, had a light lunch (since we're dieting) and then took a ride over to Lowes. Joe wanted some of those fast-growing, cascading petunias called Wave Petunias. We brought them home and planted them in some pots we already had, left over from some fall mums we had a few years ago. Our neighbor Suzanne came over and we talked about the neighborhood, real estate values, the illegal immigration issue, and various other topics until shortly after 5:00. Finally we went inside to get showered and ready for the party.

On the way, we stopped and picked up some cut flowers for our hosts; beautiful, magenta colored Asiatic lilies; they'd make a lovely impression, then drove to David & Jeff's house. I'd forgotten to bring the invitation with me, so I was trying to remember the house number. We'd only been to the house once before, when we dropped David off from the airport, in the dark, two years ago. We parked in front of the house we thought was theirs and carried the lilies as far as the driveway. Something didn't seem right. I was not at all convinced this was the right house. Where were all the other party-goer's cars? Why were all the blinds closed at this house? I told Joe that I didn't think this was the right house, and suggested we quickly get back into the car. He noticed that the house we almost went to didn't have an addition on it, so we were then sure it wasn't the right house.

Fortunately the street was not long, so we turned around and looked carefully as we made a second pass. Then I saw the correct house. I recognized the same car in the driveway I'd noticed the night we'd dropped David off, and this house had an enormous addition on both the back and the side of the house. We parked and once again carried the lilies to the driveway. Once again we noticed there didn't seem to be any vehicles belonging to other party-goers cluttering the street. We rang the doorbell and waited. No one answered. We stood there a few more seconds, then walked back to the car.

"Are you sure the party was this weekend and not next?" Joe asked. "Yes, I'm positive. I remember thinking to myself that the party was Sat and Mother's Day was Sun: a full weekend." We decided to go home and look at the invitation again. The date read 5/12/06. I said out loud "See? Its this weekend, not next weekend. May 12th. Today is May 12th, isn't it?" As I heard myself asking the question, I began to feel a slight sting of guilt. I walked over to the calendar on the fridge and then said out loud "No, today is May 13th. The party was last night."

Thank god no one answered the door at David & Jeff's house (THAT would have been embarrassing), and no wonder there were no other cars in front. They'd all been there the night before. My mood suddenly plummeted. I couldn't believe we'd missed another party at David & Jeff's. Somehow I'd gotten it in my head that the party was on Sat night so I didn't pay attention to the actual date on the invitation. I just knew it was Sat night at 7:00. I felt so badly I didn't know what to do. It took poor Joe a few minutes to understand why I was so disappointed and upset with myself. THREE parties in a row we missed at David & Jeff's.

In a vain attempt to lessen my disappointment we went out to dinner. On the way back home Joe suggested that the night wouldn't be a total loss since I'd now be home to watch one of my favorite shows: Trading Spaces. Trading Spaces always comes on Sat night, sometimes twice in the same night. But, adding insult to my injury, that night was the first Sat night in I don't know how long that Trading Spaces was not on. I couldn't believe it.

Today I sent David & Jeff an email, explaining why we'd RSVP'd 'Yes' and then not shown up. "Actually we DID show up - only it was the wrong night" I joked. I hope they don't think we're crazy guys who get some weird kick out of saying we'll come and then not show up. Maybe we should simply invite them over or out to dinner to prove we want to be friends!