{"id":127,"date":"2006-12-26T10:31:41","date_gmt":"2006-12-26T10:31:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/?p=127"},"modified":"2006-12-27T01:56:21","modified_gmt":"2006-12-27T01:56:21","slug":"lets-go-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/?p=127","title":{"rendered":"Let’s go Party"},"content":{"rendered":"

KC and the Sunshine Band has written a number of songs to do with partying over the years. Let’s Go Party<\/em><\/strong> is just one of them I can remember from the late 1970s.<\/p>\n

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Between now and New Year’s Day there will be many parties.<\/p>\n

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I most often have a drop-in between Christmas and New Years but decided not to do one this year…just too many things going on already.<\/p>\n

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There are five invitations lining my shelf over the computer. Those are just the ones people planned for ahead of time…not the impromptu ones that happen at the spur of the moment where I will get a call the day of the event inviting me and whomever I want to bring to meet in a few hours.<\/p>\n

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For one of the five parties I am a special surprise guest because of my recent book. That should be interesting.<\/p>\n

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All of these will be good times with friends and I look forward to each of them.<\/p>\n

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So what does your social calendar look like between now and the time you slip back into a regular work routine? If you have as many parties to attend as I do, will you go to all of them and stay as long as you can or just make an appearance at each and go home to a quite evening?<\/p>\n

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As for me, I go and stay as long as I can. I have a favorite one I most always end up at midnight on New Years. It’s often the only time of the year I get to see all of the group together. I love being with these folks. Our friendship has grown over the years to a comfortable and caring one.<\/p>\n

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So, if you find yourself going to many gatherings between now and the first of the year, how will you survive such a busy schedule of partying?<\/p>\n

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Here are a few things to consider as you prepare for the partying season:<\/p>\n

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1. If you plan on drinking, make sure you have a designated driver. Alcohol can catch up with a tired body that has already eaten and visited a great deal over the holidays. Be aware you are coming off a pretty stressful and busy time of year. If you haven’t had a chance to adjust your body back into a regular routine, consider that you may not handle alcohol quite the same way you usually do and make appropriate plans ahead of time. You don’t want to have bad memories of times between Christmas and New Years because you had a surprise with the alcohol.<\/p>\n

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2. Be aware of others around you who may have chosen to drink too much alcohol and do a kind deed to help get them home with a promise of help getting their car the next day.<\/p>\n

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3. If you have several parties to go to, make sure you don’t ingest your max of alcohol in one place. A good plan of action is one drink, moderate food intake during that time, lots of good conversation, and perhaps, even a coffee before you leave to go to the next one. Remember, overeating can cause drowsiness…not to mention the additional stress on your system.<\/p>\n

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4. While not necessary, it is always kind to take a little thank you gift. Don’t make a big deal about it. You can even slip it on the counter for the host to enjoy later. A bottle of wine, a nice candle, a thoughtful package of some kind with a little note thanking the host is just a thoughtful thing to do.<\/p>\n

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5. No, you don’t HAVE to go to all of the parties, but be considerate to let someone know if they asked for regret RSVPs. I can’t tell you how important that is to those who entertain. I have, in the past, planned for up to 200 at my gatherings with a request for RSVP if they are not able to come. It’s just not nice for someone to plan for that many and only 60 show up….way too much food and expense for that difference in numbers. While there are creative ways for those who entertain to manage that difference (after all you can have a party after the party!) it is just good practice not to let others expect you will be there if you already know you won’t.<\/p>\n

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6. If you told someone you are coming to their gathering and are not able to on the day of the event, just call and give them your regrets with a reasonable explanation and a short phone visit. They will understand and appreciate the call.<\/p>\n

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7. Enjoy the other party goers and be a good listener. One of the worse things I experienced at a party was someone who talked about himself for 30 minutes and NEVER asked about me. Make sure you are not one of those. It’s good to talk about yourself, and people do want to hear about you…but, like to country song says, “I Wanna Talk About Me,” too. Just ask the person you are conversing with about what’s going on with their life as well…and genuinely listen. You would be surprised at how many people DO NOT know how to do this effectively. If you’ve talked for five minutes solid in a one on one conversation, you’ve talked too much. If you catch yourself doing this, STOP, say “My goodness, I talked way too much about me…what’s been going on with you?” and listen to the other person. You may just appreciate and enjoy their comments as much as they have yours.<\/p>\n

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Visiting with friends and acquaintances between Christmas and New Years can be a fulfilling and satisfying experience if participated in with consideration for others.<\/p>\n

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My wish for you today<\/strong> is that you plan your social calendar wisely between now and the first of the year, considering the things mentioned above. I hope you have fond memories of the holiday events – and that you can and will remember them all after the partying is over.<\/p>\n

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~ Joellen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KC and the Sunshine Band has written a number of songs to do with partying over the years. Let’s Go Party is just one of them I can remember from the late 1970s. Between now and New Year’s Day there will be many parties. I most often have a drop-in between Christmas and New Years […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,25,26,32,16,27,31,30,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-entertainment","category-familyfriends-gatherings","category-food-and-drink","category-holidays","category-life-events","category-living-life-to-the-fullest","category-releationships-general","category-teenagers","category-serving-others"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=127"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}