…can you stuff into a Smart Car? How many college students can you cram into a sedan? And, more importantly, how many people can you fit in a house that isn’t all that big? It’s this last question that has me stumped.
We’re planning this party for Stephen. We skipped the graduation party and, instead are having a farewell party for him, before he goes off to Rome. It will be on the day of his Candidacy Mass in June. (I will stick a footnote at the end of this note & explain what sort of Mass that is.)
I have not even begun to plan out how much food I need or where I’m getting it from. I am obsessing on how on earth I’m going to fit a whole bunch of people in my house. If it’s nice out, we can use the backyard. If I want to spring for a tent, that’ll take care of us even if it does rain, I suppose. But that’ll only take care of maybe 35/40 people. Just counting family, alone, we can hit that number easily.
This seemed like a real good idea at the time. I’m now thinking maybe we better not invite every single person we know.
The Candidacy Mass: Before Stephen goes to Rome, he has to be admitted as a candidate to the Diaconate & Priesthood. This involves several steps including him writing a letter petitioning the bishop. Then he is officially accepted as a candidate by the bishop at a Mass.
I guess I’ll have to be wearing a dress again. Luckily, no one but Frank saw the dress I wore to my friend’s wedding so I can wear that again. The best part is it’s long so I don’t have to wear stockings. 
Well I have two canopies that are 10 x 20 each….put them together you would have 10×40………which should hold quite a few……not sure if they will fit in my trunk when I head that way…..wait, gas is 4.19 a gallon, I’m not going more than 100 miles from home….good luck!
Why don’t you hold a reception for Steve at the church after the mass. Rent the church reception or banquet hall and have it catered. Then people and family will already be at the mass and not go through the expense of extra driving AND, best of all, you won’t have to put on a dress and shoes an extra time!
There wouldn’t be any expense of extra driving because I live 2 blocks away from the Church. We can’t do it at the parish hall. For 1 thing, we’re doing an open house, not a set time period. Also, if it was in the Church, the number of people expecting to be invited would easily double. It would be way too easy for everyone to just wander down after Mass & impossible to tell people, “Oh, you’re not invited.”
Katy, I think you should get Kim & drive on over, with those tents. Not that anyone here would have the faintest clue on how to set them up if you did bring them.
Well, why not invite EVERYONE at the church (everyone knows Stephen, don’t they?) and just serve punch and cookies after the mass for about an hour and give everyone a chance to congratulate Steve and tell him goodbye. Then you can have a much smaller open house at your house later for just close friends and family.
I can set up both tents in about 30 minutes….do it all the time.
When I was at work Saturday, I typed up a really good comment about how Katy and I were already planning a road trip … but then I was plopped back into reality when I got the same error message that I always get when I try to comment from work. And by the time I got home, I forgot my good comment. It did include something about how people don’t care if they’re wedged in like sardines as long as there is Italian food, though. And that Katy and I will be on our way because, with both of us, gas would only be, like, 2.10 per gallon, each. Which doesn’t seem so bad.
It really was a lot funnier the first time…