Journey of a Thousand Dumplings, part 2

On Sunday, there was still much work to be done. We had to make our you-know-whats, and we also had a birthday to attend, and again, I was not thrilled about breaking away from the task at hand, but I wasn't about to deny the kids the enjoyment of hanging with their friends. The invite left it open for parents to unload their kids and run errands, but the party was out past Woodstock and about a half-hour drive, so it wasn't practical to go back and forth for a two-hour party, though I would have loved to have taken a nap. Also, I wasn't thrilled about leaving R on her own to make and cook the goods. For the record, I felt really bad about this, and I also made and cooked about half before I left, so I didn't feel that guilty, sort of.

I was a bit concerned about the party because the twins, A&D, are pre-teen boys, as were all the friends who were invited with the exception of A&N. Also, they all knew each other from the local school, and they all shared a common interest in certain things like Yugio (sp?) and other hobbies. This meant that A&N were going to have to work at inserting themselves into the mix. It also meant that neurotic dad was going to have to sit back and let things unfold as they may.

It helped that the kids were super nice, and they all were very accepting of A into their circle of fun. N was by far the youngest, by about 5 years, which is huge in terms of kids, especially boys. But to their credit, they included them when they could, and N had a blast going into D's room and playing with his prolific collection of Legos and other assorted gadgets. D even checked in on him to make sure he was okay, which I thought showed amazing maturity, warranting a nod of approval to mom and dad.

I got to sit and converse with three sets of grandparents, one of whom I knew fairly well. And do you want to know what we talked about? You guessed it-dumplings. I'm guessing they were just being courteous, but they were very interested in our little venture, and offered all sorts of advice. In fact, one of the grandparents was leaving for Mongolia in a few days, and knew all sorts of people who made dumplings. I really enjoyed talking to them, and it was a really nice time.

They also set a finite amount of time for the party, and by the time 4:00 rolled around, we were ready to head home and rescue mom from her dumpling purgatory. R was well in control by the time we got home, and we ate supper and the kids relaxed while I took the reigns. R talks to her mom on Sundays, so that meant I was riding solo for the rest of the evening. So after getting the kids brushed and ready for bed, I came downstairs and got to work. It wasn't easy.

I was beat, and I was looking at a fairly late night, so my mood was not good. R came down at some point and helped, and we got through it. Once the dumplings are made, cooking is fairly simple, so that went quickly, but it was the end of a reasonably brutal weekend centered around one thing, which can kind of get old fast.

Hopefully we'll be able to streamline the operation and if there are no interruptions, get it done in a timely and more efficient manner.

Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks to Nauris Paulins for the pic.