Party on, Wayne. Party on, Garth.

We've been out of school long enough to get used to having holidays. Except, back in the University world... holidays rarely equal a day off.

MLK Day, however, is actually observed at U of M, so there are no classes. A few days ago it hit me - hey wait - there are no classes. So Arthur invited several classmates (and spouses - this year has been vastly improved because there are other spouses/SOs, like me, along for the ride) over for brunch.

And it felt really, really good to host such a brunch. Y'all know me - I <3 serving brunch to everyone. And Arthur loves running an omelet bar. The house was full in a way it hasn't been since we moved in (as much as Neffie did his best), and it was a good feeling.

 It did remind us of the limitations of our space, though. I missed the old apartment. This brunch worked, but we couldn't have fit more people. We're used to an apartment that is all on one floor. In JP, we just closed off the door to the back bedroom, and the rest of the apartment could be party space. Here, the split level means everyone's in one room - you can't really branch off upstairs comfortably.

Also, I really miss my old kitchen. The biggest challenge here is that for brunch, a lot of the cooking is live (versus in advance) - and that's difficult in a small kitchen. I remember having a pantry... and room for a table in the kitchen... and an entire front room (and library!) for putting all the cookies out at a cookie party, away from the kitchen. And more room meant more seating. We didn't bring a lot of the older furniture with us when we moved, so we have less space and fewer places to park one's butt.

Still, we've adapted to the space and having a bunch of people over for omelets and french toast and waffles and mimosas (and chocolate cake because there was a birthday girl) really felt good. I think once the semester is over we should definitely host more brunches. Or cookie parties. Or whatever. Plus, the weather will be nicer (*sob* or so we hope), and we can use the picnic tables and not feel so restricted with inviting people.


(It's definitely been nice this year for Arthur to have a cadre. Especially since some of them play games :) The decision to spend an extra year for the dual degree has really paid off.)