We ended up being 34 people for Pie Night yesterday, which was perfectly manageable. We have a party palace of a home. I was bummed about a couple of the people who dropped off the list, as I was hoping to see them, but one was sick and the other couple had something come up. We didn’t even have to borrow chairs from Lisel, as I was an idiot and completely forgot about the fact that we have 6 chairs on the porch and a further 2 cafe chairs from the swing patio.
Anders spent the majority of Saturday morning putting the cabinets in above the fridge and freezer though he couldn’t finalize the one above the freezer, because it is STILL not the one we are keeping. Whe we got the delivery of the fridge and freezer several weeks ago, they were in boxes and I was home to receive them. But since Anders was away for work, they sat in the hallway for the week until he could deal with them, and then discovered that the freezer had a ding in the metal of the door right above the handle. There was a hole in the box where it had apparently been pushed in, but I had no idea. Luckily, the delivery guys had taken a photo of the boxes from the front and the hole was clearly visible. So, on Friday, when we were both home, the replacement freezer came.
We took all the drawers of food out, and they maneuvered the freezer out of its spot so they could put the new one in, only as they were doing so, the delivery guy pointed out damage on the side of the REPLACEMENT freezer. What the actual hell!!! Why would they send a freezer with damage to replace a freezer with damage?? Anders stopped them and said nope, and they took it away again, and he has spoken with Elgiganten about it, and scheduled yet another delivery for yet another replacement freezer. Suck. It will be while I’m in the US, so Anders will have make sure he can be home to receive it during a week when he’s not away.
He had already ordered and received the two top cabinets, which are shorter by nearly half than the previous ones, and after he got the first one in, we discovered that it could no longer be the liquor cabinet because the taller bottles like wine wouldn’t fit standing up. Because the fridge and freezer are a few inches taller than the old ones, and the edge of the cabinet is lifted at least an inch above that, I can’t reach them at all without a stepstool. I did some moving around in the laundry cabinets and the kitchen cabinets, and got everything placed away satisfactorily. Anders had to move the TV from the living room to the playroom as he couldn’t get the playroom television to work (2nd year in a row).
While he was putting the cabinets up, I was cleaning the house, moving and placing chairs and little tables in groupings everywhere, and setting things up for the party. I went to Systembolaget as well, since Anders wasn’t going to have time to go, and I made the buttercream frosting for the fruit pizzas (I’d make the chocolate chip cookie bottoms the night before, using NIKS! Use Like Sugar). I’d gone to the grocery store Friday after work as well, but I had saved the stuff that was specific to Pie Night for Saturday as I wanted to go get it all at Willys which is cheaper for things like sodas and snacks and disposable tableware. We already had enough napkins and cups and small plates and plastic cutlery (which I wash and reuse over and over until it breaks), so I only needed dinner plates and ice, as well as the drinks and snacks. And I timed it so I could pick up Martin right as he finished work, where Theo was also waiting. Anders was making the taco pies just as I got back with the boys. Martin and Theo helped with all the last minute party prep while I assembled the fruit pizzas.
Theo, Martin, and Anders ready for pie
A happy table full of pie eaters
Almost everyone was right on time at 6:30, but we had two really late families with dinner pies, which I was a bit ticked about, because who arrives 45 minutes late to a potluck dinner party!? I didn’t have a very good overview of all the pies either because people didn’t write on the signup sheet what they were bringing. We did have bacon-leek-2cheese quiche, our taco paj, tortilla chicken with jalapeno, shepherd’s pie, spinach artichoke quiche AND spinach quiche, chedder and tomato quiche, vegetarian pot pie, and cheeseburger pie. I didn’t try everything but the ones I did were really good. There was only about a dinner plate’s worth of leftovers, which was great.
For dessert, I only had a piece of my own fruit pizza, since I’m really trying to be good about sugar (even though my fruit pizza had both fruit, and sugar in the buttercream frosting, still the cookie part was sugarless!). There was key lime pie, “hillbilly” pie, lemon icebox pie, blueberry crumble, and at least two others. Everything got completely eaten except a bit of the crumble (which I tossed), and a small piece of fruit pizza which I scarfed for lunch today.
The playroom was packed from 8 pm on with people (mostly kids) watching the Melodifestival final, and at least 2 of the families stayed to the end at 10 pm. Martin and Theo got a ride to the bus station with a couple who headed out earier, and Lisel and her Martin stayed and chatted with us until past 11, at which point we just gathered up stuff to the kitchen, and left the rest until today.
Anders went down to Ingvar’s house with Maria this morning to wash windows, which took them forever since they were all 3-paned and had to be opened and cleaned on SIX surfaces each (UGH!), and I put the rest of the house back and cleaned up everything and handwashed the million wineglasses. Then I took what turned out to be a nearly 2-hour nap, during which I dreamed that they were cutting jobs at work and I had to write emails to justify what I was doing and prove I was going a good job. Fuck you, DOGE, for invading my nap. Anders brought back two boxes of knickknacks that we are taking to charity, and two boxes of a very nice china service that I have now washed, so we can either donate or try to sell it. I had to laugh, because the browned, crumbling newspaper the china was wrapped in was from February 1980! It’s been in Ingvar’s attic for 45 years! Anders is napping now, bless him.
One more week before I leave for the US, and it’s another busy one with a doctor’s appointment, a hair appointment, and a massage scheduled. And work is, as always, crazy busy. I wish we weren’t as tired on Sunday evening as we were after a full week of work on Friday. Time to start the packing process and getting ready for travel. I need another weekend!
Mood: accomplished and tired
Music: Perfume Genius—On the Floor