Okay, so it is too ambitious to set three Christmas Tea tables in one night. My first clue was when I sadly realized that one table was at the very east side of the football sized Abbington banquet room and one table was at the far west side and one table was right in the middle. Even so, enthusiasm was adequate sustanance for getting the tables set with a little help from Pam and Sandy. I was even ready early enough to go around and photograph tables with a Christmas theme—feeling like it was time to give those tables more exposure.
The real killer came in taking the tables down. My fault entirely--I sent my guests home amid pleas and offers of help. What was I thinking? A huge mistake! As soon as I hugged those neighbors and sent them on their way, I hurried east. One woman had bought the whole Table #29 for her guests. She kindly thanked me for setting the table, and for the hostess gifts. She even said that the table was beautiful but then she said, “good by”. Hmm. . . I had been prepared to accept her offer of help immediately as soon as the words were out of her mouth. Something like, “Oh that would be great! Thanks for offering. How about putting the cardinals in here. . .” But I never got the opportunity to use the gracious acceptance speech that I had rehearsed in my mind. It was simply, “good-by.” As I began cleaning up, I remembered that my husband does call me a bull in a china shop so I tried to take a bit of extra care not to break any of the borrowed items on the table. Finally packed, I hurried down to the other end just in case any of those guests wanted to help take down a table. I did not expect much clean-up effort on that table because we will use the table again tomorrow night. I just needed to clear plates, cups, and goblets. I had not planned on a mother with a darling but messy 10 month old child sitting at the table. Realizing that I would need to wash the tablecloth, I began the whole process of taking everything off of the table and packing it all for home to see what was salvageable.
After completing the third table, I was the last WBC person to leave the Abbington. Oh well, somebody has to be last. However, if there is another WBC Christmas Tea. . .I will have this blog to help jog my memory. Because you see, it is morning now, and even though there are three sets of dishes to do and three sets of napkins to wash and iron, it all seems quite doable.
The real killer came in taking the tables down. My fault entirely--I sent my guests home amid pleas and offers of help. What was I thinking? A huge mistake! As soon as I hugged those neighbors and sent them on their way, I hurried east. One woman had bought the whole Table #29 for her guests. She kindly thanked me for setting the table, and for the hostess gifts. She even said that the table was beautiful but then she said, “good by”. Hmm. . . I had been prepared to accept her offer of help immediately as soon as the words were out of her mouth. Something like, “Oh that would be great! Thanks for offering. How about putting the cardinals in here. . .” But I never got the opportunity to use the gracious acceptance speech that I had rehearsed in my mind. It was simply, “good-by.” As I began cleaning up, I remembered that my husband does call me a bull in a china shop so I tried to take a bit of extra care not to break any of the borrowed items on the table. Finally packed, I hurried down to the other end just in case any of those guests wanted to help take down a table. I did not expect much clean-up effort on that table because we will use the table again tomorrow night. I just needed to clear plates, cups, and goblets. I had not planned on a mother with a darling but messy 10 month old child sitting at the table. Realizing that I would need to wash the tablecloth, I began the whole process of taking everything off of the table and packing it all for home to see what was salvageable.
After completing the third table, I was the last WBC person to leave the Abbington. Oh well, somebody has to be last. However, if there is another WBC Christmas Tea. . .I will have this blog to help jog my memory. Because you see, it is morning now, and even though there are three sets of dishes to do and three sets of napkins to wash and iron, it all seems quite doable.
My wonderful neighbors!
Bob's ServiceMaster Coworkers and Jan who graciously offered to set a table for them.
My table on the east end. Set by me but supplied by Eileen.
My west end table with an angel theme.
My neighbor, Mary, helped me fold angel napkins.
Below are lots of gorgeous Christmas theme tables:
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