Super Saturday

Parnell and I co-chaired the Fall Fiesta at Connor's school, which was by turns exhausting and restorative, the latter thanks to (1) the reaction of the kids (especially the kindergartener who informed me that Fiesta day had been the best day of his life) and (2) some new parents who jumped into the trench with us and stayed there for the duration (manning the volunteer check-in table, AKA command central, every time I had to run off and put out a fire, which I estimate happened a couple hundred of times, and helping coordinate tear-down, which we knocked out in an hour and ten minutes!). Thanks to the school staff and our volunteers, we were pulling into our driveway at 6:15 (Saturday was one of those days that I was thankful that we opted to attend the neighborhood school, which is three blocks away!), and thanks to Parnell's brother who volunteered to babysit we were walking out the door, in formal attire, at 7:3o. See, the carnival initially was scheduled for 11/1, and the JWC Gala was scheduled for 11/15. When we found out that one of the teachers had scheduled her wedding for 11/1, we moved the carnival to 11/8 as an "open day" - except that, unbeknownst to us, the Gala organizers had experienced an issue with the party venue and were forced to reschedule as
well. So we were a bit double-booked yesterday . . . but I am so glad that we attended Gala, because it was a fabulous party. We had the entire Modern Museum to ourselves, all of the galleries were open for our viewing, and the lobby was transformed into a modern lounge with low white tables, couches and ottomans. Pillows bearing embroidered JWC crests were scattered throughout (and I get to keep four of them - Parnell is so delighted to be adding to the throw pillow collection). The Cafe at The Modern was transformed into a casino, where I converted $1,000 in play money into $6,000 playing Texas Hold 'Em - I won five hands in a row, with two flushes, a full house, an ace-high straight and two pair! Shotglasses full of dessert were served in the casino, and the food in the main room was equally creative (sliders with Maytag bleu cheese, Chinese chicken salad served in individual to-go boxes, etc.). Truly a great time!

Slideshow of Gala photos follow . . . .