Today Didn't Go Quite As Planned, But It Was Nothing Short Of Spectacular

I'm exhausted. Our holiday party took place earlier today. As predicted, Winter Storm Ali pounded us. As of now, we have about 6 inches of snow. It's still snowing. Everyone who had to travel canceled. One person pulled a no call no show. The only people who showed up was our neighborhood tribe. There were 10 of us total.

Before I continue, I want to make one thing clear...

We love and adore our neighborhood tribe. They're family to us. I'm grateful that we live in this particular neighborhood. We help each other out. We exchange baked goods. During the non-winter months, we get together around our backyard firepit. We have dinners together on occasion. We're exceptionally grateful for each and every one of them.

With that being said, I'll be the first to admit, when I got up this morning, I wasn't that excited about our Spreading Love and Holiday Cheer Party because I was too pissed off at Mother Nature. I tried with every ounce of my being not to go to that place, but I did.

The snow started falling around 7 a.m. I knew the last of the cancellations would trickle in. And, they did.

A few glasses of wine cured that...

In addition to our neighborhood tribe, we had invited about 12 other guests. I was looking forward to seeing these people.

Two of these people, a husband and wife duo, we haven't met yet. They're friends of ours who live in western Connecticut. We connected shortly after launching Bodacious Biscuit Love. Since then, I have kept in touch with them at least once a week. On occasion, we send each other things in the mail. They're incredible people.

Another one of our guests lives about an hour west of us. I haven't seen her in almost 4 years. We keep in touch via Facebook. Then, there's Tracy. She lives in N.H. I went to school with her. We haven't seen each other in about 30 years.

Each of the guests who couldn't make it have a special place in our lives. They needed some holiday love and cheer. We wanted them here. They wanted to be here. Unfortunately, Mother Nature put a damper on that.

I was looking forward to having a houseful. Our home is small, but we would have made it work. There would have been enough seating for everyone. It would have been nice to have people scattered throughout our home...eating, talking. laughing, sipping wine, and getting to know each other.

The weather prevented that from happening.

That's not to say we didn't have a great time today. We did. We all gathered in the kitchen. We ate. Enjoyed adult beverages. Talked. Cracked jokes. Laughed. Enjoyed each other's company. Got into the holiday spirit. Everyone left a bit happier and more cheerful. We were all connected. I had several moments when I took a few steps back, observed what was happening, and thought, "This is our neighborhood tribe. The people in our kitchen are family to us. We are incredibly lucky."

The people who weren't able to make it were missed.

I have made it my mission to plan some sort of outdoor event next Summer and invite all of those who couldn't make it today.

I'm leaning towards Lisa's 50th Birthday party.

Hopefully, Mother Nature will cooperate when that happens.

I raise my coffee to a successful party. Although it didn't quite go as planned, it was a reminder of the great people who surround us. The great people we've come to know and love. The great people we call family.