Almost Hostess.

After playing hostess for a night and half a day, I've come to the conclusion that you can never have too many pillows, and tucking away an extra air bed (or two) is surely worth the space it occupies.

My aunt and her family and the cousin and her fiance came bringing "gifts" of crispy pata, Max's fried chicken, chicharon, bangus, bananan turon and wine for their "supposed" birthday surprise for me.  I say supposed because somehow the plan leaked out and so the husband and I found ourselves buying barbecue, a couple more bangus and a couple more crispy patas (we only knew they were coming but didn't know what they were bringing), tubs of Magnolia ice cream, coffee and tea (they enjoy their coffee and tea after big dinners, as gleaned from previous parties). 

The three of us (the aunt, the cuz, and me) being the only close relatives here in Cali, it is always a delight when we get together.  We never run out of stories to tell.  So as the night wore on, it became more and more clear that they were going to spend the night here.  Alas, being new at this hostess business, I was totally unprepared.  My aunt's two teenage sons ended up sleeping in the TV room recliners.  My aunt and her husband slept on the only air mattress we own.  And the cousin and her fiance had to make do with comforters on the floor. 

(Two extra bedrooms and this is all we have to show for it.  Outfitting rooms with beds and  the whole shebang of sheets and duvets and comforters is not as easy as it sounds.)

There was no other way to save face, so I just smiled weakly and said, "Pasensya na."  They are good people, my relatives;  they waved off my apologies.  Still, I lost sleep thinking about how uncomfortable they must have been.  

In the morning, I cooked them a big breakfast of bacon, eggs and leftover food from the night before.  There were more stories and laughter around the kitchen island.  It is really true what they say, here in the US, people converge in the kitchen.  The kitchen is the heart of the home.  Living rooms  merely become show places;  people rarely use them for conversations.

They all left at noon, leaving behind a trail of leftover food that the husband and I will not be able to consume for a week.  After sending them off to their cars, we both looked at each other and said, "We have to buy some real beds."

I'm sure they all went home with aching backs…  but I hope the time spent together more than made up for it.