So the party is over. The debrief follows, with likely edits as I remember more things.
The Good:
My dad and sister showed up - and were rockstar all night long. Dave "El Crusho" Beltran-del-Rio took a last minute flight and made it out and we got to talk. It had been about 8 years, so that was a huge plus. Karen Eng and Ian (hubby) showed up. Rose was my fucking fairy godmother for days on end - it was almost surreal how helpful and cool she was. I got all the food and drink together in time for Diego to get it on UFC-style with the Master Chef action. Diego kicked ass bigtime. The DJ's who made it and played - Delon, Dylan, Ed, and ... the Viagra fella at the end of the night. John and Joel getting the sound system set up and broke down perfectly. Nicole's breakfast. Fred's epic adventure getting mixers. The Chiminea that warmed up the die-hards at the end of the night. Everyone that said they would show up - and did.
The Bad:
Halloween on Thursday tapped me out, and consequently screwed up my energy levels and timing for the party setup. The poor selection of map (my fault) and lack of clear directions (my fault again) made finding the party a chore for everyone. Realizing there were absolutely NO lights just after the sun went down - and having to quickly tool out and get some and bring them back. Not being able to shower or change clothes for the party itself. Not getting hardly any of the food, partially because of my being busy and partially because I was no longer hungry due to stress and fatigue. Jim's total failure to plan out the DJ's and worse failure to let me know that it wasn't going to happen. The DJ situation was a total fiasco and if it wasn't for Rose pulling my ass out of the fire we would have been listening to crickets all night. People who called my cellphone and left messages without their name or number and expected me to get back to them ASAP. My total exhaustion by nights end. The fog machine messing up a lot of the photos of the party. Waiting for people to show up who said they would be there and never showed or called.
The Ugly:
... later.