Good Intentions

We had our family Xmas party on the 22nd. I was in charge of throwing it. I had volunteered about 5 years ago to throw it at our house, but have had several parties since then and have discovered that our house isn't quite equipped for that kind of crowd. Our family consists of several adults, several children, and several children-like adults. The design of our house isn't open enough to hold all those bodies for dinner, mingling, and gift giving. So, this year, I threw it at my parents' clubhouse. In any case, when you are the one to throw the xmas party, you are the one bringing the Ham and in charge of bringing any extra goodies, while dictating what everyone else will bring to the potluck. Well, to add a little something-something to the holiday spirit, I figured I'd make some spiced apple cider. Who doesn't love that? Apparently, a lot of people don't. I bought 3 gallons of apple juice and 2 large packets of mulling spice. I cooked the cider for a good 3 hours and my house smelt like Christmas. We loved it. I packed it up and brought it to the party and anticipated that at least 2.5 gallons would be consumed, leaving me with 1/2 a gallon for Xmas Eve and Xmas day. Ummm, no. My Grandma and I were the only ones drinking it. The ONLY ONES!!! I watched my Grandma pour some and force people to drink it. "Drink it!! It's delicious! Kathy made it!" She was a great fan. I was left with the 2.5 gallons that I had hoped would be gone. So, I've been working on finishing it all off all by myself. I think next year I'll just bring a 2 liter of Coke.