How Did It Go?

We were awkwardly greeted on the front walkway by Chancho's partner's son right off the bat. It was like he was stalking the windows waiting for a car to pull up. Which I have probably done before too. Anyways, he gave me a huge hug, which I'm not used to. Not a custom greeting around here, usually a handshake will be more than enough, but hugs are good too. He is 12? I believe. The house is beautiful, very open and nicely decorated. We were the second to arrive. Which I was so thankful for. I love being there before everyone else so there isn't a lot of introducing and starring and awkward hellos. I usually get glazed eyes when that happens. His partner's wife, LC, had family coming to the BBQ as well so her niece was there already. I walked out back onto the deck as we were given the tour of where we could find food and beverages. As soon as you step out onto the deck you could see their beautiful pool. Two kids were playing in it already, later found out it was his partner's daughter and her friend. His wife was out in the yard surrounded by a bunch of white poles and a tarp. She was attempting to put up a canopy so the kids would have shade to play in, but she lost the directions on how to put it together. I found my first opportunity to be sociable. I plopped down my purse and ran down the stairs and said "I'm here to help, lets start putting this thing together!" She, too, gave me a big hug and said thanks as we starred at all of the poles. We got it put together eventually and headed inside.
From there we started prepping all of the food. They had tons of it, pickles, olives, carrots, cookies, 5 different types of chips, salsa, and cheese. This was just for snacking before dinner. Then more people started to show up, by the dozen. First it was Chancho's Sgt and her family. She had a whole crew of kids, some from her own marriage, some from her sister's family (she passed away so she got custody), and some from another family, plus her husband. Right behind the Sgt was Chancho's other partner, her husband and kids as well. I was introduced to everyone by LC as we were still putting all the food out. They didn't quite get that I was Chancho's girlfriend at first, until he came into the kitchen to say hi and asked if we had met. Then their eyes lit up and they really looked at me. They must have had glazed eyes as they were being introduced to everyone when they first came in. All of the guys changed and once we took their picture on the front lawn they were off to play their game of paintball. I think there were about 12 guys in all.
I was left alone surrounded by the women. And I did just fine. We sat at the kitchen table, made more food and chatted away. I felt like the women really took me under their wing as the young one to guide. They kept giving me advice, about everything. They wanted to know a lot about Chancho and what he was really like. I didn't feel too out of place. I was able to go into the pool and get a tan while we waited for the guys to return. It took them close to 4 hours to play paintball. I'm so happy that they were wonderful ladies because four hours by myself could have been torture.
When the men came back it was time to eat and then more food came out. They had penne alla vodka, hamburgers, hot dogs, shish kabobs, pork, Spanish foods, and more desserts of donuts, coconut cake, cheesecake, ice cream, watermelon and pound cake. The guys took over the pool as they were sweaty from their game. I was able to mingle around with different people as Chancho chatted away with his partner the Instigator.
I cannot believe how well this day went. It was really a blessing to have it go so well. We were invited back for another weekend to just sit by the pool and relax. Which I am more than happy to take them up on. We have a few more parties that we were invited to, a baptism and a retirement party, so I'm looking forward to those now. I'm so happy that I was able to meet them all and that we got along fine. The cruise will be a blast with them. LC was saying that she can't wait to send her kids to the kids only deck so us adults can lay out by the pool on the adult's only deck. That made me feel great. I was so worried that the parents were going to want to spend all their time with their kids. But LC seems to be the parent that can't wait to get rid of them.

I've got a BBQ today here at my house that I'm throwing so I have to get up to get the house and food ready. I'm anxiously waiting to hear what Chancho's partners have to say about me.

Quote of the Day: "'We just have to accept that people are going to stay in our hearts even when they don't stay in our lives.'" - Starting From Square Two by Caren Lissner
Listening to: "All I Want" by Staind