Way back last November, I got the brilliant idea to throw one large party this June to celebrate my daughters graduation, her 18th birthday, my sons 21st birthday and our 25th wedding anniversary.

Save the date cards were sent out the last week of November, the decorations, tent, table, chairs and chill table (I highly recommend using a chill table) were ordered and a theme for the party decided a Fiesta, under the tent, by the pooland not too far from the old manure pile.

Being the obsessive planner I am, I created spreadsheets with the menu, grocery lists, serving pieces, layout, etc. A timeline calendar was hung on the refrigerator with the Honey Do list which included such items as "De-Redneck The Yard".

With a D-Day of June 15th, by the 2nd week of May all was going according to plans until disaster struck. As we were preparing opening the pool, we discovered the circuit panel for the pool house had been a buffet for some sort of rodent. Thankfully the power had been turned off for the winter so the building did not burn down! Without power, we could not open the pool. To resolve the problem, an entire re-wiring of the pool house including a new circuit panel was undertaken.

Now more than a week behind schedule, we finally had power and with much anticipation, hooked up the pool pump/filter. Well guess what, the pump motor was frozen. A panic trip to the local pool center and we dropped off the motor for repair. The repair would take one week. Soon to be 2+ weeks behind schedule, we were getting a tad nervous. Thankfully a friend loaned us his spare pool pump and we were able to get the pool up, running and cleaned by the beginning of June.

We were less than 2 weeks away from party day and we were finally back on track. Shopping was being done in stages; the yard was looking amazing and basic prep work was on target. Whew! The tent, table, chairs and chill table were delivered and set up the Wednesday before the party. The day before the party I was actually amazed at how smoothly everything had turned out. We were all on schedule and prepared. The only minor glitch was the weather report called for showers in the morning, clearing by noon. Since the party didnt start until 2PM, I was optimistic.

Sunday the 15th dawned and at 4:45 AM I bound out of bed excited for the day ahead. The weather outside was a tad more ferocious than predicted with a torrential downpour and strong winds in full swing. Though initially concerned, I took a wait and see approach for a short interim while I navigated my way to clearing my early morning foggy head. It wasnt until I reached the kitchen, flipped the light switch and realized we had no electricity that I panicked. Now for you city folks this might be a minor inconvenience but for us country folk having a party for 130 people its a disaster. No electricity means no well pump, no well pump means no water and no water means.yup you guessed it, no toilets!

Trying to remain calm, I rationalized that historically we usually only lose power for a couple hours and as near as we could tell the power had been out since 3AM so we should be fine. Around 6AM, I started to get nervous and decided to call the power company for an ETA on the restoration of power. To my utter dismay, they told us 5 communities were without power due to a substation crashing. ETA for restoration of power was 12 to 14 hours.

It was at this point I allowed myself my one and only complete meltdown. I sobbed hysterically for 5 minutes while my husband looked on. When my sobbing started to subside my husband said "OK are you done now, because we need to get a game plan together?" We quickly decided, my husband would go in search of a large generator to run our 220 well pump and the pool house and I would search for an alternate location for the party if need be. I opted to try to get our town hall which can run on generator as a back location and called our Town Administrator at home at 6:15AM on Fathers Day. The poor man was so befuddled, he quickly agreed to let us use the facility if the need arose. (Its one of the benefits of living in a small town of 800.) Meanwhile my husband and older son located a large generator and after a trip to Home Depot had everything they needed to split the pump circuit and pool house of the grid.

At 10 AM I ran to pick up the ice while the men worked feverously to get us up and running on generator. By 11AM we were up and running and I breathed a sigh of relief. Now my only problem was lack of a stove. Since almost everything was prepared the only things left needing a stove were: the boiling water for the steam tables, heating the taco meat and grilling the fajita meat which I had planned on cooking on the grill any way.

Guests arrived promptly and enjoyed cocktails and appetizers as planned. Though the main course was about 45 minutes later than I would have liked, the rain held off and we had a great time.

Oh yes and heres the menu:

Homemade Salsa & Chips on every table

Margarita Shrimp Cocktail

Veggie Crudite

Tacos (Ground Beef)

Beef & Chicken Fajitas

Add ons:

Cheese

Scallions

Lettuce

Diced Tomatoes

Black Olives

Sour cream

Guacamole

Sauteed Onions & Peppers

Dessert

Fruit Melange Mango, Kiwi & Strawberry

Mexican Cookies

Frozen Margaritas

Corona (with lime wedges, of course.)

Sangria

Virgin Frozen Margaritas

Soda

Water