Hi Mary, I'd be more than happy to share my Mandarin Orange Cake recipe! Mandarin Orange Cake 2 cups flour 2 cups sugar 2 eggs 2 tsp. vanilla 1 tsp. baking soda 2-11 oz. cans Mandarin oranges, undrained Frosting: 1-15 oz. can Mandarin oranges, undrained 1 pkg. dry instant vanilla pudding (1 small box) 1-8 oz. container Cool Whip Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, and baking soda. Add eggs and vanilla; mix until well blended. Stir in 2-11 oz. cans Mandarin oranges with the juice. Pour batter into a greased and lightly floured 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Frosting: Blend together 1-15 oz. can Mandarin oranges with juice, 1 package instant vanilla pudding, and 1-8 oz. container Cool Whip. Chill for 2 minutes (or longer) until mixture has set a little. Spread on cooled cake. Mom got a stand/upright mixer some time ago (a year or so ago) from Ginny's and it's been a big help in doing cakes, cookies, and other desserts! And I don't act at the theatre, I'm more behind the scenes helping clean and put up sets on the workdays. Not sure when I'll be learning to drive, but maybe it'll be sooner than later. Brad AKA Moonwolf

Thank you for the thoughtful answers... and Sweeby, for the equally important question! I think I have been going back and forth (at least subconsciously) about who this party is for. DS was a very difficult child in his early years (basically until high school), so we are happy, and relieved!, that he has turned out well! So in part, this party is a celebration of that -- but we would never say to him what we're thinking, which is "We never thought we'd see this day!" But many of the adults in attendance know his story and will appreciate the significance of the day. So I think I am trying to combine the "toast the parents and the kid who have (all) worked so hard to get here" and the "have your friends come too, and celebrate just being done with high school" themes. I didn't even think about having a separate area for the teens, but that is a great idea. I'm trying to keep the party mostly outside, but the teenagers can congregate in the basement. I can put coolers of soda and bowls of chips and stuff down there. I also agree with hhireno that he should be capable of a brief speech to thank people for coming. I'm sure he'd do that. I'm thinking too, instead of the collage, I can put his 'school years' photos in small frames and scatter them around the tables. I think in the end, he'll roll his eyes but let me do what I want w/ the photos.

The game is really incidental to the eating, drinking and being merry. The advantage of having the "game" part is people feel more of a sense of obligation to be there than if it's just a routine get-together to eat & chat. If you're kinda not in the mood but you know 11 friends are expecting you, it gets you there and then it's always fun. The other advantage to actually playing the game is people change tables all night so you usually get to sit with & chat with everyone. If you're just meeting friends for food & drink, you tend to sit down & not mingle. My group has always done themes with the invitation, the prizes, the food, the score cards (we play a little differently than most groups), and often with what we wear. Prior themes have been: Always the Bridesmaid, Slumber Party, Academy Awards, Sound of Music, Fear Factor, Beach Party, holidays, and many, many others over our 10+ years. We were recently discussing how many cool things we have in our homes that were Bunco prizes. Many admit to buying 2 of many of the prizes: one to give away and one to keep for themself. It hasn't been a cheap hobby! We usually eat & drink for a bit, play, then eat & drink some more while prizes are awarded. I'm excited for you and your group...you're going to have a great time.

From the link: this Giorgio Morandi-inspired structure Viewing the building through this lens, the design makes perfect sense. More on Gehry and Morandi: The strongest influence on Gehry’s work for the Winton project came from the 20th-century Italian artist, Giorgio Morandi. Gehry has talked repeatedly about the importance of Morandi’s still-life studies of bottles, boxes, cups and vases on Gehry’s work of this period. As Gehry told Barbara Isenberg during an interview for her 2009 book, Conversations with Frank Gehry: “When I discovered the pictures of Giorgio Morandi, I just went nuts because Morandi was drawing bottles which were essentially one-room buildings and creating villages of bottles. I liked that.” And once the comparison is made to the Winton guest house, the influence is stunning. From certain vantage points, the house appears as a sculpture with no windows or doors visible. The house rests right on the ground, further accentuating its role as sculpture. Morandi Still-Lifes Not of fan of the tar-paper type material used on the tower structure, but in general I like the structure.