Sidney is having a Kris Kringle Xmas party. Everyone is exchanging gifts! Sidney is celebrating Xmas and the fact that she is getting her house back after 6 months of remodeling. Not that the job is finished. Her gorgeous third floor master suite has its own balcony, a wall of glass, his and her closets and a beautiful bathroom with heated small Italian Tiles. But lots of things are not done-missing doors and woodwork, unfinished plumbing, the master toilet backing up, the balcony not safe, etc. The fact is that Sidney and Mark are sleeping on the floor of the living room since Sept. 5th, and it is now December 10th!
The workers finally left her house a week ago and she is now working to put it back together for the holidays. The nightmare of remodeling! "The marriage of remodeling" always starts out so hopeful, and then near the end the woman says to her husband, partner, mate:"I can no longer deal with this contractor any more. You talk to him!" Which translates into, "I'm not paying another cent. He hasn't finished the job, it's all half done, I'm going nuts!" Which is exactly what Sidney said to Eric. "I can't deal with them any more, I'm thinking of suing, this has gone way over budget, you deal with it!"
Sidney's celebration is a Xmas party, Eric's relatives visiting them, and her sister coming down from Connecticut with her husband and three children, and lots of neighbors, friends from the kids school, and old friends dropping by. My own sister was coming in that night and we took the twins to Sidneys at 4. It was freezing outside as we walked to the party. We had the twins in tights and their tops underneath their coats and the down 40 so that we could put them in the "velvet dresses" Sidney had gotten for their Kris Kringle when we got to the party.
Her house looked great, the tree was big and huge in the front room, the dining room filled with food, champagne, lots of people, and SIdney in a smart black sequined top and black pants with her hair up. Eric was in the kitchen making food.
Sidney is tall, about 5'9", and her sister, with her blond hair and height I recognized right away. I hadn't met her children, two boys and a girl. The both were over 6'2" and they had that Eastern "preppy" look. It turned out one of her sons went to Barnard College and was studying film. But not as a major, just taking a course he assured me.
It's interesting, that Eastern look of the "privledged suburban child" vs. the city look. Kids raised in the big houses in Rye, Ny; Summit, NJ; Hartford, Conn.; have that protected, privileged look that city kids, even if they are privileged, don't have. There's just too much you can't shut your eyes to in the city. You ride the subways, see the poor, rub elbows with more of the grittiness of life. You are not coddled the same way suburban kids are.
Back in 1981, we'd lived in one of those big houses in Summit and my ex. worked in NY near the world trade center. I wanted the children to walk to school, and my ex wanted me to give them a ride. we got into a argument and it was decided that if it was below a certain temperature I would drive them. Of course, I still felt they should walk, but my ex wanted them coddled and babied! And I have to say my older son and my younger son were both brats expecting whatever they wanted.
But back to the party. The girls got their velvet dresses on and Gigi let everyone hold her. She was really enjoying it while Tess just wandered from room to room checking, grabbing whatever she could. When you have toddlers you don't get to stand around and chat. You are on the move!
A lot of the neighbors and friends Sidney had made at the kids school came. The talk was of property, one friend had sold her property for 3.5 standing room outside to bid! Now they were looking for another house.
We left before seven because the girls had to go to bed and my sister was coming in. Unfortunately, she would miss the party.
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