Housewarming parties in the U.S. are different from the way they’re done in the Philippines, where they’re more popularly known as House Blessings.

Here, you invite people over either to come and go as they please within a long window of time, or you designate a shorter specific time frame. For our housewarming, Kyera and I chose the former. We wanted guests to come and go as they pleased, without the need for lengthy socializing.

In the Philippines, one actually prepares lots of food for guests. Almost always, it’s an elaborate catered buffet spread; or a fiesta-like atmosphere with a roasted pig; sometimes, a mixture of both. And almost always, the presence of a Catholic priest to drive out demons and spirits and pronounce ones house blessed. (People usually throw in the blessing of a statue of Mary or a baby Jesus that was in all likelihood purchased specifically for one’s new home. At least that’s what my Catholic mom did.) Your regular, garden variety Born Again Christian — like myself — would have a pastor come over and say a prayer of thanks and blessing.

Such a far cry from our Housewarming!

Seeing that this is our first house and that we don’t have a catering budget, I asked about options.

My dear friend, Michele, enlightened me. No need for elaborate food, either potluck, or even cheese and crackers would do. Me like cheese and crackers. And time it after lunch and before dinner so people know it’s a sans food-food affair. Me like.

Actual gift cards not in picture.

So that’s what we did. Really. We bought a couple of ready-made platters of cheese, crackers, and cold cuts, and of course, bottles of soda, rushed home from church on Mother’s Day, tidied up the house, and wondered if anyone would show up between 2-5 in the afternoon. (You know how the Law of Averages works! Invite ten, five confirm, two show up.) Of course, almost everyone who confirmed actually did come! And the ones who said they would but couldn’t make it, had legitimate last minute reasons for not.

The other major difference is that Housewarmings in the U.S. involve guests bringing gift cards or items you’ve written on a Wish List that goes out with your invitation. Yikes. That part made me cringe! Tell people what you want and see if they bring it?! We did and. . .  so did our guests.

Mother’s Day. That’s another story in itself. The Housewarming was supposed to be the week earlier but that was the weekend that has landed in the History Books as the Weekend of Nashville’s Historic Flood. The weather report for that weekend was rain so I decided to postpone it.

Here’s a Qik video of the morning of The Rain. What happened to us is fodder for another post.