Am I The Only One Who Doesn't........?

Sometime along the years I quit entertaining. Only a couple of people now. I want to enjoy them, not serve them. There was a time when a request for a group dinner/potluck that I’d be the first to offer. Honestly, I think I became too .. curmudgeonly.

BBQ - not sure if you mean in a restaurant or doing it on the back patio. Love that restaurant. Too much running back and forth to the grill on the patio.

Hot tubs - had one - had it removed. Just too fussy about having to maintain it. Shower before going in, shower after, wash all the towels. At a ski hill, nothing like enjoying it while the snow is coming down.
 
Entertain = Family members only.

BBQ food as an alternative way to prep everything from protiens to veggies. When we 1st moved to the warm & sunny south west I built this 8ft. long outdoor BBQ. 4 --15,000 btu burners with a rotisseie motor & a separate 15,000 burner for wok cooking.

Had a 8 person slide around hot tub with two 2 1/2 horse power motors for the pumps. Age took it's toll on how often we used it so gave it away.

Life is good it just changes what direction it takes from time to time.
 

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I never entertained at home. First off, I hate cooking. Also I hate cleaning up. Any entertaining that I /hubby and I did was at a restaurant that we all agreed to go to, friends and/or family.

Not a hot tub fan. BBQ food it's ok, but I can live without.
 
When I was married we hosted many parties. Loved it. I am an extrovert and enjoyed those fun times.

We had barbecues, along with the parties. I stopped eating meat about five years ago. It’s now a rusty, unused relic.

I still have a working hot tub. I keep it going for my daughter. She stops by and uses it occasionally. The chemicals do something to my skin, so I can’t use it anymore. Must be an age thing.
 
I like to entertain but don't do it that often anymore. It's hard to satisfy everyone's requirements.....low fat, no meat, gluten free, plant-based, etc.

BBQ? I like BBQ....I just don't like *TO* BBQ. I'm all for somebody else's BBQ.

Hot tubs? Love 'em....as long as they're "private". I don't like hotel hot tubs or especially cruise ship hot tubs, sharing them with a bunch of drunks. Or "Cream of Bodily Substances Soup", as I call it.
 
Depending on the people

Love bbq!

Had a roommate who had a hot tub and I told him that I didn't agree with it and I would only pay 25% of the electric bill as long as he had it. He was telling me oh you'll enjoy it I said I'm not stepping one foot into it.

2 months later we get the electric bill it's $460 he about croaked. After that, he'd turn it on Friday morning and use it Friday and Saturday. Then drain and clean.

He learned an expensive lesson.
 
I used to love to entertain but haven't done so in a long time. Now, rather than host a large gathering, I prefer to enjoy a more intimate time with just a few friends.

I'm up for BBQ anytime! 😋

I'm with juju; private hot tubs only. I'm not interested in mixing it up with the masses. Yuck.
 
Answering the first two parts of the question, when summer hits, we will have several
BBQ/outside gatherings with friends.

Son will invite his friends from work and his circle.
He told me that he will warn the new ones, 'mom's ok, but be prepared to have your brain
picked about the music you listen to by my dad'.
He and his friends mostly work with local musicians here in Nashville.

I will set up the sound system and during the course of the gathering, I'll encourage his
friends to send a song to it, using Bluetooth.

I enjoy this exchange of music and from what I've seen by returning guest, they enjoy sharing
their ideas of what is happening in the music scene.
 
EmptyCup said:
When I was married we hosted many parties. Loved it. I am an extrovert and enjoyed those fun times.

We had barbecues, along with the parties. I stopped eating meat about five years ago. It’s now a rusty, unused relic.

I still have a working hot tub. I keep it going for my daughter. She stops by and uses it occasionally. The chemicals do something to my skin, so I can’t use it anymore. Must be an age thing.
Click to expand...
What are using as far as chemicals are concerned?
 
OldFeller said:
:LOL:
I've never been in a hot tub.

I've never entertained. My wife did that once. We had her whole large family here. They're a bunch of Irish heavy drinkers and you couldn't hear yourself talk while they were here. I don't get what all the noise was about.

I don't like to barbeque. A lot of fuss for nothing and it's real work to keep your grill clean.

It reminds me of camping. You spend a lot of money on outdoor gear to live like a homeless person.
I went backpacking with a buddy one time. After that, we used the gear for my sons who went camping with the scouts a couple times.
Come to think of it, I didn't care for the Boy Scouts either.

They were selling shirts with the Scout Troop's number on it. I wore it once and never again. Why? Because this guy came up to me and wouldn't stop talking to me about the shirt and the scouts as if I were heavily involved with it all. I couldn't get rid of him. So I got rid of the shirt.
CinnamonSugar said:
Im on the fence about entertaining. I’m usually ready for my guests to go home sooner than they are, lol.

BBQ can be very good

Have no opinion on hot tubs

May I add: am I the only one who loves Jane Austen’s works?
Click to expand...
I adore Jane Austen! Read all her novels multiple times and expect to do so again.
Click to expand...
 
I used to enjoy entertaining and never minded having overnight guests at the drop of a hat.

I’m done with all of that.

I would much rather meet people at a local restaurant for coffee or a meal than have them in my apartment and I don’t want to live with anyone for even one night.

I worry about how I will adapt to the forced socialization that comes with moving to an adult home or assisted living facility.

I am still a sucker for a small town volunteer fire department’s barbecued chicken dinner.
😉🤭😂
 
Aunt Bea said:
I used to enjoy entertaining and never minded having overnight guests at the drop of a hat.

I’m done with all of that.

I would much rather meet people at a local restaurant for coffee or a meal than have them in my apartment and I don’t want to live with anyone for even one night.

I worry about how I will adapt to the forced socialization that comes with moving to an adult home or assisted living facility.

I am still a sucker for a small town volunteer fire department’s barbecued chicken dinner.
😉🤭😂
Click to expand...
You still have a ways to go before getting a room mate.
 
My wife is the entertainer. She was the head of her department at Georgetown University, so she would hold three or four dinners each year for her staff. Now, we have just the family over for dinners about four times a year.

I still enjoy going to a barbeque and we have four gatherings here at our home as well. All of them are held during the summer and early fall.

I used to use my hot tub after running, which I no longer do. It was good for relieving sore muscles and aches in the bones after a marathon race. We had it removed two years ago. I wish I didn't have a pool. Sometimes, I feel like having it filled in.
 
Aunt Bea said:
I used to enjoy entertaining and never minded having overnight guests at the drop of a hat.

I’m done with all of that.

I would much rather meet people at a local restaurant for coffee or a meal than have them in my apartment and I don’t want to live with anyone for even one night.

I worry about how I will adapt to the forced socialization that comes with moving to an adult home or assisted living facility.

I am still a sucker for a small town volunteer fire department’s barbecued chicken dinner.
😉🤭😂
Click to expand...
I'm like you with meeting at a restaurant, rather than entertaining in my home. My sister who had Sunday dinners every single weekend, when she had her house and was still able, thought I was joking when I said I'd rather take the crew out to eat, rather than do as my husband suggested and cook at home. I showed her I wasn't kidding. I took her, her S.O., my nephew and his S.O., our niece and my husband out to dinner. The restaurant, which is in Newark, N.J. is halal (a menu safe for Muslims) and owned by my husband's friend. We got a complimentary platter of appetizers that filled us up before the meals came.

The only time I entertained in decades was when I had an intimate Sleepy Hollow season 2 premiere party in 2014. My son, oldest grandson and two of his friends and I loved the show, so they were our only guests. I didn't even have to cook. My husband had a take out restaurant at the time, so he brought dinners for each of us. I also provided individual sized bags of a variety of snacks and we had bottles of soda, juice and water.

Currently my honorary daughter will be staying the night occasionally because her car died and her walk to the bus stop is closer and easier from here than from her house, which is down steep hills. I'd rather her leave from here, especially in bad weather or if I know she hasn't been feeling well. And of course I invited my son to move back in after my DIL passed away. That's something I never expected, but we have a good rhythm and the arrangement is working out well.
 
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