Claustrophobics beware

Every year, my husband's side of the family has a Christmas party. The host changes annually, on a rotating basis. We last hosted in 2001, pre-children. We lucked out with smaller than average crowd that year, and, having no children, we had some extra space to work with. We are up again this year. If you've been to my house, you know it is small. Very small. Say 1250 square feet. This would be ideal if Benny's extended family consisted of, say, three people. In all actuality, the number of attendees will likely be ten times that. Now, when I say 1250 sq. feet, that is not all usable space. Usable space is maybe 700 sq. feet. We were hoping for a warmish December evening, not out of the realm of possibility given recent years' green Christmas trend. We had hoped that we could comfortably put food and drink in the garage, and that maybe we could even light a big bonfire in the backyard for those brave (or drunk) enough to venture out there. Well, we have over a foot on snow on the ground. not exactly ideal bonfire conditions. And the weather prediction for this Saturday is cloudy (really, in winter?) with a high right around freezing and a low of...um...8. Yup, 8. Now nearly everyone who is coming has been here before and should be aware of the minuscule space the party is occupying. We will still utilize the garage, but I'm thinking I should look for extra mittens, and I will be begging my neighbors for their space heater. I am slightly nervous about all of this. And I haven't even gotten into the logistical chaos of trying to clean the house and prepare food with a very curious, very bright, very agile and often sneaky (but oh so adorable) not quite two-year-old on my hands.
I'm sure I will have lots of updates in the coming days.

And if you think you hear faint weeping sounds coming from afar, it is probably me.