I loved parties in my teens and early twenties, I went out partying most nights of the week (and I was a nurse, so I can't believe now that I had the energy). However, as others have posted, as I got older I enjoyed them less and less. When I was married, in my late twenties and into my late thirties, we threw many parties and dinner parties. I thoroughly enjoyed planning them, organizing everything, cooking, making my home hospitable, but with the first ring of the doorbell I'd wish I was the "help" and not the hostess. However, my then husband was extremely sociable and came into his own at that point. It was really good team work.

I'm perfectly comfortable meeting strangers and don't have trouble starting a conversation, but I do find large gatherings boring so I avoid them as much as I can. A dinner party for about six is the best kind of social gathering for me.

I appreciated Lisa's remark about introverts and extroverts. I'm an introvert and definitely need to be alone to recharge. I'm half-way through a two week home holiday at present and really enjoying it. The only people I've talked to over the past 11 days are those at the shelter for about an hour last weekend and the techs at the vet hospital for half-an-hour. Of course, the fact that I've adopted 8 cats over the past 3 weeks or so has kept me very busy. How can I want to socialize with people when I'm so busy getting to know them?!