Would you like some cheese with your whine?

My birthday is coming up in about two weeks. I am pretty sure we have covered the fact that I love my birthday. But this year it is driving me nuts.

I decided to book a mini-bus and take a bunch of people for a wine tour in the Barossa Valley. I have a bunch of friends who moved here from overseas, so it seemed like the perfect trip all round.

Problem #1: 5/6 of the overseas people can't make it. Ok, less of a problem than a reason to go again. But seriously, I am not organising this again.

Problem #2: Trying to design a trip where all the wineries have times available when you want them to, to ensure no back-tracking. Which leads to...

Problem #3: I had to book the last winery later than I'd planned originally, which means we are hiring the bus for longer, which means it costs more per person than the original $15 I'd said on the invites. And because I am an idiot, I kept it at that amount when telling everyone the final, overall price, because I didn't want them to think I had been lying to them before, but really they never would have known what percentage was bus and what was tasting fees and lunch, so really Problem #3 is that I am an idiot and deserve to have to pay extra out of my own money.

The mini-bus I'd planned on holds 21 people. You can also get a 13-seat one.

Problem #4: The terrible time I had trying to convince wineries to book in a group of that size.

Problem #5: Trying to get those 21 people to RSVP on time.

Problem #6: Having to offer second-round picks when the first-round people can't make it. At what point do I stop inviting people and book the 13-seater bus? Refer to Problem #3 regarding "people these days don't know how to plan their lives" - if all the already-invited people are in, definitely invite one or two more. If all the current maybes are nos, stop inviting people! Abort! and switch to the smaller one.

Not a problem #1: Having vegan and gluten-free people on the tour. Restaurants are very happy to cater for this these days. So that was nice.

Now, I know that this will be an awesome day, filled with wine and fun, and surrounded by my friends. But I SWEAR I am NEVER planning one of these EVER AGAIN.