Picture Sunday

Hello, end of weekenders, and welcome to a round of Picture Sunday. I had an interesting weekend, so let's get right to it, shall we?

Yes, Friday was my birthday. And it was a Fuck-Off Birthday to be sure, because it was my 50th. Now, I'm not going to lie. I have never been bothered by birthdays before, but I was more than a little hinky heading up to my 50th.

But you know, I woke up Friday, and it was fine. There's a phrase that's used often at TheCompanyIWorkFor, one I've come to despise, and that's "It Is What It Is." For some reason, when I woke up, that was in my head. Hey, I'm 50, I'm alive, get over it. And everything was fine.

The girls at work had decorated my office, many people came back to wish me a happy day, I got presents, we were slow at work, and it was all good. Then my sister invited me out for a dinner with her and the brother-in-law, they plied me with Jameson's and beer, and we had a great time. When I got home it all continued with a podcast with my buddy Stennie, and I stayed up late, and, well, it was a nice day.

On Saturday I was to go have dinner with Mr M at Poderosa East. He wanted to make me the dinner of my choice (I chose steak and baked potato). He asked me if the DeepFatFriar could come over too, and I said of course.

Then something happened. You know, my Hackensaws were going to be fairly close to me on Saturday, and I was mulling over going to see them, and so I told Mr M. Well, Mr M, who normally doesn't bat an eye when I tell him I'm heading off to see them, got just a little bit indignant about it. "Hey, you said you were having dinner with me, and I've planned to cook. Doesn't it matter you promised me first?" he asked, and well, he was right, so I said I can miss the Hackensaws this time around.

So I ditched the Hackensaws and went to Mr M's, and was happy to get there - we were supposed to have a foot of snow here, but it held off to a trickle and I headed out. I got there, and waiting on me was a birthday card from the Poderosa gang. It was very nice. Mr M helped them put it together.

















Wasn't that nice? The inside was an anvil with 50 candles on it. Some of you will get that, some won't. If you don't, it's a long story.

Mr M was fretting over the cakes, yes cakes plural, he'd made for the night, that they weren't just quite right, but they looked fine to me. One butter pecan cake and one carrot cake. I thought, "Damn. He's really doing this up right."

It wasn't long till the Friar showed up. We watched some TV, and it was getting fairly close to 6:00 and Mr M was making no effort to get up and start dinner, and well, I was getting hungry. I didn't say anything and figured he'd start the steaks when he was ready.

Darkness fell, and a car pulled into the driveway. I figured it was my new clarinet friend Julia, because we'd talked about trying to get together a clarinet trio for the weekend, and I thought that was great, and would really add to the night.

But then - another car pulled in. And another.

And people started pouring into Poderosa East, and I realized I'd been gotten good. And that I was smack-dab in the middle of a surprise party for lil' ol me.

I was totally speechless. And anyone who was there will confirm that. My cousin Jacob was there, several people from Community Band, people from Sauerkraut Band, other friends. It really was a party! And I had a blast. We had hot dogs and sloppy joes and snacks (and two cakes!), people brought presents, which just humbled me to no end (I got lots of liquor!), and it was just the best night ever.

As the evening was winding down, Mr M's phone rang, he answered it, and handed it to me, saying, "It's for you." I picked up the phone - and it was Stennie, calling all the way from California! She knew too! It was the perfect end to the evening.

I cannot believe everyone around me (including my sister) knew about this, and it never got out. Not even a hint of it did. I'm glad though, because it was truly a surprise.

Mr M, you rock.

And now, guess what? Some pictures!

First of all, Mr M told me to bring as many of the Poderosa gang as could come (which still didn't tip me off to what was coming). As you can see, they brought instruments to provide music for the party.




















They jammed all night.

I got a crown and scepter! (I think this was from Susan - if I'm wrong, I apologize.) I was the Birthday Queen!

























But the Birthday Queen can't be have a coronation without her cloak - Ed and Leslie got me a leopardskin Snuggie! (They got Milo a Snuggie, too!) Ed's in the background talking to Gilbert from SKB, who joined by phone.



















Russell and Laine check out the neat-o booklight that came with my Snuggie.


















In all, about 15 people were there. It was great, a total surprise, loads of fun, and screw being 50. If this is what it's like, I'll take it gladly.

And thank you, Mr M. You really pulled one off.

Happy week.

Betland's Olympic Update:
* Well, the Olympics are over. It's about time. They started to get boring towards the end. The closing ceremonies were fun, though. Much more fun than the opening ceremonies.