As many of you noted (and thank you all!) yesterday was my 39th birthday. I was expecting something kind of low-key from what takaza had talked about: a quiet lunch out with the two of us, a spot of shopping, and dinner with roho and genet. Little did I know that Dan had been working behind my back on other plans!

We headed out at about 11:30 Sunday morning. Our first stop was Lovin’ Oven Cakery, where Dan picked up a birthday cake for me (I wasn’t allowed to see it though). After a so-so lunch (Dan’s first choice was closed, unfortunately), we did some grocery shopping, then went over to a bowling alley/arcade/pool place. All the alleys were booked and the arcade games were lackluster, but they did have a Pirates of the Caribbean pinball game that I was able to run pretty well, as we got a succession of free games out of it. Dan suggested playing some pool, but the smoke from the bar was getting to me and irritating my still-recuperating sore throat, so I was more inclined to leave. Dan said we had to stop one more place, and directed me to Culver’s, where we split an Oreo concrete. Then we headed home. I was expecting to relax for a bit, then start brining the chicken for dinner and start other dinner preparations. We pulled into the garage, unloaded the car and started up the stairs. I got as far as the living room and heard

“SURPRISE!”

I looked over and stuffed into the living room were datahawk, emrldgirrl, wiktowasichu, rustitobuck, justincheetah, posicat, feren, lady_curmudgeon, moryssa, brianblackberry, roho, genet, woodychitwn, luckytheevildog, nymphara, and Scott.

Yep, they got me. Fooled completely and thoroughly, and I’m not unhappy about it a bit! It turns out that Dan had been planning a surprise party for the last three weeks, and had pulled it off flawlessly. The rest of the evening was a blur of great conversations with friends, some very large peach-pomegranate cosmopolitans, pizza, incredibly rich chocolate cake, and a very silly (and large!) game of Apples to Apples. I received some lovely gifts, and I had a truly delightful time. Thanks to everyone who attended! I’m so lucky to have such great friends, and even luckier to have such a wonderful and caring husband. I love so much, Dan!