dirty thirty
I have the greatest bunch of friends a guy could ask for. I turned 30 (eek!) this last Saturday, and my friends threw me an awesome surprise party that I totally didn't see coming for one minute. A lot of people had really good reasons for being "out of town" or unavailable on my birthday, but just enough people were going to be around to help me celebrate that I didn't suspect anything was up, I just thought I was going to have a quiet little get-together, which had kind of disappointed me, because I'd wanted to do something different and special for turning 30, something that I could remember fondly years down the road.
Just a little while before we were supposed to head out for dinner at Ichiban, Josh, Jhyle and Rachael showed up early at my place, and Rachael said that she and Jhyle had a little surprise for me before dinner, and it wouldn't take long, but they had to blindfold me to take me to it. I grumbled about not wanting to be blindfolded and said that it better be quick because we had dinner to get to, and they replied that it wouldn't take very long. Josh offered to stay behind with Dave in case anyone else showed up at my place before dinner. I could tell that the car ride was taking a lot longer than they claimed it would, but knowing that Rachael has the same ability to distort space and time that I do, I figured that we would just end up being late for dinner. We finally arrived at our destination and Jhyle and Rachael guided me around (and walked me into a door frame...heh), up some stairs and into a door. I had no idea where I was, but they pulled the three layers of blindfold off (which were so tight I think they distracted me) and next thing I knew I was surrounded by people who were yelling surprise at me.
I looked around and saw a bunch of my friends, including Scott who was supposed to be in Korea for work, Macon who was supposed to be visiting his parents, the NOVA crew who "weren't going to be able to make it", and several others who "couldn't be there" for one reason or another. I was so disoriented it took me a moment to realize we were at Scott's house, and I was so overwhelmed that I got all teary-eyed for a moment (you fuckers).
By my count, 28 people showed up altogether throughout the night: Rachael, Scott, Josh, Sam, Christina, Nikki, Jhyle, Jason, Macon, Dave, Grantham, Christine, Micah, Beth, Fric, Amy, Matt, Jon, Andrew, Malissa, Lauren, Chris H., Chris R., Craig, Paul (who was also celebrating his own birthday!), Ella, Vlad, and my sister Jessica. Nobody has ever done anything like this for me before...they'd been planning this for weeks, apparently, and they said they were amazed that nobody accidentally let anything slip or spilled the beans. Several other friends who I know would've come if they could who live too far away called to wish me a happy birthday as well.
The party was loads of fun and this was almost certainly the best birthday I've ever had. I have never felt so loved by so many people in my life. Excuse me for getting all gay here for a minute, but I love you guys. I'm very lucky to have such awesome people in my life and I'm glad so many of you could be there to help me celebrate my thirty years on this earth. Thank you!
Josh and Dave arrived super late to the party, and when I got back home, I discovered why...while the party was starting, the two of them were building me some new shelving to store that annoying stack of books that had been Zerg creeping across the floor for far longer than I should have let it.
So a lot of good surprises this weekend...good friends, and good times! My birthday really couldn't have possibly been better than it was and I will certainly remember this "milestone" birthday for the rest of my life.
Just a little while before we were supposed to head out for dinner at Ichiban, Josh, Jhyle and Rachael showed up early at my place, and Rachael said that she and Jhyle had a little surprise for me before dinner, and it wouldn't take long, but they had to blindfold me to take me to it. I grumbled about not wanting to be blindfolded and said that it better be quick because we had dinner to get to, and they replied that it wouldn't take very long. Josh offered to stay behind with Dave in case anyone else showed up at my place before dinner. I could tell that the car ride was taking a lot longer than they claimed it would, but knowing that Rachael has the same ability to distort space and time that I do, I figured that we would just end up being late for dinner. We finally arrived at our destination and Jhyle and Rachael guided me around (and walked me into a door frame...heh), up some stairs and into a door. I had no idea where I was, but they pulled the three layers of blindfold off (which were so tight I think they distracted me) and next thing I knew I was surrounded by people who were yelling surprise at me.
I looked around and saw a bunch of my friends, including Scott who was supposed to be in Korea for work, Macon who was supposed to be visiting his parents, the NOVA crew who "weren't going to be able to make it", and several others who "couldn't be there" for one reason or another. I was so disoriented it took me a moment to realize we were at Scott's house, and I was so overwhelmed that I got all teary-eyed for a moment (you fuckers).
By my count, 28 people showed up altogether throughout the night: Rachael, Scott, Josh, Sam, Christina, Nikki, Jhyle, Jason, Macon, Dave, Grantham, Christine, Micah, Beth, Fric, Amy, Matt, Jon, Andrew, Malissa, Lauren, Chris H., Chris R., Craig, Paul (who was also celebrating his own birthday!), Ella, Vlad, and my sister Jessica. Nobody has ever done anything like this for me before...they'd been planning this for weeks, apparently, and they said they were amazed that nobody accidentally let anything slip or spilled the beans. Several other friends who I know would've come if they could who live too far away called to wish me a happy birthday as well.
The party was loads of fun and this was almost certainly the best birthday I've ever had. I have never felt so loved by so many people in my life. Excuse me for getting all gay here for a minute, but I love you guys. I'm very lucky to have such awesome people in my life and I'm glad so many of you could be there to help me celebrate my thirty years on this earth. Thank you!
Josh and Dave arrived super late to the party, and when I got back home, I discovered why...while the party was starting, the two of them were building me some new shelving to store that annoying stack of books that had been Zerg creeping across the floor for far longer than I should have let it.
So a lot of good surprises this weekend...good friends, and good times! My birthday really couldn't have possibly been better than it was and I will certainly remember this "milestone" birthday for the rest of my life.