Birthday Weekend: Saturday
Feb. 5th, 2007 08:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bjarvisEver see Kathy Griffin's routine describing Barbra Streisand on Oprah some time ago? Notorious control freak Barbra was clearly a little freaked by Oprah's live on-stage unannounced surprises. Kathy's satirical ultra-high speed mumbling impression went something like, "Omigod, not in control... not in control... not in control..."
It's not that the dear men organizing the soirée in my honour aren't capable of running a birthday bash, it's just that they don't have a $1 billion empire with caterers, chefs and publicists to bail them out if everything goes straight to hell. Bless their hearts.
By the time we were all out of bed and active, it was clear we were one a bit of a tight timeline: there was shopping to be done (groceries, last minute items, booze), major cleaning still to be performed (straightening up the spare guest room and the basement), furniture to be re-arranged (living room, dining room) and so on. After a quick lunch at the local diner,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kent4str and cuyahogarvr headed back to the house to handle activities there while jearbear65oh, David and I went grocery and liquor shopping.
How many were we potentially going to be wining & dining? Dunno.kent4str was handling the RSVPs; he was estimating between 20 and 90. How many would be spending the night? Dunno, maybe somewhere between 0 and 30. Any idea how many would be joining us for ice skating in Wheaton in the afternoon? Not a clue.
Omigod, not in control... not in control... not in control...
All of the preparations took less time than I had thought it might, thank god. We bought an additional cake rather than baking a second one, just in case (and we needed it too). Clearing out the rooms and re-arranging furniture was also pretty smooth although we really could have used a third refrigerator.
As planned, we went ice skating 4:30-6:30 PM at the municipal rink in Wheaton, MD, just a couple of miles up the road from our house. Andy and Jeff M. were already there waiting for us; Rick & Dave and Peter & Carlos joined us a little later.
Skating was fun, but there were huge numbers of kids on the ice. Some were doing pretty well, but many were moving erratically, some skating against the flow of bodies, some simply falling flat in front of us... as Jeff put it, it was like skating through a video game.
Jeff,cuyahogarvr, Andy and I were skating fairly expertly within minutes. jearbear65oh, DAvid and Peter took a while longer, but their legs & feet gradually remembered. The others took... a little longer. Still, there were no major injuries, cuts, bruises or broken bones so I declare the afternoon a success. And I completely love the Bauer hockey skates I bought on eBay a while ago. Wonderful!
Back at the house, we began putting out the food and preparing thebar kitchen counter to serve our pending guests. They began trickling in around 7 PM, then surged within an hour with a handful more trickling in towards 9 PM. One of the biggest surprises was the appearance of stormecho and Patrick, down from the NYC area!
We ordered chinese food from our favourite local restaurant; folks also had their choice between chocolate and carrot cake. We were running through appletinis so quickly I thought we'd run out of vodka but I think we had a little left over.kent4str had to run out quickly for more ice and diet coke --omigod, not in control... not in control...-- but I think we otherwise survived well.
cuyahogar did wondrous work keeping the tables stocked with utensils & items, clearing away garbage & clutter, loading a plate of food and shoving it into my hand to ensure I didn't inadvertently starve to death and so on: he and kent4str were on their feet most of the night keeping the show rolling, and I can't thank them enough for their work.
There are many more photos but you get the idea... I think our total head count was somewhere north of 40 bodies.
After unwrapping of gifts --chocolate was a recurring theme, go figure-- and sharing of a number of embarrassing stories --omigod, not in control... not in control...-- the crowd largely mellowed out. A few folks left early for other weekend engagements; many gathered around to watch "Another Gay Movie," a DVD fromjearbear65oh & David; a handful gathered in the dining room in a line for one of Jeff M.'s amazing foot rubs. A few also gathered downstairs to use the massage table for a couple of hours.
Everything wound down shortly after 2 AM or so. Bruce took the center guestroom whilestormecho and Patrick camped out in the living room with their portable air mattress & sleeping bags. I think most folks fell asleep rather quickly, but I was still bubbling with adrenaline even though my eyes were heavy.
It's not that the dear men organizing the soirée in my honour aren't capable of running a birthday bash, it's just that they don't have a $1 billion empire with caterers, chefs and publicists to bail them out if everything goes straight to hell. Bless their hearts.
By the time we were all out of bed and active, it was clear we were one a bit of a tight timeline: there was shopping to be done (groceries, last minute items, booze), major cleaning still to be performed (straightening up the spare guest room and the basement), furniture to be re-arranged (living room, dining room) and so on. After a quick lunch at the local diner,
kent4str and cuyahogarvr headed back to the house to handle activities there while jearbear65oh, David and I went grocery and liquor shopping.How many were we potentially going to be wining & dining? Dunno.
kent4str was handling the RSVPs; he was estimating between 20 and 90. How many would be spending the night? Dunno, maybe somewhere between 0 and 30. Any idea how many would be joining us for ice skating in Wheaton in the afternoon? Not a clue.Omigod, not in control... not in control... not in control...
All of the preparations took less time than I had thought it might, thank god. We bought an additional cake rather than baking a second one, just in case (and we needed it too). Clearing out the rooms and re-arranging furniture was also pretty smooth although we really could have used a third refrigerator.
As planned, we went ice skating 4:30-6:30 PM at the municipal rink in Wheaton, MD, just a couple of miles up the road from our house. Andy and Jeff M. were already there waiting for us; Rick & Dave and Peter & Carlos joined us a little later.
 |
Jeff M, ice skating 2007-02-03 This is the guy responsible for the web site www.facedowninthecandydish.com |
Skating was fun, but there were huge numbers of kids on the ice. Some were doing pretty well, but many were moving erratically, some skating against the flow of bodies, some simply falling flat in front of us... as Jeff put it, it was like skating through a video game.
 |
Ice skating in Wheaton, MD 2007-02-03 Jeff, Bruce, Carlos, Dave, Rick, Andy & Kent (back row) Peter, Michael, Jerry & David (middle) Brian (front) |
Jeff,
cuyahogarvr, Andy and I were skating fairly expertly within minutes. jearbear65oh, DAvid and Peter took a while longer, but their legs & feet gradually remembered. The others took... a little longer. Still, there were no major injuries, cuts, bruises or broken bones so I declare the afternoon a success. And I completely love the Bauer hockey skates I bought on eBay a while ago. Wonderful!Back at the house, we began putting out the food and preparing the
stormecho and Patrick, down from the NYC area!We ordered chinese food from our favourite local restaurant; folks also had their choice between chocolate and carrot cake. We were running through appletinis so quickly I thought we'd run out of vodka but I think we had a little left over.
kent4str had to run out quickly for more ice and diet coke --omigod, not in control... not in control...-- but I think we otherwise survived well. |
Birthday cake, 2007-02-03 Kent made this! |
cuyahogar did wondrous work keeping the tables stocked with utensils & items, clearing away garbage & clutter, loading a plate of food and shoving it into my hand to ensure I didn't inadvertently starve to death and so on: he and kent4str were on their feet most of the night keeping the show rolling, and I can't thank them enough for their work. |
Birthday party, 2007-02-03 The birthday boy with chocolate! |
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Says it all, 2007-02-03 |
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Eric & Cal, 2007-02-03 |
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Birthday party, 2007-02-03 David, Peter, Jay (behind), Kent, Geo, Jeff & Carlos |
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Birthday party, 2007-02-03 Jay, TJ, Patrick, Kent & Andy |
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Birthday party, 2007-02-03 Jeff, Guy, Keith, Jim, David & Jerry |
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Birthday party, 2007-02-03 Reed & Patrick |
There are many more photos but you get the idea... I think our total head count was somewhere north of 40 bodies.
After unwrapping of gifts --chocolate was a recurring theme, go figure-- and sharing of a number of embarrassing stories --omigod, not in control... not in control...-- the crowd largely mellowed out. A few folks left early for other weekend engagements; many gathered around to watch "Another Gay Movie," a DVD from
jearbear65oh & David; a handful gathered in the dining room in a line for one of Jeff M.'s amazing foot rubs. A few also gathered downstairs to use the massage table for a couple of hours.Everything wound down shortly after 2 AM or so. Bruce took the center guestroom while
stormecho and Patrick camped out in the living room with their portable air mattress & sleeping bags. I think most folks fell asleep rather quickly, but I was still bubbling with adrenaline even though my eyes were heavy.
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no subject
Date: 2007-02-07 07:31 pm (UTC)Glad we could celebrate with you!