jimsjournal
Party Pictures -- 05/01/03

Look -- There's a party going on -- A surprise 60th
birthday party that Nancy organized.

As I had indicated, Tuesday night was the annual town meeting and Nancy and I had planned on attending it so I thought we would grab dinner at The Mews Tavern, then go to the town meeting and hope that it would end early enough to have birthday cake at home (based on prior years, that mean we hoped to be home by eleven p.m.) -- at least that's what I thought the plan was -- little did I suspect that Nancy had been plotting and planning.

Yes, I am gulible -- especially considering that she and Adam had suprised me with a 40th birthday party -- and then she put together a huge surprise party for my 50th birthday -- but somehow I thought that 60 would be very low key.

And she was helped by my co-workers. I had a meeting with my manager scheduled for Wednesday morning. Tuesday afternoon he rescheduled it for 4:30 that afternoon. With much effort I got it moved back to 4 p.m. -- we covered the topics in fifteen or twenty minutes but he kept stalling and stretching things out until 4:30. As soon as I left his office he called Nancy, so by the time I was back at my desk, she was calling me to say that Sean had gone to a restaurant in Jamestown to eat with friends but he'd left his walled at home. She had been trying to get in touch with him to find out which restaurant he was going to, so that I could stop and give him some money on my way home, and she suggested that I stay at work until she called me back. I had already packed up to leave and I knew we would have a tight schedule trying to get to the town meeting, so I said I'd drive to Jamestown [My commute home crosses Jamestown island] and she could call my cell phone.

So as I was driving, I called Sean's cell phone -- he answered -- said he was at the restaurant, Trattoria Sympatico -- so I drove there and went inside -- he wasn't there -- hostess told me they weren't really open until five o'clock (it was about ten to five) and there were no customers there yet. I was really puzzled. I phoned home. No answer. My phone rang -- it was Nancy, saying that she and Jennifer had decided to drive over to Jamestown to give Sean some money and they were almost there. Okay, so I finally got a bit suspicious (and Trattoria Sympatico is not a pizza joint, it's a fairly upscale place, not the kind of place teenagers hang out) and then Jennifer pulled up driving Nancy's car with Nancy and Sean. I thought this was a rather complex thing just to change the restaurant where we would eat -- but then Nancy confessed that she had invited my co-workers to join us for hors d'oeuvres and drinks. Ah...

They had an open outdoor patio area under a canvas roof -- complete with gas-fired heaters to take off the chill -- and then my co-workers came and joined us -- and a few minutes later I happened to look towards the street and saw my mother-in-law coming with Nancy's sister Janet and her husband... and then our nephew Mike and his girlfriend (they live in Jamestown). So this is a good party... drinks and marvelous hors d'oeurves (they were works of art -- and very tasty)...

And I suddenly realize my brother is walking onto the patio... and my cousin Carol is with him! (They had a four hour car trip to get here.)

Nancy and me and my brother Charlie and my cousin Carol -- with Jennifer and Sean in front
Jennifer and Nancy and me and Sean

Yes, by this point we had switched to coffee.

Okay, she can fool me once... she can fool me twice... and she certainly fooled me three times! (Will she still be able to fool me in 2013?)

It was a wonderful party.


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