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I’m a Goofy Goober!

So party details…

What started out as us looking to plan a small party for Junior’s 7th birthday ended with us renting out an entire movie theater for a private showing of Spongebob for 80 or so of our friends, family, classmates, etc. Hell, even my accountant was there! (Okay, so he happens to be married to a friend of mine…still…) This was justified by realizing it could be a party for Junior (Jan 6), my step-daughter (Jan 20) me (Jan 27), my step-son (Feb 4) and Mr. Dump (Feb 6).

If I do say so myself, it was a rousing success. We invited whole families, even those from his class. I didn’t want to be responsible for watching anyone’s kid, so when I got an RSVP call, I just said “And who will be coming with [name]?” All siblings were invited too. We provided popcorn and soda for each kid, too. People actually had a hard time comprehending that we were inviting their whole family to the movies, giving them popcorn, and that we had requested no gifts. Really, what’s the catch? Are we selling timeshares?

Nope, we just wanted a big crowd. There were 41 kids in all. We ended up plowing through 1.5 sheet cakes (anyone want leftovers?). For the record, the chocolate cake was almost completely gone. I highly recommend getting your cakes at Joyce’s in Leominster, next to the Bagel Inn. And get the sugar frosting, not the butter cream. Trust me.

I had SO much fun that I immediately told Mr. Dump we have to do this every year. Next year would be the 1st anniversary of my 40th birthday, etc. Of course, I can’t guarantee having a cool movie like Spongebob being available, but I have a feeling once the parents realized they could buy beer and wine to go with that grilled chicken and pesto sandwich, they don’t care what movie is playing. (For the record, I went for the deep fried ravioli and a 24oz Bud Light. Now that is movie food, my friends.)

[I took a couple of pictures, but it’s wayyyy too dark in a movie theater, even before the show starts. I’m going to play with Paint Shop Pro to see if I can lighten them up enough to post them.]

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Dumb Stupid T-Mobile

My Sidekick has been down much of today, I believe from a hardware upgrade gone horribly wrong. I don’t know…I can’t use the phone to find out.

What gives me great solace in all this is the ability to say, with 100% confidence, that Paris Hilton and I are suffering from Sidekick withdrawal together. Lindsey Lohan too. They can be the biggest celebs in the National Enquirer World, and when it comes right down to it, Little Jody from Leominster MA and Paris have the same phone, and the same issues. Cool, huh?

Oh, so party info tomorrow, I swear. In the meantime, go with Mr. Crunchy a happy last day before 40. I want to loan him my 40 tiara. Maybe he can Photoshop his face in to my picture (below).

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Party Day

I think I’m ready. I tried on my crown and it looks fine, if I do say so myself. I think I’m going to go back and get a whole bunch of them, you know, just for every day. I don’t know why we don’t wear tiaras more often, really.

I’m on the phone in that picture. Sorry about that, but it does make it look more like I’m just wearing the tiara around the house going about my normal business, doesn’t it?

I was thinking I should do a whole Courtney Love bad makeup prom-from-hell thing, but I don’t want to scare off all the kids in Junior’s class.


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Queen for a Day

Ah, the eve of the big birthday bash. Tomorrow is the celebration for my birthday, along with all the other family members with birthdays between Jan 6 and Feb 6. Of course, most of the people I invited for me are unable to make it so it really is mostly a party for Junior. I hope he doesn’t think we’re going to throw this big a party every year.

I will have many more details after the party tomorrow. I also invited a handful of the local readers (those who participate the most, really) to represent the group. I hard back from 3, and 2 can make it. (I keep wondering if the 4th person actually got the invitation. I’m sure all of you are now thinking you were the 4th invitee. That’s actually very clever on my part, isn’t it? Sure, each and every one of you was the 4th invitee!)

Okay, so enough about that. We finalized our vacation house rental on the Cape this weekend, and now I’m just going to count the days until August. Good Lord, I’m sick of winter! Lastly, I took Junior to get him fitted for his ski boots. I just remembered why I don’t ski. I hate crowds, and I hate crowds where everyone knows what they are doing except me. I wanted to run screaming, but couldn’t. SO many people. I guess it being 40 for the first time in a month helped drag everyone out. But I don’t ski…never have (well, I did cross-country for a very brief while, but I’m talking downhill) and mostly likely never will. I think I’m just not cool enough. And I only like to do things where I know exactly what’s expected of me. That is totally not the case with the whole skiing thing.

Well, I guess I’m just glad it’s only four weeks. I’m sure Mr. Dump is going to want nothing to do with this. He’s like me, except he’ll just back out and leave it up to me, cause he knows that *I* will take Junior no matter how much I hate it. [I sound chipper don’t I?]

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A Day Over 39

Go ahead, say it. Say I don’t look a day over 39. And then I’ll respond “I look *2* days over 39!”

Once members of my family actually remembered it was my birthday, of course (hey thanks for the call this morning, sis! I’m guessing you will be adding a few items to the bag of presents you bought me, huh?). It was uncle Crank’s birthday yesterday too, so I should mention that here.

I have a couple of favorite restaurants that I don’t get to eat at very often because of Junior’s limited acceptable food list. So we don’t go to those unless he’s not with us. I was telling my mother that I wanted to go to the Japanese steakhouse at Chopsticks, but we would have to wait on it until she could watch him and it wasn’t a school night. Here’s the interesting thing – when I picked Junior up at aftercare, the first thing he asked me was where I wanted to have my birthday dinner. And then, with no prompting, he said “And we can even go to the Japanese restaurant at the Chinese restaurant if you want.” I was floored. How did he pick that, remembering that I liked it, of all the places we go or have gone to?

In the end, though, it turns out that you can’t order any of the Chinese restaurant food (what Junior would have eaten) if you are sitting in that section, so it will have to wait. Instead, I called my favorite restaurant and asked if they had anything on the menu with pasta and red sauce. The person who answered told me they had a seafood cacciatore. Well, I said my 7 year old wouldn’t want that, and he said “We have marinara, and we have pasta, so we’ll take care of you.”

Wow! That means that for the first time ever, we’d be able to take Junior out to eat at my favorite restaurant, the Monument Grill! It’s my once-a-year place, but I love it. The sweet potato ravioli are killer (I get the appetizer because I find getting it as an entree is just overwhelming), and there is a wonderful pinot grigio on the menu. Mom and Dad joined us, and I realized they’d never been there. How can that even be possible? Anyway, it was a great meal with good company. I was a happy girl.

Oh, and for those of you who aren’t familiar, yes, that is Monument Grill as in Monument, the name of the town in the book I Am The Cheese by Robert Cormier. Cormier, a Leominster resident, had based it Leominster. This restaurant is across the street from Monument Park, which is where Cormier got the name. (I actually assume the restaurant is named after the park, but by default it covers both.) That’s your English 101 class for today. Recess!

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