It's a Party!

I received some nice gifts from my folks. The one I've enjoyed most so far is a throw blanket that Mom gave me, similar to the ones she has which I enjoyed over vacation. It's light green, which is not the ideal color, but I don't really mind. (Mom says they only had green and white when she went to find one for me.) It's very soft and is ideal for lying on the couch - more so than the large queen-size blanket that I've been using. I will probably put that one away to save for when I have guests sleeping over.

I got some well-wishes today. Mom and Karen each phoned me, as did Rob, who phoned to also regret that he and his wife wouldn't be able to make my party tonight. I was rather bummed about that, as I had hoped this would be a good opportunity to drag them down to see my home. But, oh well. Dan, a former student and roommate of mine from college, wished me "excitement, adventure and a gorgeous, brilliant girlfriend in the new year." I hope so!

I worked out this afternoon, doing my leg weight exercises for the first time in months (I'd stopped doing them because I like them least of all my exercises, and because with all the running I've been doing I figured my legs were already getting a workout). My poor legs were very sore afterwards, and for about ten minutes afterwards they kept wanting to buckle under me. Guess I really stressed them. I ended up not doing 20 minutes on the elliptical walking whatsis because of that.

Then I drove around preparing for my party, mainly driving to get the cakes. I also stopped at Target, where on a whim I bought some wine glasses (realizing that I didn't own any), and at Whole Foods where I bought some cheese to go with some crackers I had.

At home, I continued cleaning. Mainly I cleared off tables and put piles of stuff in my study. And I mopped my kitchen floor, which really needed it. While I was mopping, Tom showed up. He brought what he called "overcookies" (left in the oven a little too long), and beer. He said, "You said this starts at 5, right?" It was 5:30 at this point, and I said, "Uh, no, six." "Damn!" said Tom. But he hung out while I finished cleaning, read some books I had lying out, and petted the cats.

Other people started showing up around 6:40. I think I'm the only person in the world who doesn't go to parties "fashionably late"! Subrata showed up, then John and his girlfriend Kim, Bill and Julie, Lucy, and finally Ben. This turned out to be about the right number - I had a couple of emergency chairs just in case, but they weren't needed. The living room was kind of crowded anyway! (And, as I said, a few people I invited didn't make it.)

It turns out that John and Kim brought wine as well as beer, so the wine glasses were a wise choice. And the cheese was very popular, so that worked well. Overall, I bought a little too much food, but not a lot, which is about what you want. Some of the leftovers I'll eat myself, and others can go into work to be consumed by ravenous cow-orkers.

It was a great party, pretty much we all just sat around and talked, and everyone seemed to get along really well with each other. Some of us did occasionally spin off into geekspace (computer or football) which left a couple of people out of the conversation temporarily, but overall most people stayed until about 10; Ben and Tom hung out considerably later (watching me eat Doritos, and also making my cringe by describing various surgeries and injuries they'd had; I'm kind of squeamish that way. But I guess it's only fair, since I regularly make them cringe by telling bad puns). And the cake was a big hit. (So were Tom's overcookies, which were the first thing to run out.)

I've always hated spending my birthdays alone, all the way back to my freshman year of college, when I 'celebrated' my birthday by ordering a huge pizza, eating the whole thing myself, and feeling way too full for hours afterwards. (Hardly anyone else was back from vacation yet.) So it was really nice to have everyone over. I'd meant to have a 30th birthday party last year, but I was still feeling stunned by going to interview at Apple a week earlier, so it didn't happen. But I'm glad to have put something together this year.

And I have a dishwasher, which means cleaning up after the party is easy! Woo-hoo!