So the best thing that I saw this weekend was a nearly unbelievable cross sections of friends, family, and co-workers from all aspects of my life -- (edited)
Posted by
JD (aka Jason Dean)
Oct 14 '24, 14:52
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at my surprise 55th birthday party.
For a week plus, FH had been excusing herself from our normal hang out times as she was helping her boss prep his latest real estate addition for a house warming party.
Sure, I've hung out with Jim before and he's already got some rental properties so now he's going to move a few miles and live in his latest purchase and rent his current place. All makes sense.
So there's been evenings where FH has gotten back later than she originally anticipated and blames Jim. Like I said met Jim, makes sense.
So Sat rolls around and this is supposed to be culmination of all this and so I've got in mind it's going to be this get together, I'll know some people, probably won't know most people but I can to this.
FH is still prepping and we're supposed to meet at 6 / 615 or so. I drive over, get to her place around 6 and let myself in and put on random sports in the background.
630, 700 kind of come and go and little after a 7, a flustered FH comes in, is frantically getting ready, mutters about Jim and tosses me one of my Distillers T-shirts saying there's now a theme for the evening and favorite band.
*Shrug* put on not the Distillers shirt but instead a Brody shirt and my nearly signature red Distillers hoodie.
and then we have to get a rideshare? Cause there's no parking? umm, sure? Like, worst case can't we just park the next street, streets over? No, apparently we need a ride share. Our driver has a skeleton in the passenger seat so that's super smile inducing and kind of distracts me from obvious questions of like, where are we going exactly?
Get there, thank driver, get led to a side gate entrance that has a streamer / balloon arch entrance and then like everybody I know is there After wading through the initial group of people and getting a drink and something to eat, I make my rounds and like everybody is there.
Turns out my housemate has been on this and has been reassuring FH that I'm completely gullible as I've actually been home for significant amount of time the past weeks and have passed along the cover story as to why I'm home and not doing the usual out with FH thing.
So short of my parents somehow making it down from Northern California, pretty much everybody who means something to me will make an appearance there. Even the staff (well, ok the paid staff is one bartender) is like somebody I've been to stuff outside of professionally.
And a bunch of rando questions over the last couple of months start to make sense:
Which macaroni salad do you like more: the bowling alley's, L&L or Ono. Cause like there's this tray of macaroni salad (Ono for the record).
There was also a question of brisket vs tri-tip. Tri-tip
And there's stuff that just kind of becomes obvious in handing out with me like Spam Musubi and hot dogs.
And while yes, the dress code is wear band shirts, it's actually a music festival theme. There's JDpaolloza VIP access lanyards, reflective snap on wristbands, festival coozies (!)
The full bar includes this massive bottle of Chopin that I won't have any until almost the end of the night. Instead there's this dispenser of something red and I get told there's vodka in it. Later (like the next day) I'll be told it's Hawaiian Punch, 7-up and soda water, and entire bottle of vodka and some lemon and lime juice. I had many cups. Eventually, it is decided that we're going to have birthday shot so now let's open the Chopin.
So in the aftermath I learn that it's possible to rent backyards and that's where we were. You know who wasn't at the party? Jim. He got stuck in San Diego
So that's twice that FH has surprised me. I'm going to be really suspicious the next time she tries to usher me into a ride share +/- a week of my birthday ;-)
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