SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!

Wow! Last night has to be tops on the list of one of life's greatest moments! My brother and his wife had invited us over for a cook-out. I dutifully made my cucumber salad and was deciding what I would be eating and what I would pass on. As I walked through the garage door I was greeted by a loud chorus of SURPRISE!!!!! I couldn't believe my eyes! It was a surprise birthday party! I was surrounded by so many friends and family all together in one place. Then I started seeing old high school friends! It was like a mini-reunion!

My three wonderful daughters and hubby planned this whole thing with the help of my siblings. The party theme was a luau and they placed a lei around my neck as soon as I caught my breath. It was wonderful! My brother has a lovely 3 tiered backyard with an in ground pool and an outdoor bar. The landscaping is awesome right down to the waterfall. A perfect setting for a "tropical" evening. The weather was perfect too!

They began planning this fiasco months ago and I swear I never once caught on. Now I'm turning 50 in a few weeks (June 29th to be exact) so this was early enough that I didn't have an inkling to the events of last night. I really thought it was just a cook out for me & my sibs. We always do our summer birthdays in July at my brother's cottage (we lump 'em all into one big party and call it Christmas in July) so I figured they'd probably do a little something special that weekend. Never like it was last night!

And I got so many wonderful gifts too! I figured at a 50th you'd get the proverbial "old fart" gag stuff. (I did get a T-shirt that says "I'm still hot - it just comes in flashes now!" but I got some really wonderful things too! Several gift certificates to Spas, restaurants and clothing stores...a beautiful vase, a diamond pendant from my sibs....it was all so amazing!

And you know what? I don't think I even once worried about how much I weighed. I was too overwhelmed with the love pouring out of all these people to give it a passing thought. Now today I saw a pic of me and my high school pals and I am definitely the super-sized one....ouch! (I'm on the far right - the one on the far left just lost 30 pounds but you can't tell in this pic) but I'm still too up to care right now.

Anyhoo - today I'm pretty bushed. But I'm thankful. Thankful that I have family and friends that care so much. Thankful that I am healthy and whole as I reach the pinnacle of that hill we all dread. And thankful that officially - I have 2 more weeks left to be in my 40's!