Forty is Not So Bad

Well people, I made it. I turned the corner to forty and so far I don't seem to have become middle-aged overnight or anything. Um, except maybe for the spread. Yes, well. I'll have to be addressing that soon. Ahem. *awkward silence*

Anyway... so yes indeed I did have a lovely birthday, with some lovely surprises.

My hubby is a legendary birthday celebrater which actually has him in the running for the "Husband of the Year Award" for the ninth year running. (Remember this is the guy who remembered our engagement anniversary.) I've had a couple of other hubbies I know say to him, "Hey man, tone it down. You're making us look bad!" (they shall remain nameless.  For their wives' sakes.)

OK back to the topic at hand... um, pressies in bed (including a necklace he got designed and made specially for me with help from the kids. Awww!) followed by tea & toast in bed; followed by general mayhem errupting, whereby poor hubby tried to stem the air-raid siren wailing from all quarters and galantly tried to fight off the attacking troops and their cries of "I want mummy!" in a valiant attempt to let me sleep in. That battle was lost but not for the lack of trying by My Hero.

So then we dropped Culprits #1 & 2 at school and (yay!) left Culprit #3 at home with Mr G's wonderful P.A. :) and off we went for a quiet relaxing morning tea.... oh coolness! at Cornwall Park tearooms. I love their Devonshire Cream teas, oh yes.

We choose an outdoor table with lovely views overlooking the park... and that's when we met Bird Lady. Bird Lady struck up a one-sided conversation with us. Apparently a bird had stolen a sugar sachet right off her table. She was concerned that more birds may soon attack. Oh, and Bird Lady was waiting for her friends due to arrive on a Bus. But did we think there was space for a bus to park? And did we think the bird would come back soon with his friends and take more sugar???

Oh dear. I pretended to shiver and said tactfully to Mr G, "Um, I'm a little chilly out here. Maybe we should move inside??"

We gratefully escaped inside to a nice window table in the nearly-empty dining room. Ahhhh peace and quiet.

But that's when Psychology Mum sat down right behind us. With her baby. Oh yes. Oh no.  We rolled our eyes; we've just managed to escape our baby... Ha! The baby was fine. Quiet-as. Never heard a peep out of the baby. The mum however?? Different story. She loudly began to interrogate her teenage son (oh yes, I missed him coming in - he's the one pictured over my left shoulder. Poor kid.)

"And how do you feel now after that outburst? Did it help you? Are you feeling ashamed of yourself? Do you think it will get you anywhere? Do you think it did any good? And how do you feel about that? Are you proud of yourself??" On and on she went, at the top of her loud annoying voice. Oh boy.

Outside the window we could see Bird Lady engaging the waiter in conversation. No sign of the bus yet.

Then Ms. Wannabe Snr. positioned herself on the other side of us, talking loudly on her cellphone. It wasn't long before she had competition; Ms. Wannabe Jnr. took up her spot right opposite, and yakked loudly on her cellphone... until their friends arrived and then they just all talked loudly to each other.

By this stage I was giggling helplessly. Peace and quiet??? Tee Hee. Too funny. The rest of the restaurant remained empty. What are we? Loudness Magnets???

We escaped just in time as the coachload of bird lovers pulled up. Oh man. I really needed a good laugh. It wasn't the romantic interlude Mr G had planned but, gee it was funny.

I returned home to my pigsty messy bombsite of a house while Mr G went off to do a spot of work. As I stood in the middle of the ruins of breakfast, yesterday's dinner, lunch etc, I faced a dilemma. Clean up on my birthday?? Not appealing. Leave the mess and try to ignore it?? Even less appealing. Just then: a knock at the door. It's my lovely friend Meg with a cake. Legendary Super Meg, awesome kind helpful Meg, offers to tackle my bombsite!! Oh Meg, you are a true friend. We tackle the mess together, much more fun. She does most of it though. She has super-powers. I am eternally grateful.

Then later on another knock at the door: Oh my! A bunch of beautiful gerberras, from my friend Maya in England! Ohhh wow! What a lovely surprise. Cute card too. "To the bustus friend a person could ask for". Is that a reference to our Bra-shopping expedition in Milton Keynes... or was the florist just a bad speller? I'm thinking bad speller.It should be "Bestest" I'm sure.

So I had a lovely day with some sweet surprises, including a Black Forest Gateau from Eve's Pantry. Oh my Middle-Age-Spread!.

The next day came the madness of a seven-year-old boys' dinosaur adventure sleepover on Friday night... and a crazy day trying to pull together a cool outdoor party under the stars, with one eye on the changeable weather and frustration at finding half our fairy lights no longer work. There were moments, people. Moments where I sat on the floor surrounded by tangled useless lights, crying and nearly reaching for my cellphone to txt everyone and call the whole thing off. It came close.

But we got there in the end, everyone came dressed to the nines in 70's gear, all of us looking pretty crazy. There was dancing, candles, homemade lanterns, sangria, a new fire-pit (which got lit eventually), lots of dessert, a few early-leavers and a few long stayers.... oh, and bubbles. And giggling. Say no more. What can I say? I really needed a good laugh. There was not, however any photos taken by me. I was having too much fun. Sorry. If any turn up on Facebook I promise to share them with you.

Awards for the night:

Dancing Queen: Gail (she did not stop, and she was in heels)

Best Outfit: Margs. Seriously Abba. Frida's double in white spandex & Wig. Val a close second!
Craziest Mode of Transport: Pete & Sarah. They cycled over... in costume!

Worst Footwear: Pastor Mark Stephenson. Sandals and socks. Some people thought they were for real. Hilarious!

Most Committed PartyGoers: Nic & Phil - they drove up from Taupo to attend! And they were the last to leave :)

Worst-kept secret: Mr G. He told Meg & Linda's hubbies an embarrassing story about me and champagne. So they kept topping up my glass. I blame them for the giggling.

In the meantime, thanks everybody for making my transition to forty relatively painless. I said relatively. I blame the bubbles.

P.S. Oh, I just have to mention my pressie from Gail... The Kiwiana Lingo Teatowel! ( I tried to win this in her giveaway but Cat got it. And now I have my own! I think I will frame it :)

P.P.S: Thanks Kathy for uploading these photos off her camera phone :)