It was a very satisfying birthday party. Everyone turned up who'd been invited, everyone brought gifts, and everyone left promptly at midnight except my best friend Denise Rehse who spent the night. Denise won my undying affection by excitedly telling me she'd worked out which prime number I was. "37!" she announced proudly. I gave her my best Mona Lisa smile. It's 41 but what the heck.
John and I slaved over the house, finishing the last of the preparations about a half hour before the first guests arrived. At one point I nearly keeled over from the physical labor. It was worth it, though. The place looks completely lived in, not a box is in sight, all our china and glasses are on display in the cupboards, all the paintings have been hung at last, and even the back yard got swept out thoroughly. I scrambled into the shower with no time to spare, and John had to do the honors for Candi Strecker, Matt Householder, and their daughter Nicola while I pondered what to wear to my own party.
The sushi and cake were big hits. I broke down and bought potato chips and tortilla chips because I know most people only eat that kind of junk food at parties, and indeed the chips were all consumed at the end of the night. The vegetables were pretty well ignored. More beer than bottled water was drunk, but only just. We have a lot of beer left over so I'm thinking we'll have to have another, smaller party for Labor Day weekend. There weren't enough chairs, but there never are.
Dixie was banished to the backyard much to her disappointment. Anyone passing by the glass doors would see this sad little hound face looking in at all the food on the table, and the interesting people. The cats wandered in and out of the party and lay on the floor in the living room right in the middle of the crowd. I think it's hilarious that my pets all love to socialize. I take full credit for raising happy, healthy animals who love people, thanks very much. But it's also their own natures.
I got some wonderful gifts, and so did John. John gave me a tiny copper Roman coin from the year of Constantine I, a huge bouquet of star lilies, calla lilies, and iris, plus two (you knew this was coming) Beanie Babies. I gave him two books on elephants. Denise gave me a fabulous brooch that said Queen for a Day and had a small crown dangling from it. Tom Becker and Spike Parsons braved the fur in the house to bring us a hardcover book on the history of Apple Computers in T-shirts plus a genuine Apple t-shirt. It was sort of the ultimate computer geek gift, and I was charmed. Allyn Cadogan and Karl Mosgofian, whom I hadn't seen since moving back to the Bay Area, brought a huge container filled with flowers for the backyard and a book on plants. Karen Schaeffer and Mike Ward brought homemade rose petal jelly and a very fine bottle of wine. Pam Davis and Terry Floyd brought a basket of zucchini and other garden delights. Bill and Julie Humphries thoughtfully provided a gift certificate to a pet food store. It made our house very warm indeed to have so many good friends join us for the party.
Somewhere along the line I spent time talking to D. Potter, Alan Bostick, Debbie Notkin, Donya White, Allen Baum, Linda and Rich McAllister, and Gary Mattingly as well, telling them about the Worldcon, gossiping about mutual friends, reminiscing about the early 80's, and all the usual party hoohah. Lord, they've all known me since I was wet behind the ears and newly arrived from Seattle. I'm so happy to be home in the Bay Area where I have some serious history with my friends. The only people with really major history at the party were Gary and Denise, who were once married, but I think I'm the only person in the room who knew that besides themselves. They get along fine; it's just weird to remember it.
I had to walk Dixie at midnight, an hour after her usual time, and when I came back everyone was gone. We cleaned up because there is nothing more revolting in the morning than the beery, smelly leftovers from a party. Finally, it was time to go to bed. I wandered into the bedroom and discovered an anonymous guest had left a stuffed toy duck and a kitchen gadget called a Poultry Button propped up on our pillows as a final birthday present. The name seemed vaguely obscene ("You know you want to push the poultry button! Push it! Yes!") but I realized it was a good old-fashioned meat thermometer. John immediately attempted to menace the cats with the duck while I tucked the gadget away and fell into bed exhausted.
Today I'm still pretty exhausted. I've been working on articles for this and that, adding new members to the Archipelago web ring, reading I, Claudius, and admiring my gifts while putting them away. It was a very nice way to turn 37. Heh.
