Surprise!

We threw Maggie a surprise party yesterday for her 50th birthday.  It went off without a hitch.  Oh, except that I didn't take a single effing picture during the entire day.  By the time the party kicked off, I was so relieved to be done cleaning and prepping and not ruining the surprise...I never even thought about my camera.  The party was wonderful; Maggie was surprised and happy, and I hope she felt the love we all have for her.

I did take some "after" pictures, though:

 Jimi smoked a beef brisket for 12 hours, then finished it off in the oven.  He used his meat slicer to make uniform slices perfect for sandwiches.  That was a 10 pound piece of meat, and this is all that's left of it.  

Cheesecake caramel apple dip.  Not much gone.  Lucky me!

We made a fire and sat around talking about religion and God...

and the people who'd already gone home.

Leftover beer in the fridge?  Okay.  Thanks!

Yes, that IS a table made from an old beer keg.  

We are the epitome of class up in here, y'all.  

My nuts got so many compliments.

I giggled a lot.

And, the cake:

There's a funny story about this delicious cake, which was supplied by our friends Jim and Sage.

Jim carried the cake outside.

Jim's daughter placed the candles.

I declared I'd light the candles.  

Har-d-har-hars went around the group - "are you sure that's a good idea?"

Yuk it up, Friends.

So I lit the candles as we sang Happy Birthday to our friend.

And then, at the very end, just as we finished the song...

the match, it was burning my fingers, you see?

So I blew it out.

I blew out the match.

And all of Maggie's candles too.

D'oh! 

I didn't even make a wish.

So Maria re-lit the candles,

we re-sang Happy Birthday (fast),

and Maggie made a wish

and got to blow out her own candles.

And then later Steve ruined Christmas, but that's a story for another time.  Happy Sunday!