Saturday: The Party

So I woke up Saturday morning, all ready to run. Yes, even on a party day, I still had a seven-mile training run to do. I drove out to my parents' house, to run around their block. I had been looking forward to conquering that block for two months, and I am happy to say I did it. I had one of those moments of wishing I had taken advantage of long, straight, lightly-travelled county roads while I lived on one. But in junior high & high school, it never occurred to me to run outside of track season. And once I stopped running track, I only ran very occasionally. So there you go.

Anyway! Dad & Mum had to go to Shelbyville to get some links removed from her watch, so I went with them. On the way, we stopped at The Gathering Grounds so I could get a cup of tea (I hadn't had one yet) and say good-bye to the people there, because we spent a ton of time in that place that week. Chad and Billy went to The Gathering Grounds for breakfast. Denise went to Party City to get another tablecloth. Grandma stayed home to make punch (and, it turned out, the queso, because I hadn't melted the cheese yet).

So the party itself went smoothly. Billy had a nasty headache, so he went off to lie down in the auditorium for a while (causing everyone to think he had left). I had a very amusing conversation with Aunt Glenda, Gertrude & Amanda. Dad and Aunt Vicki tore down the balloons to pummel each other with them (thus proving true Denise's prediction that the kids would tear the balloons down). Chad led the singing of "Happy Birthday", after I dripped wax all over the place lighting the candles. And the '60s music delighted me, if no one else.

After the party, we had an evening of chitchat, card playing, movie-watching, and finally, packing and a bit of sleeping. My kind and faithful brother came to pick us up at 4 AM on Sunday morning to take us to the airport. Flying on Sunday was a new experience for me; I kept forgetting what day it was. But I was very glad the next day was Memorial Day, so I could rest.