Thanks everyone.
Jennie had a surprise party for me on Saturday. Damn her. I thought I was going to some engagement party for one of my friend's best man. I'm horrible too. See, one time I was on the computer, and a window popped up saying there was a paper jam. So I press the Continue button on the printer and a page pops out. On it, it says real big "Scott Is Turning 30!!!" So I'm like shit I'm obviously not supposed to see this, so I didn't read it and just left it there.
Later Jennie comes up and she sees the paper in the output tray. She looks mortified. She asks if I've seen it and I say no, but I guess I'm a horrible liar because she knew. She was really upset and said she'd been planning it for months. Then she told me she was having a surprise party for me (obviously) and that one of her Army friends was coming to town for it so obviously I'll know when it is when she comes to town. So I promise I'll act like I don't know anything about it and I'm pretty good with stuff like that.
So her friend Lindsay comes to town last Thursday. So I knew the weekend. So Jennie tells me not to make any plans on Sunday, and to make sure I act surprised.
As an important aside at a Super Bowl party, my friend Dave asks if I want to go to his former best man's engagement party. I barely knew the guy, but he said that the guy "thought everyone in the wedding party was pretty cool" and wanted just a big ass party. So I said sure, why not. Jennie is like, "My friend Lindsay will be in town that weekend." Dave's like, "Bring her, I'm sure he won't care." Later, Tracy tells Jennie that she has to come because she doesn't know Tom or his family and friends hardly at all.
So here it is last Saturday. Jennie's friend Lindsay is in town, so I'm like let's do something. There is a Cincinnati Cyclones (EHCL hockey team) game at 7:30pm. Lindsay is from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, which Canada might as well annex so I figure she'd be interested. She says, "Nah, let's just go to the party. I just want to get drunk." I don't think anything of it. Mistake!
So we go out to O'Charley's and have some drinks and appetizers. Then Jennie's friend Tracy (Dave's wife) text Jennie and says "Where are you guys?!" Jennie's like "Shit! I thought the party started at 8!" So we head over there.
We get to the place, and I see one of my other friend's cars, and he wasn't in Dave's wedding. Dave's outside. I'm like "Hey Dave, what's BP's car doing here?" He's like "Tom wanted a big party so I invited everyone." So we go inside, then I see... my dad? I'm like, "Hey, my dad's here?" Right then that is when I notice the whole party is my friends, cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. Surpise, indeed.
But yeah, it all makes sense looking back, of course. Lindsay wanting to go to a party with random people. My friend's car outside. The fact that we had to go at all. And the fact that when we had the groomsmen meet-and-greet at a West Side restaurant this past summer, Tom kept saying he needed to follow someone since he didn't know his way around, and he was having this supposed engagement party at a West Side church's recreation center. The recreation center for the church my parents belong to no less.
I'm sure reading this story everyone thinks I'm a fool. But I thought it was Sunday! She told me it was Sunday. I had it set in my mind.
Anyway, yeah so that was my big birthday thing. I am off work today, by random chance I think unless my boss just scheduled it that way on purpose. Not sure what I'm going to do yet.
30. Yikes.
