Surprise!

About Christmas time, my buddy Tim had mentioned that in order to celebrate our 40th birthdays in 2009, we should go out for lunch and the local batting cages. He set the tentative date for Saturday, February 7th and I made absolutely sure I reserved that day for the occasion. Hey, batting cages and lunch? I’m so there.

But little did I know that Ann had been busy scheming…

So Tim arrives and off we go to the cages which just a few hours prior seemed impossible as it was raining pretty heavily at the time. We go to the cages, hit–or try to hit–the softball pitches for 30 minutes, try the 80 MPH cage (where I actually hit more pitches), and then head to lunch. The events took a few hours and we had a good time.

We pull up in the driveway and, much to my surprise, see my uncle and aunt getting out of their car. Strange…were they just visiting? It wasn’t a holiday when we usually see them…

I approach the door, Ann asks where we’ve been and, upon opening the door, I was greeted by a loud “Surprise!” along with kids tooting party horns. Ann’s months of scheming had finally paid off: it was a surprise 40th birthday party for me.

Cousins, neighbors and friends, aunts and uncles were all there to help me celebrate what should be the most memorable birthday of all. And without a doubt, it was just that.

I ate, opened presents, chatted with everybody, and just had a great time. There are pictures but unfortunately, they all turned out terrible (which prompted me to buy Ann a new camera today). There were a few invitees that couldn’t make it but most were out of town or in one drastic case, in the hospital. Others simply had other prior plans.

In any case, and even though my birthday isn’t until this coming Saturday, everybody had a great time and I got a grip of gift cards for everything from Subway (yeah!) to iTunes (yeah yeah!) to Outback Steakhouse (mmm…!)

That was Saturday. Needless to say, we cleaned up and rested today.

And hey, are the Grammys on tonight? Oh well.