Sunday, August 20, 2017

Lisa's Last 40-Something Birthday Celebration Was Awesome!


I didn't publish a blog column yesterday. It's rare that I miss a day, but I have a valid excuse. Yesterday we celebrated Lisa's Last 40-Something Birthday. We invited about 15 friends who have become family and enjoyed scrumptious food, great conversation, an abundance of laughs, adult beverages, and a pit fire. I'll admit, I was nervous about hosting this party after our huge backyard anniversary party. Yesterday's party almost didn't happen for a few reasons.

Long story short, the Wednesday before our backyard anniversary party, Lisa was diagnosed with Lyme Disease for the second time in a year. Once again, she was bitten on the head about an inch from last year's bite. Lisa was put on the same prescription medications she took last year. Doxy. Prednisone. Both have crappy side effects that include, but is not limited to, stomach upset, sensitivity to sunlight and heat, insomnia, excitement, confusion, mood swings, gastrointestinal issues, and headaches.

When Lisa is on these medications, it's one of those where-is-my-wife-and-what-did-you-do-to-her situations. It's not her fault, however, it makes life extremely tumultuous. 

What we didn't know at the time was that Lisa also had Mono. We didn't find that out until the Monday after the party when she got the test results back from her doctor. On top of the Lyme Disease symptoms and the side effects of her medications, she had Mono.

Upfront and overall, our backyard anniversary party was fabulous. You can read about that here. Behind the scenes and not-so-upfront, things weren't so great. I'm not going to shovel out details or rehash the mishaps. What I will say is there are quite a few people that will never be invited to our home ever again and I came very close to not having a backyard celebration for Lisa's Last 40-Something Birthday.

It took me about a week to get over things that happened and cruel things that were said at our anniversary party. Lisa and I talked about it at great length. Lisa wasn't aware of a lot of the things that happened or was said. She apologized for that. She explained that the Lyme, Mono, and the side effects of the medications got the best of her. I told her she had no reason to apologize. None of that was her fault. All things considered, I'm surprised she managed as well as she did.

We agreed on the people who will never be invited to our home again. Ever. Lisa and I have a strict policy. We do not tolerate bullying, disrespect, judgment, and/or stealing.

Enough said.

Once I moved on and Lisa was done with the Prednisone and her symptoms eased up, we decided to have a much smaller celebration. The people invited would be our friends who have become family. Instead of firing up the grill, we would make several varieties of gourmet finger sandwiches. For music, we'd stream it. The evening would end with a pit fire.

Lisa's Last 40-Something Birthday celebration turned out incredible both upfront and behind the scenes. We had a blast and so did our guests. Everyone sat in a large circle so we could all participate in the conversations. There was no shortage of laughs and sporadic bouts of dancing. The food was absolutely delicious. Lisa and I were able to sit, relax, eat, join in, and be part of the festivities.

We needed this.

Our next backyard festivity will be on Halloween! It'll be the 3rd year that Lisa and I host the Halloween party for our neighbor friends. I make a big cauldron of my homemade corn chowder, homemade bread, whoopie pies, and we hand out candy to the trick or treaters.

Over the past couple of years, the number of guests has grown so this year, the festivities will be in the back yard with a pit fire going.

We can't wait!

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