The End of Fear is Where We Begin: The Jo & Mingus Covert Birthday Op

Thursday, August 30, 2012

The Jo & Mingus Covert Birthday Op

This won't be as detailed and long of a post as I'd like to record on this event, but sometimes a girl only has so much time and a bit of a post is better than no post. I just feel like I need to acknowledge here my gratitude for my wonderful hubs and my best friend/cousin along with an awesome group of family and friends did for me for my birthday this year.

My birthday fell on a Monday--and not just any Monday. It was the first Monday back to work after vacation. Ugh. Nevertheless, it was a good day--I got to see my mom and she and Mingus both brought me a treat from town. Mingus made a delicious dinner and my little brother Deutsch even had a gift he'd left for me. All this in addition to the fact the in-laws surprised me with a cake on vacay as well as shopping fun at the outlet mall. The next day I worked in Louisville where the team celebrated with me by eating delicious cake. My drive home on Wednesday was long, hot and tiresome but my main man had a specially order "Gato Cake" waiting for me when I arrived home. (He asked them to do a cat. The lady said she could do a lion so they settled with that. Mind you this was from the IGA bakery!)

All of that in and of itself is a great 27th birthday. I also knew that Mingus and I were planning to go out to eat for a nice dinner on Saturday. I knew he'd been trying to get a hold of Jo for some plans and I'd mentioned to a few friends throughout the month that we'd probably be in Lexington that weekend and maybe we'd celebrate my birthday. Nothing had really developed. I know how busy I am and how I don't like to commit to events these days because it seems our calendar fills up with things we CAN'T turn down that I just want to be HOME when there is nothing pressing on the schedule, so I don't like making other people feel the need to schedule around me either. Therefore, I didn't make an effort to try to play and push for people to be available.

I did ask Jon on Saturday if he'd ever talked to Jo. He said yes and that she was "at the lake," which is where I know she spends nearly every weekend in the summer. Seemed likely enough but what really convinced me was that he said she'd given him all of these dinner ideas so he picked a place out. He'd also already planned where we could go to church and he seemed to have a good idea for what bar we could go to. He made it seem as though he'd planned all of it and Holly had helped some which led me to believe it was her way of making it up to me/us for not being in town to celebrate.

Dinner was delicious at Bella Notte--Italian! He knows it's one of my favorites but something we rarely get together because of the cream sauces, cheeses, butter, meats--all of which he's allergic to.

He did sell out one friend but a reasonable one: Micah. It would make the most sense that (a) Micah and him would be texting back and forth (b) Micah would be free for a night out. So many of my other friends either don't live in Lexington or if they do are married/have kids. So he told me that Micah was probably going to be there and maybe even BooMan because the two of them had been hanging out some lately.

Although Mingus was on his phone a lot--I presumed he was looking up the addresses since he doesn't know Lexington well (and he doesn't like trying to get around it much). When we left dinner he took us downtown to Parlay Social. When we went in I could tell they weren't quite in "bar mode" yet but it was still functioning as a restaurant so I felt slightly awkward. I didn't think we wanted our own table again, but I heard him tell the host we were meeting someone... so I asked who, and, of course, he again told me, "I think Micah's here..."

So we begin to walk around to find him when I notice a group in the corner. I'm not sure now how I pieced it together. I saw familiar faces, while also noting a banner and realizing it said "happy birthday" but even then it took me another second or two and getting a little closer to realize I knew EVERYONE and this party was waiting for me... then I got right up on the table to see Jo in the back corner--in all her glittery glory--hands thrown in the air with a big smile, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!". Then Deutsch, of course, led the group in the singing of the birthday song while I smiled in shock--seeing friends from Louisville and Columbus; family members; even Valto managed to be free from doctor duty and mom duty! How? I'm not quite sure... Everyone was THERE and Jo had been behind it the entire time!

Apparently Mingus had hit her up about going out for my birthday a few weeks back and she took the idea and turned it into the surprise party it was. She told him that I always spend so much time planning the parties and she didn't want me to plan but just enjoy this one. So she'd done it all up with purple everywhere and everyone wearing purple leies and even cupcakes.She'd sent a Facebook message out several weeks ago to make sure people had time to plan.

It was a fun, fun night. It was only upon seeing everyone together that it really hit me how much I miss seeing all of these great friends of mine and having fun with them the way I could when I lived closer to them all. I love, love, LOVE my off and away life with my Mingus. It's probably ME more than anything that keeps myself from spending time with my friends these days; but that doesn't change how much fun I have with them when I do get with them.

My Mingus gave me the best present he could have: a night of fun and dancing with so many of my friends. What a wonderful husband. And what wonderful friends. It's a wonderful life and I'm sure it will be a wonderful year!