They Got Me!

Saturday evening started out as planned. We had a Family Game Night up at church, which I knew would be a blast since I love to play games (Scrabble! Boggle! anything with trivia! Backgammon! Phase 10!) and we haven't done it much lately.

The night started off pretty normally, with adults (a group of us played Apples to Apples, which can be pretty hilarious!) and the youngsters both playing games...

But after playing for a while, and eating the potluck supper that everyone had contributed to, I noticed that most everyone had disappeared from the room. I wondered aloud where everyone was, and Gary said we should go check it out. Naive, gullible person that I am, I wandered off down the hall. I didn't expect anything until Gary pointed me toward a dark room and opened the door.

I was sprayed by silly string and greeted with yells of "Surprise!"...

Yep, the official 40th Birthday Week for Cheryl has begun!

I was totally surprised by the party, since it was a full week before my actual birthday (it's actually next Sunday), but who am I to turn down the chance to celebrate for an entire week? I say, Party Early and Party Often!

My great friends Chris and Allison organized it with Gary. He, along with McKenna and Delaney, totally fooled (i.e.: lied to me!) all day Saturday as they convinced me that they were doing anything aside from getting a cake, decorating, etc., etc. Most of my church friends showed up and it was a ton of fun!

A few pictures from the festivities include:

They did a great job with decorating (my fave were the "old people" dice that you can roll and come up with a "decision" for the day. I am all about napping and reclining often)...

This was one heckuva good cake. It was an ice cream cake from DQ and it was DELICIOUS!! (although, with so many people there, it was gone in a flash! I had one piece...and that was NOT enough!!)..

Of course, Scout had to help me blow out the candles...

Allison made me this shirt that says, "40 and Fabulous!"I am SO wearing this next Sunday on my birthday! I will be the most stylish gal at church that day!

My favorite card of the night was from Gary's parents; when you open it up, it plays the song "Tequila." I love it! (It also had money in it; whee! I'm going to buy a brand-new Bama shirt and some perfume with it!)

I also came home with some other great gifts (my favorite had to be the music CDs my friend Ryan made for me; one has songs from 1968, and the other is of cover versions of 80s songs; they are both great!; some truly yummy smelling candles; books; and--get this!-- anti-aging creme and denture cleansers from my lovely daughter and niece!!). I also got four packages of chocolates (I think they all want me to not only be forty and fabulous, but also forty and FAT!), including my favorite Lindors...

I'm already anticipating more celebrations to come later on in the week--a get-together with my parents, an Alabama first game/birthday gathering, the traditional birthday bowling--but this was a great way to start it all off!

By the way, I also have these suckers in my house now as well. They are so cute, but I don't agree with the sentiment. 40 definitely does not suck so far. Although I'm not officially 40 for five more days, I am liking how it's treating me right now!...