My 40th birthday party

After months of organisation, the day suddenly arrived. It had been 'hairy' with a lack of acceptances to my invites at first but bit by bit, the numbers accumulated until it was 90 plus.

Debs and Mick came down on the Friday and were a great help all day Saturday with all the food we had to prepare. John went totally overboard with the shopping, doubling and even trebling up on stuff. I tried to tell him that people don't eat that much at parties but he wouldn't listen. Typical man. Should leave it to the women!

Late afternoon, my 'long lost' friend Denise and her hubby Pat came to the house to say hi before going to the party. I hadn't seen her for 26 years since school - she moved away with her parents who were/are publicans. Denise contacted me on Friends Reunited a couple of months ago and we've been emailing ever since. It was so wonderful to see her again and she's still as lovely as I remember, but even taller than ever! We just had time for a quick chat and a cuppa and then we drove to the rugby club. I went in Pat and Denise's car so as to continue the catch-up. They were staying in a hotel in the same road as the venue.

Once we got to the hall, John and Keith set up the disco equipment, John and Maria, Debs and Mick helped me to decorate it with banners and balloons and we filled three long tables with the food. There was enough there for about 300 people! Mum and Dad turned up about 7-ish to lend further hands and then there was just enough time to get changed into our fancy dress costumes. The theme was Film and TV characters - I was Cruella De'vil, John was Andy Pandy, my Mum was Charlie Chaplin, and Dad was supposedly one of the musketeers, Poor Debs - when she put her saloon girl dress on, the zip busted and so she couldn't wear it. She had to change back into her normal clothes and she seemed quite down about it. I told her not to worry, the most important thing was that she was there at the party.



Then my guests started to arrive and it was great to see what they had dressed up as. There was a Dorothy Gale, another Charlie Chaplin, Pocahontas, Willy Wonka, Dark Knight, Fred Flintstone, several Snow Whites, Buzz Lightyear, a few Woodys and random cowboys, two Mini Mouses, Capt Jack Sparrow, Indiana Jones, Elvis, three Pink Ladies, Lilo (from Lilo & Stitch), an Officer and a gentleman (my brother), Captain America, Superman, Super Girl, Bat Girl, Robin Hood and Maid Marian, Vicky Pollard, a wicked witch, Silas the monk?, Dennis the Menace, two Spidermen, Sleeping Beauty, another Andy Pandy, a couple of medieval looking characters, Henry VIII and one of his wives, Daisy Duke, a flasher (losing the theme a tad!), a rock n roll teddy boy, a ladybug, a fire girl, and lastly another Cruella! Of all people, it was Denise. After all those years, we are still thinking the same! How ironic. I think she made a better Cruella than me as she is so tall and the false eyelashes looked great. My work mates didn't dress up but they were pretty much the only ones, so it was a great effort!

Keith stepped into the DJ shoes for us as a favour. John and I gave it all up a few years ago but kept all the equipment as something to fall back on if John lost his job. I'd already created a playlist of songs that he could choose from, just to narrow it down a bit and make it easier. Most of the music was from the 80s (my era) and the 60s and 70s. Everyone seemed to have a good time and I stayed on the dance floor most of the night barring about 10 minutes I'm told! Well you have to make the most of it don't you? The night went so quick and it was all over before I knew it.

After all the packing up and clearing, we got home just after 1am. Then there was the problem of finding room in the fridge for the left over food, which there was a fair bit of (I told you so John!).
Several piles of washing up and clearing took us to 2pm and time for bed. At this point it was like someone flicked a switch because my nose starting streaming and the cold which has been brewing for several weeks, suddenly came out. Thank goodness it waited until after the party. Now I have to get rid of it before I go to Australia this Friday. I am dosing myself up like mad, believe me!

Well, I may have celebrated my 40th with a fab party but I'm not at that milestone until Friday.
I will make the most of my last few days as a 30-something. :(