Happy Birthday Mark!
Monday is undeniably the most unnappealing day of the week and yet today, i am savouring it. my couch is topped with a blanket, a sleeping Primo Dog and several books within arm’s reach. i awoke to coffee already made and ready to be sipped in front of my office window. what a lovely day!
today is Mark’s birthday and to celebrate we are going to stay in and relax after a weekend of high activity. it all began on Friday with the arrival of two of his best friends from New Orleans and Detroit. unbeknownst to Mark we had been planning several surprises for weeks and the day had finally arrived. i drove him to work and pretended to head off to work as normal. instead, i headed for the airport and picked up our friends Dick and Larry (names have been changed to protect the innocent). it was wonderful to see them after what had been a span of perhaps 5-6 years since we had seen them last. we had been turning over didn’t options for maximum surprise and decided on dropping them off at a flower shop and at a bar in our neighborhood. i picked Mark up from work as normal and we ran errands as usual. at the flower shop, Dick came out holding a bouquet of flowers. we then decided to stop by The Viking Tavern for a quick drink to catch up. once there, Larry came up from behind the owner and surprised mark again.
you can imagine Mark was overwhelmed by the sudden arrival of his friends. we had a lovely (but long dinner) at the People’s Pub of catching up on our lives and reminiscing on old times. the next day we looked at a house (no luck) and headed downtown for a delicious lunch at Matt’s In The Market. while seated at the bar in the small restaurant chatting with my friends and with Matt, i couldn’t help thinking that there are few things better than good food enjoyed with good friends. that evening we headed out for drinks and a nice dinner … or so Mark thought. i feigned the need to drop off a key for M at her house. and instead of a quick visit, he was greeted with a surprise party and all of our Seattle friends!
it was a lovely and busy weekend. we haven’t laughed so much and many months. thanks to Dick and Larry for coming out to visit and leaving girlfriend and Bunnygirl behind for a weekend. thanks to our wonderful and generous friends M and T for hosting a perfect party! it was incredibly difficult to keep all of the planning secret from Mark for all of us, but especially for me. i share everything with him and it was hard not to be able to when i was practically bursting at the seams with information. thankfully, no one spilled the beans. (oh and Heather, if you are reading this, don’t worry. he didn’t think twice of your query at dinner.) thanks to all of of our friends for joining us in the surprise.
and of course, thanks to Mark for being … well … Mark.
