Surprise, surprise, surprise...

"The moments of happiness we enjoy take us by surprise. 

It is not that we seize them, but that they seize us."

- Ashley Montagu, British-American humanist (1905-1999)

So my wickedly clever and wonderfully devious wife leads me to believe we are throwing a surprise party for a friend of ours. It's going to be at our house, in our backyard, and we are having a huge New Orleans buffet feast: red beans & rice, andouille sausage gumbo, fried catfish, shrimp/bacon/cheese grits, seafood enchiladas, macaroni & cheese, strawberry cake, peach cobbler, and we hired a bartender to work the party too.

I'm up for it, sounds fun, etc. Then she tells me that I have to go to the airport and pick up our friend's brother. I grumble at this, whine a bit, but end up going out to the airport. I'm slowly cruising past the arrivals and I see this guy pointing at me and smiling. As he starts running towards me I realize it's an old friend from my Colorado days, who has lived in Tennessee since the early 90's. We still communicate fairly often, but I've only seen him once or twice in almost 15 years. My first thought is, "Wow, he must be out here for business - how random that I see him at the airport." Then he opens the door, throws his bag in the back, and climbs in. "Surprised to see me?" he laughs. I just stutter. "You'd better call your wife," he says. I just mumble, "What, uh, what?" I'm completely confused at this point. He laughs again, "Just call your wife."

Turns out the 'surprise party' is for me, for my 40th birthday. This is quite a surprise, since my birthday is at the end of December. Told you she was devious, and the weather out here in Seattle is much more conducive to parties in September than in December. We had 40 or so of our best friends, including my mother and a few old ones I hadn't seen in ages. Great food (my wife is an amazing cook), beautiful weather (upper 70's), great bartender, lots of mojitos, way too many shots of Jameson and Bushmills (not one for religious discrimination am I), numerous beers, the dogs and cat, the sweet sounds of Dr. John, Rebirth Brass Band, Big Sam, Professor Longhair, and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. We were all in our cups late into the night (early morning actually).

It was a blast. Wish my sister could have made it too, but she's on secret work detail for the government (very hush, hush!). She called and laughingly wished me an 'early' happy birthday. Good times...

KJT - Seattle (2008) Kaiser guarding the food, pre-dinner drinks as the sun sets...