Day 19 - Biden says the pandemic is over

Surprise party for B. today…he turned 70…

10/8/22 - Saturday

B.s birthday was on 10/6/22. His daughter, J., went to great lengths to plan tonight’s surprise party. I’m in charge of transporting B. to the site.

10:00-10:30-I’m up, so I take the dog outside so she can go potty. Cheese for her; coffee for me. I report to my office.

10:30-12:30-I bullet journal and upload a blog post.

12:30-2:30-Shower. Spa day. Lotion and full make-up. I wear a dress today, in honor of the party, then finish packing for our overnight hotel stay.

2:30-3:30-I water my plants.

3:30-4:15-B. picks me up. We arrive at the Langham without incident and check into our hotel room. It’s …okay. For $1000 per night, it should be spectacular, but…it’s not. This is a basic, minimalist, hotel room, similar to a display that might be featured in an Ikea showroom. The saving grace are the heavily insulated walls. It’s like a tomb in here…no noise.

4:15-5:30-Per B.’s daughter’s instructions, I told B that he and I were scheduled for wine tasting at Crystalinos and would be taking a “Black Uber” to the restaurant. Dinner reservations, i.e., the surprise party, is at 6:00 so B. and I go downstairs to Taps Bar and have a few drinks with the $50 credit I received for booking this room, which means the room only retailed for $950 a night, BEFORE taxes and fees. A wedding is scheduled and the reception is happening at Taps while we’re there - it’s irritating, although the wedding guests seem nice. Ultimately, there are too many people in this bar.

We finish our drinks and return upstairs, where I use the Uber app L. loaded onto my phone to call black Uber. Horror of horrors!, I discover that my phone is almost dead which never happens. I charge it for the next 10 minutes. It’s not enough, but better than nothing.

5:30-6:00-Uber arrives and I text J. status updates [“I have the package."] as we approach the restaurant [“The eagle has landed.”]. Crystalinos is only about 8 minutes away but B. gets hung up on the direction the Uber driver is going and won’t stop questioning aloud, “Why are we going that way?” until the driver finally deposits us in front of the restaurant.

I tell the hostess we’re here for “wine tasting”, which is her cue that the birthday boy has arrived. She takes us to the back room and… SURPRISE!!! People clap as B. walks in the room, but it’s lackluster applause and everyone seems tired. As is my custom, I immediately retreat and try to blend in along the sides of the table - L. arrived first and saved a seat for me. Unfortunately, B. insists that I go to the head of the table and sit with him, so now I’m on display, too, which I can’t stand.

6:00-9:00-Dinner is good and B. works the room until, finally, everyone leaves. B. and I walk L. to her car, which is sitting in a scary parking garage. When B and I exit the parking garage, we’re turned around and can’t find the restaurant. We have to actually call his daughter for help, which is extremely embarrassing. J. and R. exit Crystalinos on foot, find us wandering around the sidewalk, lost, and guide us back to the restaurant.

9:00-10:30- Everyone leaves, but B. and I remain, talking to J. and R. Then, they drive us back to the Langham.

10:30-11:30-In general, I think B. likes surprise parties (he’s certainly had his fair share of them, according to the stories B. has told me over the years), but his response regarding this surprise party is lukewarm, in my opinion. Back in our hotel room, B. complains about the seating - the table was too big and everyone was spaced too far apart, making it difficult for him to talk to everyone without physically moving around the room. Although J. put a lot of work into planning the party - it took months on her end - B. didn’t seem that jazzed about it. The reader should note that I, personally, HATE surprise parties. I can’t think of anything worse than stepping into a huge gathering when you least expect it. What a nightmare!

11:30-12:30 - Well, whatever...the party’s over. B. and watch Forensic Files. Nighttime routine. Bed.