SURPRISE!

Spring pulled off the often impossible. A big surprise party. At least twenty people made it to Spring and Tao's before he got home and waited in the upstairs bedroom. Then Spring fed him some line about a broken pipe in the upstairs bathroom. He came up to check it out and there we were. Ha ha! Another dozen or so arrived a bit late and were surprised by the birthday boy himself, who took great pleasure in meeting them at the door and returning the favor.
Tao is the last to join the ranks of the 30 year olds and we are, to say the least, relieved.
Spring's Mom, who's visiting, made some dishes. Supplemented by S & T's favorite Chinese takeout (the chicken was fucking amazing!) And, of coarse, pizza and chips and beer and soda (Nathan went crazy with the coke (a-cola.))
Joan, maker of desert, brought three cakes. The half the sugar one was good, but it really didn't stand a chance against the one with frosting. That's never gonna be a fair fight.
I am, as many of you know, extremely cliquish so I didn't talk to anyone I didn't know unless tactically unable to avoid them. I would preferably hear Steve spew the same climbing beta a hundred times then subject myself to the chatter of an unknown individual. "Rather to bear those ills we have than to fly to others we know not of."