Sometimes revenge can actually be rather kind. This time it was. In the same manner that I was surprised by a group of people at a restaurant for my last milestone birthday, organized by my daughter and a few co-conspirators, we did the exact same thing for Mr S-P. His birthday isn't for a few days, but not everyone can make it on a six-hour alcoholic tour of Boulder county on a weekday. Saturday had to do. Same daughter did most of the organizing from her home in SoCal, and she flew out and set up the long tables where we all started lunch. Our younger daughter was responsible for the cover story. "I have something going on for your actual birthday, so I want to take you out to lunch on Saturday." It wasn't a stretch to convince him when we suggested starting at the pub that has "Stout Month" every February. I had to meet clients at an open house this morning, and it was sheer luck that I ended up running just a few minutes late, so almost everyone who was joining us at the beginning of the tour was there by the time we arrived. Our foster daughter very nearly gave up the ruse a few weeks ago, saying something about "that brew tour for your dad" in his presence. I think he managed to forget about it enough to be surprised. It's not like he knew which day or what the full extent of the plan was.
We rented a party bus, erring on the side of being too big rather than too small. We had a couple of people who joined the tour partway through, and they drove their own cars. But this way we knew we were minimizing the risk of DUIs, so it was worth it. The first two locations were beer-related, one a pub and one a brewery. We didn't get enough time at the brewery, but encouraged the guys to buy cans that they were allowed to take on the bus. We had an appointment at 3 to get a tour of the Redstone Meadery in Boulder, which ended up being the highlight of the tour for me. Everything there was not only super delicious, it was also gluten free. I could have happily shoved over my entire savings from last year's earnings in that establishment and regretted nothing. We concluded the tour at a local distillery that makes several spirits, but appeared to specialize in rums. Their cinnamon "Fire" rum mixed with horchata was amazing. We stayed there longer than anywhere else, but eventually we retired to our house, where we sat and chatted and caught up with old friends, three of whom had never made it to the house in the almost three years we've been here.
Returning the favor of a surprise party, especially one that centered around something the Mr and his buddies thoroughly enjoy, should serve as a message that I still appreciate all they did to do the same for me. (Remember, mine was themed around a CU football game. How perfect.) It made me feel like a queen for a day, so I hope it gave the Mr the same king of the world feelings I had. His friends and family sure got in the spirit to celebrate with us.
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