My birthday is next Tuesday, so Fred has planned a small party for me this Saturday evening. We'd asked just about everybody, although turned out that all the girls (Barbara, Lynne and Jeffie) were gone or otherwise occupied, and Tom's partner John was away on a trip for MADD. So, the attendees were (left to right in the inset picture at the left) Larry, Tom, myself, Denny, Lou, Jay, and Ron. We did have one other attendee, but he had to leave early before our group pictures were taken, and so here is a separate picture of him and myself. (His name and face have been temporarily obscured at his request.)

Before dinner, as we waited for everyone to arrive, my friends had an opportunity to have something to drink and catch up with each other. First to arrive were Ron and Jay, probably our closest friends here in town (although they live up in Plano). We spend a lot of time with them; they are always fun to be around. Next to arrive were our friend and Lou; Lou is a program analyst with the IRS and is a frequent movie parter with us on weekends.

Once everyone had arrived (you'll see the rest of the guests in a minute) and had a chance to relax for a while and get caught up, I got the meal ready. Although "it's my party" I am usually the one who fixes the meal, although Fred does his part by buying everything and doing bread and usually a dessert. This evening, I am having two main dishes- a vegetarian lasagna dish that I buy at Sam's Club (which is really excellent) and Swedish meatballs that I make myself. We are also having salad and vegetables. Usually, I just lay everything out in the kitchen; since I don't have a dining table big enough to seat everyone, it's easier if everyone just fixes their own meal directly from the stovetop and then takes a seat where they will.

Fred took quite a few pictures of the "meal assembly process," but due to the nature of the beast a lot of the folks in the pictures are seen from the back. No matter, the pictures are interesting anyway. I have put thumbnails for a representative sample of these pictures below. To see the full-size images, just click on those thumbnails:

(Click on Thumbnails to View)

Everyone got a chance to sit down an eat, both the group eating in the kitchen (which was myself, our friend and Lou, with Fred taking the picture) and the group that was eating in the dining room (that group being Larry, Denny, Tom, Ron and Jay). I guess the food was OK; we ran out of pretty much everything.

After dinner, it was time for birthday cake- the usual Black Forest cake that everyone seems to like. Here are myself, Denny and Lou as I am getting ready to cut the cake, with two other attendees ( Tom and my cat, Chip, who'd been wandering around throughout the party). We then all had cake while I opened birthday cards.

Fred did take one more group picture that was really good and I want to include here.

The birthday party was a lot of fun and I think everyone enjoyed themselves. We have a good crew of friends, and it is always a pleasure to see them.

	November 25, 2004: Thanksgiving at My House
	November 12-16, 2004: A Trip to Palm Springs with Greg
	Return to Index for 2004