Bring a Towel

Last Saturday was Gary's birthday. He's 49 now. The good part is that he's not 50. There's just something about reaching that number which I'm sure will make him feel old. The best part about this birthday though was that I tried to plan something special and it worked out nicely. Now, I'm not usually very good at birthdays. Parties usually freak me out, I'm a wreck if there's more than 2 or 3 extra people for dinner. A busy season at work and the final six credits of my MA don't help either.

This time, I ordered his present (no surprise because he asked me specifically for a particular woodworking tool) as requested and planned ahead for it to be at the store on Saturday. In a last minute stroke of genius, I decided that the best present would really be to have some of his favorite people around. He recently had remarked that he missed his friend Chris from New York and that inspired me to call and invite the Youngs to come and visit. I was pleased with myself because I knew that we'd have a great time with Chris and also that they were the most likely friends who would be able to travel at the last minute. Chris is a contractor who makes his own hours and his wife Joanne is in school right now...taking a break from the working world.

On Friday, I arranged my day so I could leave the office early and try to get some cleaning done at home. Of course everyone saw right through me there, because its a well known fact that I only clean when people are coming over. I was able to keep the identity of the mystery guests secret though and Gary was suitably surprised. He thought it might be his sister Roz who was coming to visit. Roz often travels through Washington and manages to arrange to stop here, even if it's not a complete day. It was late though and other than a rather late trip to Wegmans, we didn't do anything Friday night. We were even too tired to play cards.

The big day, Saturday, arrived nice and sunny and not too hot. I planned a day on the boat since Chris also likes boats and Joanne and I go along for the ride easily. We got a reasonable start, and even got to have Jenny along with us but on the way to the marina traffic for one of the bridges over the Potomac is all backed up. [Alex was working at his new job...a story for another day...] In an effort to avoid the traffic, we ended up wandering through old town Alexandria , going the long way around to James Creek (and having to stop at CVS for tylenol). Oh, almost forgot - we had breakfast at Bob Evan's...something we hadn't done for quite a while!

Finally, we're at the marina, we unbutton the boat and head to the gas pumps. The price of filling up the boat is always shocking, but its a little better this week than last. I know that won't last though....but there's not much more time left to the boating season anyway. We leave the gas dock and start out toward the river. We're about 3/4 of the way to the main part of the Potomac, when a coast guard boat decides to power down a little past the appropriate buoy which means....you guessed it....big wave over the bow of our little boat. Jenny and Chris are soaked, Gary's standing behind the wheel, so he escapes except for wet feet, Joanne is protected by a seat, and I was looking for something near the glove box area and was able to minimize the amount of area which got completely drenched. Now would be a great time for towels wouldn't it? But of course, I have forgotten the towels for the boat. The reason for the oversight? They were getting washed at home. Why? Because the last time we were out here the same thing happened. Different boat made the big wave, but the result was the same. Somehow though when stuff goes home from the boat it has trouble making it back. Usually it takes at least twice before I remember everything.

Well, even though everyone was wet we all had a good time. We cruised down to the Occoquan, debated over ice cream or french fries and decided to try to get home in time to pick up Alex from work. We did, made supper (thanks Joanne for the help!), had birthday cake and played cards and drank till it was way past our bedtimes.

The best part was as Gary was falling asleep. He says to me, "best birthday in a really long time."

Too bad though that he had to go to Salt Lake City the next morning and Chris and Joanne had to go back to New York. We made plans to get together in January. My attic needs more insulation, and Gary needs a poker buddy.

Next time I'll be sure to remember the towels...I think.