Now that's a birthday party......

Went to a coworker/friend's Croning, last night. That was a fun birthday party. Much more than the birthday parties I remember from childhood. Mom used to try her darndest, I'll give her that. But I'm not a big party person. I hated the "who can pop their balloon first" game, and with the guests all being neighbourhood kids I didn't get along with anyway...... Naw, never been a party person. I'd rather have dinner out at a nice (incredible food) resteraunt with family (and maybe a couple of good friends), get dessert (creme brulee is my favorite birthday dessert, forget cake!), and a couple of well-thought-out gifts from loved ones.

Anyway, so my coworker turned 50, and threw herself a b-day party up at the Four Winds Foundation (a zen-ish, Alaskan-style, lodge-retreat & pagan-style "school"). A couple of her friends run the 4 Winds Foundation & teach classes there, and G. decided to have her party there. And there were only 8 of us, total. 20 people had been invited, only 8 showed up. We sat around for a bit playing the "postcard game": diving with postcards. We'd ask a question pertinent to our lives, and pick up to 4 post cards to clue us in to what the answer was to our question. My mom would appreciate that 1 of my questions was "What is in store for me this summer?" and the answering card was this perfect crescent deserted island that belongs to the Hawaiian islands. Evidently it's a fantastic snorkeling destination. Close to Molokai, I think. Anyway, when it became apparent that nobody else was coming, we had supper, which consisted of a kick-ass greens/avacado/purple cabbage/cucumber salad, tossed with fresh-squeezed lemon then "Green Goddess" dressing. Fabulous. And we had artisian rye bread spread with cheese. And home-made Ginger beer. Which I didn't like, to tell you the truth. Me and my unsophisticated tastes found it MUCH too malty. Very heavy. Maybe good in a meatloaf, but not something I could take more than a couple of sips of. UGH!!!!! LOL The birthday cake was a kick-butt carrot cake, made by another one of G's friends.

After dinner and some talk about movies & favorite strong actresses & hot actors, and some feminist talk & laughter about life & womanhood, we did the croning ceremony. We blessed a poppet that had been picked to represent G. Then we blessed her Red Hat. Then she had us pick out some pins (the sort with sassy feminist or pagan sayings) to decorate her hat with. And she opened the couple of gifts that folks had bought. Then I and 3 of my coworkers had to take off, because the other 3 had to work this morning. But, it wound up being a bunch of women, sitting around on the floor, and at the table eatting, laughing, sharing stories & just gabbing. What fun!!!!!! I want a birthday party like that!!!!! Without guys, without kids. DH and DD can take me out to dinner, but a birthday party with just a couple of close girlfriends sitting around & gabbing and having a blast & good food together. That's what a birthday party should be like.

And then today is kinda drizzly & sunny by turns. A great "stay at home" day. Not going garage-saling today. Might make up a batch of Navajo Fry bread (sourdough style) later. But just being lazy today. Of course Tay's going nuts because it's drizzly, and all her friends are busy for the weekend. Ah well.... That child needs to learn to kick back & chill. LOL

Have a Blessed Weekend!!!!!