60 Things

1. My dad turned 60 at the end of January!
2. My mom started plotting back in October for a surprise weekend to celebrate.
3. We flew in to Ohio on the Friday that Winter Storm Jonas was really picking up.
4. We met my brother at O’Hare and did some quick dancing in between flights.
   
5. I watched “Inside Out” on the plane and cried like a baby.
6. I sent Dad a picture of Tippy on a walk and said she was being a real pain on her leash today, when I was actually sitting on the runway. Sneaky, sneaky.
7. We arrived in Columbus without any issues, but had several family and friends whose travel plans were ruined because of the storm.#rude, Jonas.
8. My sister picked us up and we had a car dance party.
9. On Friday evenings, my parents can be found drinking wine at Hausfrau Haven, so that’s where they were when we landed.
10. We stopped at home to change and then headed over to Hausfrau.
11. Dad’s back was to the window, so Kalyn went in first since they were expecting her, and then we stared through the window like creepers until he turned around.
12. We got him good!
    
13. He was really, truly surprised and said the only thing he thought was weird that day was when Mom couldn’t stop watching the Jonas coverage (since she had children flying through the air and was nervous about canceled flights).
14. Mom breathed a sigh of relief and told him how long we’d been plotting. He was so surprised that we’d kept this quiet for so long. We are excellent liars!
15. Mom also “spilled” the rest of the weekend plans – the boys would be taking him to see a movie tomorrow while the girls got manis, and then we had reservations for a fancy birthday dinner at his favorite restaurant. He bought it and much wine drinking commenced.
16. Other friends showed up, and I finally got to meet baby Recie!!
    
17. When we finally stumbled home for dinner that night, we ate wings from Roosters and frozen Snickers bars from the freezer. So much for more veggies in January!
18. On Saturday morning, Kalyn and I went for a nice freezing cold run at Schiller Park.
19. Like total nerds, we wore our matching Lulu ponytail head-condoms and Ohio U sweatshirts.
    
20. We saw an elderly gent coming toward us on our run and when he saw our shirts, he joyfully said, “Hey, that’s my school!” We yelled back, “Go Bobcats!” and it was adorable.
21. We also saw many bird friends (LIE, BIRDS ARE NOT OUR FRIENDS) whose butts were frozen to the pond. Don’t feel sorry for them. They can’t swoop down and poo on us from above when their butts are stuck to the ice.
    
22. We did three laps around Schiller to make about 2.5 miles before our snot froze and we headed home.
23. Once home, we promptly went back out, heading next door to the delightful Brown Bag Delicatessen for lunch. Little did we know, we’d be back soon…
24. Everyone had a fairly lazy morning and afternoon until about 3, when Dad, Kris, and Larry left to see “The Revenant.”
25. THAT IS WHEN JUDY MCDONALD (already at a Level 9) TOOK IT TO A LEVEL 10.
26. The Ladies McDonald sprang into action, cleaning, moving furniture, setting up the bar, and making ourselves presentable before the caterers arrived at 5.
27. Bubs and I took a trip to the store to buy ice and beer. Shout out to our Boston friends with our Sam Winter Ale!
    
28. Then it was shower time. Clean bods, full hearts, can’t lose.
29. My college roomie Teresa arrived from Indianapolis around 5!! I hadn’t seen her in over a year and it was so great to have her in my arms, in person, for real. Our other roomie Alicia was supposed to come too, but she lives in West ByGod Virginia and Jonas was hitting her hard. Sad face.
30. We came downstairs around 5:15 to find Mom in the kitchen and asked if the caterers had already made their drop off. She said no but didn’t seem too worried – guests were arriving around 6 and she was sure they were on their way, so there would be plenty of time. We went back upstairs to finish getting ready.
31. Caterers still hadn’t arrived at 5:20, so she called to ask WTF.
32. She yelled from the bottom of the stairs and we came to the landing to hear her say…
33. “The caterers canceled our order.”
34. JUDY MCDONALD = LEVEL 11!!!!
    
35. Crisis mode activated. I was set to run back to Kroger for cheese trays and munchies, reasoning that we had a fully stocked bar, so really, who needs food for 50 when we’ve got drinks?
36. The caterers called back and said they could bring some things within the hour (luckily, they still had a chef there) but it wouldn’t be what we’d originally ordered. And they were set to arrive at about the same time as the guys would be returning. Eeek!
37. Mom sent us back to Brown Bag to see if they could make a few sandwich trays just in case, and luckily, they were. I was high on adrenaline and aggressively ordered 40 sandwiches cut into fourths. This, for future reference, is way too many.
38. Family and friends started to arrive and were greeted with, “Hello! Can I take your coats? Grab a drink! Nope, no food yet, caterers fucked up. Oh look, here’s some old cheese we found in the fridge, have that!”
39. Larry texted me that they were on their way back from the movie, and then texted again when they were blocks away. That is, of course, when the caterer pulled up.
40. Lucky for us, the boys didn’t notice the strange men carrying trays of food in the front door as they drove by.
41. Everyone got silent as the boys came in the back…
42. SURPRISE!
    
43. We got him again!
44. Teresa and I stole away to FaceTime with Alicia. Roomie reunion!
    
45. So many people were there and it was awesome to catch up with family and friends since we weren’t home for the holidays. But as it always goes, it seems like I didn’t spend enough time with anyone.
46. Including my wonderful grandparents! But they are coming to visit in less than two months (!!!), so we will have plenty of time to catch up then.
47. I spent most of the party running around refilling drinks (and my own!), which is a great way to visit with everyone. Eventually I settled in by the bar to hang out with “The Girls,” my parents’ awesome neighbors, and some other cousins who I rarely get to see.
48. My teenaged goddaughter (what? how? when did I get so old?!) discovered a copy of Eleanor and Park on the bookshelf and it made me so happy to see her sneak away to a closet to read it. A girl after my own heart!
49. I barely saw Larry throughout the evening but managed to snap a quick selfie toward the end of the party.
    
50. Toward the end of the night, the last folks standing gathered around the kitchen island to watch Dad open gifts and make judgments about those who weren’t there.
51. I snapped a truly terrifying pano of this crew. It’s kind of Picasso-like.
    
52. People gave my dad some very sweet gifts, including lottery tickets, sporty stuff, and even a flannel beer coozie.
53. Mom and Dad went to bed, and then it was really time to party.
54. Kris performed his sabering of a champagne bottle trick. Bubbly for everyone!
55. And then we all made the mistake of sitting on the most comfortable couch in the world. Soon, this was happening.
    
56. Teresa and I stayed up until 4am talking. We are so young and fun!
57. Alicia ended up making the long drive to visit the next day, missing Teresa by just a few hours! I am very lucky to have friends who make long drives to see me.
58. We stayed until Tuesday and really enjoyed the rest of our time in Ohio. A lot of it was spent eating leftover sandwiches and one bomb-ass birthday cake that Mom made for Dad.
59. We also finally met Mason, my parents’ friends’ pup who they often get to dog-sit. He’s so sweet!!
    
60. Happy birthday, Dad!!! We love you!