Some of you may have noticed, in the thread that Keith started earlier this week about when people were born, that the Mrs. chimed in with her birth year of 1956. Of course it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that this year she celebrates her 50th birthday. In fact, the official day is October 16th, the same day that Arthur celebrates his message board anniversary.
Anyway, I really wanted to do something special for my wife, and if possible, to make it a surprise. I am happy to report to you that I was able to do both, and in a relatively short period of time, less than a week. With the help of two good friends and the manager of the catering department at a local beach-front hotel, we had a surprise party for my lovely wife, with about 60 friends and family members in attendance, and she was truly shocked! 
I only wish some of you could have been there as well - we had a really wonderful time, and it was really fun to see my wife so surprised (and no, she didn't want to kill me!).
I took her out for lunch at the restaurant downstairs from the "event room" and we had a lovely view of the Santa Cruz main beach, wharf, and the Boardwalk. While we were having a nice little intimate lunch (something that doesn't happen often), the crowd was clandestinely gathering upstairs. When we finished eating, we were "exploring" the different views from the hotel. Then we went up one flight of stairs, and looked into one banquet room, which had been set up for a wedding reception. Then I casually said, "Let's see what's over here." (across the hall, in another banquet room). As I opened the door, she saw people in the room and hurriedly pushed the door shut, saying, "There are people in there, we can't just open the door and be looking in there!" and then I opened the door again and pushed her through, because all the people there had gathered in her honor 
, so of course it was OK for us be looking in there! As you might expect, everyone hollered "SURPRISE" and boy, was she surprised! My dear wife can get quite emotional, and I think it was all she could do to not be crying like crazy. It was truly great to have the plan come together so well, and everyone had a great time, too.
So you won't see her birthday come up on the board on Monday, October 16th, since it's my b-day linked to the user name, but now you know . . . the rest of the story :lol: !
Chester 
But She Did Nail me a Few Times in 50 Years of Marriage. 
