The Forty-Something Club

Last Thursday at exactly 24 hours after my lasik surgery (which I'll blog about in detail at a later date), I finally checked email. That's when I see a volley of emails that Goff was in town and the get-together was going to be Friday night (approx. 26 hours away). Woohoo, party time! It's been so long since my last party! I quickly send out emails to assemble all the usual suspects. After everyone RSVP'd, then I asked Chrissy to feed our 13 guests. You see, I ask her last so that way she can't say no. Smart huh?

Normally Chrissy prefers much more advance notice, but she understands that with Goff, you'll rarely get it. Goff would typically call and say, "Hey dude I'm in town, let's get together tomorrow night." I'll say, "No, I'm kinda busy, how about the next night or the night after?" He'll say, "Naw dude, I'm leaving the next day. I've been here all week already." And sure enough, he was leaving the next day.

In years past, we've always hung out at Dave's with Diana and Perry, so this year we decided to host since the house was still fairly clean from our previous parties. For many of them, this was their first visit to our house. Cez was especially excited to be invited. She said something like, "Wow, I feel so privileged! I can't believe we're finally going to be featured on your blog!!"

Jim had a great time too (because he's still childless – until June). We talked about the old days and I brought up the time he and I went cruising near MacArthur and Broadway and how we pulled over to talk to this street-walker and asked her directions to the nearest cash machine... Oh wait, Jim told me not to mention that. Oops sorry, my bad!

Our conversations started with my lasik surgery (everyone I talk to is fascinated), then the conversation lead to other ailments such as back pains, the graying/loss of hair, and then CPAP. I've never heard of CPAP before. It was weird hearing Jim talk about it because I originally thought it was that other pap procedure. Doh! Matt tells me that CPAP is a popular topic among his friends. I guess you don't really bring it up unless you know someone else that had it. Sorta like I have this coworker and this friend that both have UTI. Hmm, maybe I should have them both over for a lively discussion...

So with this particular mix of friends, our house got loud, really loud. So loud I couldn't even hear the kids. The decibel level was clearly higher than any other party we've hosted. Maybe because we were in the dining room where the sound bounces off the walls. Or maybe because we're all over 40 and losing our hearing so we need to yell. Either way there was just so much to talk about. It's obvious as we get older, we quickly build up a portfolio of health issues that we love to share.

At the end of the night, I think I actually started wishing people Happy New Year. This was the first joyous event of the new year for me. With a loving family, lifelong friendships, and 20/20 vision, 2008 is starting to look real good!

Photo Credit: It's so hard to entertain and take photos. So thanks to Matt for being our historian in capturing the moments. Since he's the young'n in our group, we had to give him something to do to keep him busy :)