A Very Special Artful Birthday

We now return you to our regularly scheduled program . . .catching you all up on the excitement that is my life.

When last we left off , I had just returned to Chicago from a visit with my parents. Work was to start that Tuesday after Labor Day. I had a restful Labor Day weekend in order to gear up for the long week ahead. I was worried about so many things (passing the bar, starting my real work, etc.) but at least I had a belated birthday dinner with PAG and Xander to look forward to. Xander and PAG, in addition to being friends of Daisy, are friends of mine as well (funny how that works). Xander is, in fact, one of my very best friends. Since the bar, where we were in the same classroom for the review courses for most of the summer, we had not hung out as guy friends should. He and PAG were traveling a bit, and whenever they were in town, I was out of town. Finally, PAG (being the scheduling maven that she is), tied down a date where all three of us could go to dinner. I suggested a quaint Italian restaurant near my own place, and PAG and Xander agreed. PAG then took it upon herself to change the venue. I understood; after all, PAG has EXCELLENT taste in restaurants, and when she informed me that we were still going to have Italian food, I was happy. The only problem was that the day of our dinner, she was going to be in class, so Xander and I were stuck with nothing to do until PAG got out of work. We decided to go down to Rock Bottom and sample a few of their fall microbrews while waiting for PAG to get out of her class. Finally, at 7:30, Xander received PAG's text that she was on her way and that we should get to the restaurant.

So we walked the 2 blocks to the restaurant. It was good to speak with Xander after so long. We walked into the restaurant, and Xander gave the hostess PAG's name. She was already here! As Xander took the lead, I started looking around for a short red head seated at one of the tables. I turned around to look for Xander, and he had stepped off to the side. "Huh", I thought. "where's he go?"


"SURPRISE!!!!!"

I was stunned. There, off to the side in a private dining room, was PAG, but she was not alone. She was surrounded by some of my very best friends in the world. Hey, there's Smart Hottie! There's Daisy and the Wayward Esquire! Eddie! All in all, 13 friends in all gathered on a weeknight for me (for me!!) to celebrate my birthday. I was stunned. I was overcome with emotion. No one had ever done anything like this for me EVER. PAG was so happy to have pulled off the PERFECT SURPRISE. I was none the wiser. Everyone was there for me. I still cannot believe this. Over wine and some of the best gourmet pizza I have ever tasted, we laughed, talked and socialized for a few hours. For one small moment in time, the rest of the world and my worries melted away, and I could enjoy the company of my best friends.

Thank you, PAG. I will never forget this nor will I forget PAGMom's gift of a "justice scales" paperweight and a congratulatory card that plays the theme to "Law and Order". Wow. Just wow.

Next up-did I pass the bar? Tune in to find out.