You Totally Should've Been There

Of course, I'm referring to the most awesome birthday party ever.

As I mentioned earlier this week, I turned 33 on Wednesday. The middle of the work week isn't exactly convenient for throwing a party to celebrate one's birthday. So the celebration was postponed until Friday, yesterday. And it was so worth it.

The evening began with dinner at Macado's. It's a place that's casual and laid-back and has managed to remain my favorite restaurant for years. If you have one near you, I highly recommend visiting someday soon. There are literally dozens of different sandwiches to choose from on the menu, along with a number of other entrees. Personally, I tend to get the same thing every time, a Stogie on Kaiser roll. The Julius Caesar and the Babe Ruth are also good.

We were seated at the back of the restaurant, where there would be plenty of room for a large party of 12. Part of the charm of Macado's is the random decoration all over the place. It's as if the owners just did a random search on eBay for the most random crap they could find. So when you're seated and you look around, you may see model airplanes, framed vintage comic books, old concert posters, street signs or even statues of super heroes.

Side note: When I put out the invitation on Facebook for this unbirthday party, I encouraged people to dress up as super heroes. Only a few took me up on that encouragement. We had a Flash, a Michaelangelo of TMNT fame, a SuperTeacher and a Clark Kent. Of course, I went with Superman. It's what I do.

Special thanks to Michaelangelo for sharing this photo.

Anyway, I sat in a booth without really paying attention to my surroundings. Turns out, directly behind me, standing above my head, was a statue of Clark Kent changing into Superman. I promise you, this was not planned. Obviously, the picture had to be taken. So I climbed up on the back of the booth and posed for the photo op.

Dinner itself included great conversation and lots of laughter. And if that had been all we had done, I'd have considered it a successful birthday party. Excuse me... unbirthday party.

But that wasn't the end of the night. After we had finished eating, we all headed over to a place called Adventure World. It's a place I'd never been before, but I chose it because they offered roller skating and laser tag. That's right. Laser tag.

So we spent a couple hours skating in circles, but took a break to shoot at each other with beams of light in a very dark room. It was all kinds of awesome. I haven't strapped on a laser tag vest since I was a teenager. I don't know why I don't do it more often. I mean, it helps that I was playing the game with a bunch of great people who have become great friends.

I feel like I should be honest about something. I was nervous about how last night would turn out. I've explained on this blog a number of times that I'm pretty introverted. So I have this perception of myself, that I have a great deal of difficulty making new friends and connecting with new people. Maybe this is a misconception. I'm not saying that I'm not an introvert. I'm just saying that maybe I've underestimated my ability to connect with new people. The reason I say that is because every person that came out last night was someone that I've known for less than a year. Most, I've only known for a couple months.

I had been hoping that some of my older friends from the Bluefield days had been able to come. But that just didn't work out. It was a little disappointing, but that's life. The thing is, I was hoping some of those folks would be able to come to serve as a buffer. It would give me a comfort zone. If my introversion caused me to feel awkward around my new friends, I could fall back on my old friends to get me through. As it turns out, I was nervous for nothing.

I had an amazing time with all these new people in my life. And I'm so very grateful to have them in my life now. I am incredibly blessed.

Bonus: I didn't fall while skating. Not even once.