Fourteen Months And Counting...

On April 7, 2010, Walker will celebrate his 64th birthday. This year for his birthday I bought us tickets to a concert that we both wanted to see in Kitchener. A Croatian Tamburitza ensemble is coming to town, and with my CNIB card, I was able to get one of the tickets free, so two of us can attend the concert for $38. We'll have to come up with bus fare, but I can get a discount on that too. Kitchener is only about 20 miles away, so it's never expensive to go there. Dinner will be a treat. There is a Serbian restaurant that we are just dying to try, and since we'll be in Kitchener anyway, we're going to eat there,

It occured to me that in 2011, Walker will be celebrating a significant birthday. He'll be turning 65! I thought he deserved a big party. The question that remained was how do we pull it off on a budget?

Then it hit me! We live right next door to the A.N.A.F (Army Navy Airforce club), and we could use their clubhouse as a venue. We asked the manager what the cost would be and he said nothing, provided our dues are paid up, and it's not a "private" party. Well of course it won't be a private party. We'll have friends and family of our own choosing of course, but we want the doors thrown wide open, so all the members can celebrate with us. We know them all, and they are all our friends, so if it were a private party, we'd invite them anyway. So why not just put a banner up or something, a few weeks before, letting members know what's going on, and to COME ON IN on the day of the party and celebrate with us?

I talked to my mother, and she suggested that we could save a lot of money by asking family members to bring finger foods. I happen to know that there are some little appetizer dishes that my mother, step-mother, and sister specialize in, and I have a whole freaking section devoted to those things, in the Danish cookbook I published back in 2005. Walker, who loves to cook, was on board with that idea, and wants to pitch in and make two or three things himself, from his favourite Russian cookbook. Why not? You know how the old song goes: "It's my party, and I'll cook if I want to." LOL My step-mother cooked on her wedding day (a very nice lakeside celebration at hers and Dad's cottage, it was beautiful!!!), so why not?

So that takes care of food right there, and I'll call our favourite bakery downtown, and get a cake that serves about 60-70 people. Since the food'll be free, we can splurge on the cake a bit.

The A.N.A.F holds monthly and bi-weekly dances over there, and they have a fantastic DJ whom we've come to know and really like. Perhaps we can get him!! There shoulnd't be a problem, there. That'll cost something, but we figure if we put $25 a month away for the next 14 months, that'll cover that. So the cake and the DJ will be the two biggest expenses.

I'm going too get creative and come up with some interesting party decorations, and little touches to make the day unique. i love doing stuff like that, and thanks to sites like Vista Print, I can design most of them myself. When we got married I designed everything from the invitations, to my dress, and my mother and I made the party favours. I will jump at any opportunity to be creative. Not to mention, with every dollar I spend, I'll get Airmiles. Vacation, here we come!!!

On Sunday I ordered a bunch of balloons to be delivered to a child in the family who is going to be a year old on the 18th, and we attended the Superbowl party at the A.N.A.F. The balloons got me thinking about creative things to do for birthdays, and the venue got me thinking of where to celebrate. The nice thing about 65 is that we have a little over a year to budget and plan for it, including invitations, R.S.V.P's from family, and all that jazz. I also know that all the stuff I'll be doing on Gather will pad the party budget a bit more (Thanks Gather!!).

So, can y'all tell that I'm excited about this idea? Walker's starting to get excited too!!! At first when I mentioned "party," he looked like he wanted to crowl under the rug, but then when I told him what I had in mind, he loved it, loved it, LOVED IT, and is now walking around asking "Am I 65 yet? Am I 65 yet?" What am I going to tell him in April of this year, when he's only 64? LOL

It's going to be awsome!!!