Todd is 40!!

I already know what is coming at me. Todd will be so mad I am posting this and putting up a picture. I am so in trouble, but it is such a big occasion, I couldn't skip over it. I mean, this is The Royer Report, a whole blog about us!

At the beginning of June, Todd turned the big 4-0. I spent months planning a big surprise party for him, but nothing really turned out as I planned. I guess in the end, a good time was had by all, so that made it worth the effort.

Party Planning - I called so many different places to reserve a room, but nothing was available or I couldn't get places to call me back. I finally reserved the back bar area at Yogi's, a local bar and grill, and ordered an appetizer buffet. They were so accommodating! I would completely recommend anyone who wants to host a casual party and not worry about having at your home. They were great to work with and even adjusted food to make my order smaller up to two days before the party. So great! They were also great when I arrived to great guests and put up a few decorations. I will be using them again for my future party needs.

Guest List - I invited about 80 of Todd's friends and family. A few were from out-of-state, so I knew not everyone would come, but I was disappointed that only about 25 people could come. I definitely wanted a big surprise bash, but I guess I picked a bad weekend. It was after the semester had ended and the same weekend as several local high school graduations. Oh well, those that came had a great time and like I said, Yogi's was great at changing the food orders up to the last minute.

Surprise Effect - So, everything was a complete surprise up to the last week. About a week before the party, Todd decided he was going to take a trip to do a dog hunting test with Murphy in Illinois. That would require him to leave right after work on Friday. Ack! The party was set to start at 5:30pm that Friday night. I tried to come up with all sorts of different suggestions, including leaving Friday morning and making up a fake party that we had been invited to and he needed to attend with me. Of course, he didn't really buy any of those schemes and kept his plans to leave after work. I finally had to tell him about the party. At least we didn't have to worry about our plan to actually get him there for the party (that was prearranged with a friend of his). His comment to me was that he was definitely surprised I had planned something for him and would have never guessed anything. Nice. Needless to say, I was bummed about having to tell him, but everyone at the party gave him a hard time about ruining the surprise so that made it a little better.

The Gifts - Lots of people got him great gag gifts and some useful things, too. He got lots of black and 40 balloons. We came home to a nice present on our front porch (see picture below), so he was happy about that. Of course, the gift I got him was a flop! I ordered a book for him on Chesapeake Bay Retrievers that is no longer in print. I search high and low for this book and finally found a copy on ebay that was listed in good condition. I paid for expedited shipping to get it here for his birthday and they failed to ship it until five days after I place my order and paid the extra money! I definitely was not happy, so they refunded my full shipping cost and sent it out. Well, the book arrived in horrible condition, two weeks after his birthday. I had to send it back and complain about the shape it was in - broken spine, stained back cover, torn front cover. Clearly not in good condition! But, I was able to find a better copy and order that, so I did redeem myself three weeks after his birthday.

The Cake - I did get us two pieces of cake from Blu Boy. We love their cake! So good!