Forty is Fabulous!

I turned 40 on Sunday, and had a huge party. It was awesome! The party was in honor of the 1969 Club - eight of us friends who turned (or will turn) 40 this year. The weather was great, and 78 people and 7 dogs were celebrating all afternoon and evening (many thanks to Jen-Mom for the photos I've included below!).

We decorated in hippie style, with "street signs" that were at Woodstock (such as "Gentle Path" and "Peaceful Way"). In the morning, while we were getting ready, we played the Director's Cut of the Woodstock documentary. Then we put on a playlist featuring songs from 1969, which we broadcast throughout the back yard.

People brought a wide variety of delicious food, from cherries to salads to chocolate cake and apple crisp. We had some rum punch that was delightfully tropical, and Dryst made a non-alcoholic punch for the kids.

The day before the party, a friend helped me dye my hair purple. It actually turned out more blue than purple, but with a cool stripey pattern. My parents nearly had me falling down laughing when they showed up in hats, said that they always heard you should learn from your children, and whipped off the hats to reveal bright neon spray-on hair color! Dad's was, of course, hunter orange!


As always, the tribe of kids ran around having their own day of fun: biking, football in the field, swinging, and games of musical chairs, among other things. There was face painting, hula hooping, and "hug coupons." The mostly-unschooled crowd of kids all got along great, the older ones keeping an eye on the younglings.

Quester's band Freakwitch, or rather part of it, played, with a couple of musical friends sitting in for the missing members. People danced and hula-hooped to the music. I got asked to drum along, and BlackLion and Mom soon joined in too.

We had a Talent Show, with many acts: songs, stories, dancing, burping the alphabet, and a skit that I wrote with BlackLion and LM (we call ourselves the Sabbatical Players). Raven, Dryst and Quester joined us to perform "It's a Peaceful Life, Man."

After dark (and a break for cake and ice cream) we sat around the fire for more drumming and dancing. It was an amazing and fun party, and I'm so thankful to have such wonderful family and friends. What a fantastic community! Thanks everyone!