"Okay, I'm
liking the
Moroccan wedding-style theme but I *know* that'll raise some
eyebrows. And yes the French Country buffet would also be
nice. But... I'm not sure. Oops, I have another call,
call ya back later." JenniAnn clicked the "flash" button on her
phone. "Hi this is JenniAnn. Yes I did order a cake. Right,
'Happy Birthday Andrew' in... did we decide on blue frosting for the
lettering? WHAT?!? No... no I did NOT! I
absolutely did not request that a girl dressed as Marilyn Monroe jump
out of the cake and sing 'Happy Birthday, Mr. President' to Andrew!
That's just... We're trying to celebrate his birthday, not
traumatize me or... err... him. Why are you laughing? Listen,
forget it. I'll bake the cake myself. Good bye!"
JenniAnn slammed the phone down on the receiver. "Breathe in...
breathe out... happy place... Happy place... Green meadows,
blue skies, Andrew... Ah! Am serious party-planner. No
day-dreaming! Right, invitations..."
JenniAnn
surveyed a stack of
sample envelopes and invites, selected a few with promise, and then
picked the phone up again to dial. "Hey yeah, this is JenniAnn, I
believe we spoke before. Listen I really like the blue granite
stationary but can we get that with silver Lucida Calligraphy print
instead of the gold? Really?? And the potpourri is set right into
the paper? Oooh... That sounds nice. Yes, I would
like to see some samples. Okay, yep be by around 3:00!" she
smiled as she hung up the phone but then surveyed her office which was
littered with centerpieces, china samples, and a large sign reading "56
days til Andrew's Birthday!!)
Just
then her friend and
co-president walked in...
JenniAnn
didn't realize that
Karen had been watching this mini tornado/chaos from the door way. She
shook her head and walked up to JenniAnn. She grabbed JenniAnn firmly
but
gently by both her arms.
"JenniAnn
take a slow deep
breath and let it out slowly. That's right. Now do it again. I think
you need to remember that this party is to celebrate Andrew's birthday.
He would not want you losing your mind over planning his party" Karen
backed up and looked at JenniAnn's face. She had this frantic glazed
look
in her eyes. Karen knew that JenniAnn was ready for one of her infamous
breakdowns. "JenniAnn, you know Andrew would want something comfortable
and cozy as far as a party goes. We only need to invite people from
Dyeland. Why not have a barbeque and we will cook the main meal, the
meat, and the rest of the people can bring a dish? I will help you with
the cake. Now what is Andrew's favorite cake?"
JenniAnn
replied, still a bit
frantic yet a little calmer. She even looked calmer. “Let’s do one
vanilla and one chocolate, keep every one happy.”
"Okay
now we know he loves
barbeque . What kind of meat does he like?"
“Let’s
just do a bit of
everything again. And of course we’ll have something for the
vegetarians. But you know, pork, beef, chicken. Just no turkey! For
Adam’s sake…” JenniAnn answered, still more calmly.
"This
is great JenniAnn. You
just wait and see… this will be a great party.” Karen reassured her
friend and they began tossing all the catering and professional
decorator brochures.
The
day of the party:
The
day of Andrew’s birthday
party came around. Karen and a couple helpers were out at the barbeque
pit with a whole pig, a side of beef, and 100 hotdogs. Inside
Willowveil, JenniAnn and others were tossing salads and putting
finishing
touches on the various side dishes they had brought. The cakes, one
vanilla and one chocolate, looked delicious and were waiting to
be taken outdoors covered in candles. They were carrying the dishes out
to the barbeque pit when suddenly Monica ran up.
“Andrew
and Tess are on their
way. They should be here in five minutes!” she exclaimed excitedly.
The
Dyelanders buzzed around,
piling presents on a table and then all gathered in front of it. Soon
Andrew and Tess came walking up. Andrew furrowed his brow.
“Hello
everyone… umm… am I
interrupting something?” he asked curiously.
JenniAnn
started giggling
nervously as Karen stepped forward.
“Andrew
we wanted to give you
a special birthday gift that no one else would give you. I decided to
share a special birthday song my mother always sang to my sister and
myself on our birthdays. It is medium tempo and it meant so much to us
and I hope it means a lot to you.” she explained smiling.
As
Andrew looked on the
assembled Dyelanders sang "Happy birthday. Happy birthday just for you.
May your day be gay and may your dreams come true. When you blow out
your candles one light stays aglow. That's the sunshine that you spread
where e'er you go" as Tess and even Monica joined in.
Andrew
was intensely moved by
this outpouring of affection. He was still rather stunned when a group
of them ushered him to the front of the buffet line. After eating, they
all gathered around as Andrew opened the gifts and cards.
“Wow,
you guys are just so…
I’m… you’re all just really great friends” he said before beginning.
“Well, let’s see first one’s from Bunny. ‘Dear Andrew I don't have any
money to spend for you on this your birthday, but I do hope you like my
gift to you. It is an unlimited supply of carrots for one year. Love
your loyal friend, Bunny.’ Aww, Bunny. Thank you. This means a lot.”
Next
came a package from JenniAnn. “‘Dear Andrew, I hope that you know just
how loved you are by
each of us gathered here now and so many others through out the worlds.
If you ever doubt it, just open this book. With love and friendship,
JenniAnn,’” he read. He then unwrapped the package and pulled out a
scrapbook filled with memories of his time both on Earth and in
Dyeland. Poems written by JenniAnn and others of his friends also
filled
the pages.
“This
is just… wow, this
means a lot. Whenever I’m away I’ll look at this and think of all of
you. Thank you so much,” he said smiling at a heavily blushing
JenniAnn.
He carefully set the book back down and turned to the next package.
‘“Hope
your birthday is
filled with lots of love and relaxation to get away from any screaming
people in the area. Maybe you will even get a break just that day from
being an AOD. You still look so young!:) Sincerely Jess.’” Andrew read
with a smile before reaching down to grab the included package. He
grimaced, it was heavier than he would have guessed! He tore the paper
and then laughed. “Ginger ale! Jess, you remembered my favorite! I’m
set for a good long time now! Actually I think I’ll have one right
now.” he smiled and opened a can, offering some to the others as well.
Monica
and Tess came forward
and each handed him packages and cards. He opened Monica’s first and
read “‘My dear friend I would like to wish you a wonderful birthday,
another year older. Where has the time gone? The Father is so
proud of you. I hope to see you again soon. I added with this
card a lovely batch of my new cappuccino cookies! Love Monica.’”
Andrew opened the proffered box and sampled one of the cookies, giving
Monica a thumbs up sign before finishing the cookie and directing his
attention to Tess’ gift.
“‘To
my Angel Boy, it’s a
pleasure to celebrate another birthday with you. It’s always a blessing
to spend time with you, baby, and it never seems like enough. If you
ever get lonely out there on assignment just pop this in and think of
how loved you are.’” Andrew read with misty eyes. He tore the paper off
the small package and then stared at the enclosed CD.
“I
recorded it just for you,
baby.” Tess smiled and hugged Andrew. Andrew beamed at all his gathered
friends and thanked them again.
Just
then a previously hidden
band walked out from behind a grove of trees and struck up with a
rousing Irish jig followed by all manner of dance songs. Everyone
danced and chatted and had a joyous time celebrating Andrew’s birthday.
Around
ten that night the
party drew to a close and the Dyelanders all returned to their homes.
Andrew hugged them each good bye and profusely thanked them for a
beautiful birthday party. When the last person had left, Andrew looked
up at the sky and thanked his Father for caring friends, the beauty of
nature that surrounded him, and for His unending love and support that
had got him to this very special birthday.
The
End
Okay,
we hope you enjoyed the
story and now we'd like you to find the following items from the story.
Here's the rules:
In
order to win the contest
you need to find the following items and send me the urls for them!
Here's the rules:
1. I
will only count *one*
url per item. So with ten items you should have at most 10 urls.
2. The
deadline for this is
September 26th.
3. In
the event of a tie
(i.e., more than one person finds all 10 items) there will be
tiebreakers in the form of trivia questions until we have a single
winner.
4. The
winner will be able to
pick a prize from our list or from our store. Please visit:
http://www.contests.onthisside.net/contest.html
for
more details.
5.
Please send only urls, not
attachments.
6.
Send your list of urls
(web addresses) to Jenni. Please also email
if
you have any questions about the contest. I will try to answer if I can
do so with out giving one person an advantage over others.
Now
here's what ya gotta find!
1. A
web page about the
Marilyn Monroe-JFK birthday bash
2. A
place to order custom
birthday cakes
3. A
website detailing some
sort of relaxation technique
4. A
barbeque recipe
5. A
page with some sort of
alternate birthday song lyrics or poem. (Other than the usual "Happy
birthday to you, happy birthay to you...")
6. A
page with a picture of
carrots
7. An
online scrapbooking
store
8. A
picture of Andrew at a
party
9. A
recipe for a dish you
would have brought to the party (if you're really set on sharing one
you can't find on a webpage, feel free to type it out and just send it
in the email, again no attachments please)
10. A
poem you might dedicate
to Andrew on the occasion of his birthday. (Again if you can't find an
url for a poem you want to share or if you're writing something
yourself, just send it as text in the email).
Numbers 9 and 10 will not be
judged on content (meaning I'm not "grading" poems. Any poem will do.)
JABB TOC
Newsletter 147