It was going to be a long and interesting day, so I paid homage to my spiders before getting into the car and driving to this intersection but I was early so I bought something that came in this wrapper and looked like this or like this once the flash was redirected. I drove back to the intersection and entered this building where I spent most of the day in this conference room working.

When the day was done, I drove back home to find the gang assembled in my living room including Jane, Kaylen and Lucy who had caught a ride home with me. In the kitchen, Carolyn and Michael greeted me an offered me this glass of white wine to go with Michael's red that had come from this bottle they so kindly brought. Benjamin was happy to see me as the unfinished cheese and hors d'oeuvres came back to the kitchen. None of this seemed to have an impact on Jane/Lucy and Kaylen who were busy typing away. But it was dinner time.

The cake stood guard against people getting overstuffed ( not that this ever works ) with breads meats veggie lasagna salad and chopped vegetables all of which made the birthday girl happy as Steven went through the line and Adele and Suzanne discussed the meals that Michael and Chris might be having as Benjamin decided to chow down his meal. Chris posed for a picture with too much light another with bad angle and then the finale that brought people to their seats with plates that looked quite good especially when enhanced by the butler who spread the spread to Jan-boy's amusement as he assembled his plate which looked better sans flash though Carolyn wondered why my plate lacked color until we got some tomatoes to buffer the strong flash.

Suzanne admired Jane's school photos as Jane did a before and after comparison and the 3 of them posed together as dinner evolved to Steven and John's amusement and Carolyn and Adele's attention to the clean plate I made.

Jan-girl Suzanne and Michael admired the fruit platter especially as we added color and fruit started to disappear as the cheese appeared and the cookie plate was enhanced by strawberries as the Belgian chocolates made their way around the table.

Benjamin and I split this cookie into these 2 pieces as the girls got the cake together for the birthday celebration and Pam turned fire into smoke and began to cut so that my plate could be filled and then emptied as the presents appeared and the cards were opened so that all could read the warm greetings. The picture frame amused Chris and Jan-boy as Pam worked on and Steven turned to make a point and then he and John posed as the next card came by for all to see the Feng Shui candles that amused Jan-boy and Chris as the others relaxed after the big meal as Pam opened more and the candles got passed around for a closer look as Jane and Lucy headed for the computers and Kaylen did her grandma babushka imitation as Benjamin read his book and the chess set stood idle saying good bye to Jan and Jan as Michael tried to get Lucy going so that work on her present could continue though Kaylen had her chocolate milk and Benjamin his apple as the phone sat by and everyone tried to escape Jane's new faces