My birthday party

Last night I washed the dishes before I went to bed. Dad wanted to watch to see how it was done. Then he headed in the direction of bed, but I wondered if he would make it.
I found out later that he was up every hour because he drank water before going to bed.
The next morning, I got up at 9:30. I wished I had gotten up sooner since Faye and I were going shopping.
Dad and I ate some coconut oil. I made and ate breakfast and got dressed. I called Chris to come over at 12, but then when Faye was late, I decided to tell him 1 instead. I talked to Kurt for a bit.
Faye arrived. Kurt saw her first. I told Dad I was leaving and I went out to meet her. Kurt decided to come along because he wanted a ride to the mall to meet some friends.
Faye drove us to the mall. She wanted to buy coffee for Chris but the specialty coffee shop was gone. We stopped at two places for me to get a new band for my watch, but they were out of black 10mm bands. Then we went to Payless. I had worn out the shoes she bought me years ago and we found the same ones there. I preferred them in black, but the ones in blue and taupe were on sale. And everything was 30% off regardless. The size 8's fit with socks and the 7.5's fit with footies. So I deliberated back and forth. What I really needed was a 7.5 wide but they did not have that one. But there was a similar one... In the end, she bought me four pairs of shoes and I bought two more. I also found a scarf for her to buy for Michele.
Then we went to the bookstore where she found some coffee from Guatemala for Chris. Then we drove back to Dad's house. Chris was waiting. Faye went to Food Lion to pick up the birthday cake. Chris asked Dad to let him pay for half of the upcoming bill and had to insist strongly to get Dad to agree. Chris and I and Dad got in Chris' car and went to Kabuto. We found Al, Cecily, Marie and Michele waiting. Cecily gave me three pairs of earrings for my birthday plus a card. There was also a card from Marie and one from Michele.
Faye showed up with the cake and I guess the restaurant staff took it. When William and Karen came, we were shown to two tables with grills. Somehow we decided who would sit where. There were 13 of us so we needed two tables, 8 and 5. I handed lip balms to the people who hadn't gotten one yet.

The waitress took our orders, then brought soup and salad. The table of 5 got their chef first. And he was more of a showman than our chef who arrived a few minutes later. Maybe it was because they were working back to back. Kurt said he had never been to a traditional Japanese steakhouse before. I was glad we did get some show on his account. Dad had brought a can of soup, but did not need it. He ate the soup that came with the meal. The waitress made two cloth napkins into a bib using binder clips for him. He tried the salad, but could not eat it without dentures. I got most of it. Then he tried the grilled vegetables. At one point he started choking and Chris used the Heimlich maneuver. Dad had some trouble swallowing for awhile and we all were a little worried. But with attention from Faye and Chris, he worked it out. He ate his fish with no trouble.
When we were done eating, the waitress brought the cake with four candles in it. She lit the candles and went away. Chris started the singing of Happy Birthday and I blew the candles out. I cut the carrot cake and handed out pieces to whomever wanted. William and Karen gave me a large box to unwrap. I would never have guessed it contained fabric and quilt patterns.
Cecily, Al and Marie left first. Then Michele came with us back to Dad's house.
The Reber side of the family gathered in the living room. Patrick was there, too. Faye gave me a book called the Samuel Fox Diary. It was a very large book written by our second cousin, Yvonne K. Kimmel from papers she found in a chest that was given to her by a family member. Faye then gave Christmas gifts to Chris and Michele. Then I handed out the Christmas gifts I bought in China. We had a nice time talking amongst the lot of us.
Kurt brought up the subject of ice cream. When he got some takers, he went in the kitchen to dish it out. Dad wanted his vegetables blended so I did that and brought him a cup to eat while the others ate ice cream. I also gave out a few more pieces of cake. I watered some plants. Chris and Michele went back to the Damour's place. William and Karen went home. Faye and Kevin went home.
Dad wanted some more vegetable blend. I added some coconut oil to it so he would get full and not need to eat in the middle of the night. But he continued to eat after that. He had pineapple casserole and pumpkin bread. I sat down to write notes for my blog. We discussed the itinerary for tomorrow morning, getting ready for church. We also agreed that today had gone very well and everyone seemed to have a good time.
Dad stacked the dishwasher. I put together a Swanson's order to take advantage of the black Friday weekend deals. I did not submit it in case the 1-day only sale tomorrow is better.
I was tired and wanted to go to bed. But I knew Dad would probably be up puttering around for hours. Should I stay up and hope to be of help? Or go to bed and get the rest I need to be helpful tomorrow? I took my evening supplements and downloaded the pics in my camera. I deleted most of the blurry ones. Then I picked two and posted to my blog.