this last saturday, we threw a surprise 90th birthday party for my grandmother. by me, we were successful on all counts-- she was surprised to have the party, she was surprised how many people showed up (about 50!), and she was surprised that her two best friends from up north showed up. the three of them are not in the best of health, and there's now a four hour drive in between them, and they're all about 90. so she wasn't expecting to ever get to see them again. but there they were!

so, she cried, which is good. i mean, cried because she was happy.

there was a sizable lindberg lady presence; her sisters were there, the milwaukee descendents were there, lots of relatives from the minneapolis area, a few from the building she lives in now... just lots of people.

some recommendations: the drovers hotel was really good to us. the food was expensive, but hotel catering always is, and the executive chef came out and talked to us about serving times and when we needed things and made sure it all happened right. plus, the food was great! the room was nice, we got to decorate it some, and the front desk gave us more chairs when we asked. a. johnson florist on grand avenue in st. paul got the flowers just perfect from my frazzled description.

anyhow. happy birthday, grandma!