A (very late) birthday party

A rather manic day at work. It was my last day in the office until 4th September so I was trying to make sure that everything got done. The phone didn't stop ringing all day.
I had a nice lunch with my old friend Vic though.
When I got home from work, there was a big parcel from the US waiting for me. The custom label identified the item within as shirt. It had a hollister address and when I opened it, I found a hollister bag with the following note:

We have noticed that you have been a keen customer at the Hollister stores during your visits to the United States. We want you to know that we value your custom so would like to give you this small gift as a way of saying thanks and hope to see you again next time you are in the USA

Inside the bag was a long sleeved T shirt that my friend Netty and I got in a pub n Paris many years ago for drinking a number of beer bottles. Neither of us wanted the shirt and we kept putting it into each other's suitcase. For the past eight years, we have been dumping this shirt on each other in lots of different ways. The damn thing has even been to a fair number of countries. My brother wore it for my 40th birthday party ! It has been wrapped as a birthday/Christmas present on many occassions. However, this one was the best. I'm not sure how it got to the states so that it could be posted to me. I suspect that my husband has played a part as he is currently in New Orleans but the post mark is New Jersey. I don't think I'll be able to beat this one. Nice one Netty

Later on, I took daughter #2 and eleven of her friends to Red Peppers to celebrate her birthday (6 weeks later!). I sat on a separate table with two other mums and shared a carafe of pinot grigio blush.