Overnight Ninja Party

So, on Saturday 8th, 2007, we celebrated Terianti's birthday with an Overnight Ninja Party! Only one person spent the whole night, but Miguel stayed until, like, 5am, so that was pretty darn close! =^--^=

Preparations started the evening before, when I stayed up until 2am doing the preliminary cooking. Here, I've taken some photos of the Shuriken Sugar Cookies that I made! I'm pretty proud of them. Not only do they actually look like shurikens (even though the mold was labeled as a "snowflake"), but they are really tasty! That's saying a lot, because I don't particularly like sugar cookies!

We also had some Chicken Satay (those were probably the most delicious part of the evening, and they were just supposed to be starters!), marinated in ginger, fish sauce, etc. . . . YUM! I will have to make these again! There was also Asian Pork Ribs with an orange sauce that came out really well, and then Teriyaki Noodles, which were a little intense, but tasty when fresh! There were too many leftover, though. Oops. :}

By request, Terinati had me make a dirt cake, on which there are ninjas defending their territory on the rocky hillside of doom and dismal torches against the fierce gummy worms! . . . It was surprisingly tasty, too! Hooray for my first dirt cake!

The party was a success, I think! 10 people, including Terianti and myself, crammed into our one-bedroom apartment, and we watched a video about a Bad Luck Dragon (hilarious!), but for the most part everyone had seen Ask A Ninja (very awesome, very funny), so we only watched a little of that. Aww. Terinati and I will have to watch the rest of it later.

We also found ramune, a popular Japanese soda, and had TONS of it. Shamefully, we have no pictures, but I think they have them on Wiki. VERY yummy! And, they have lychee flavor!

To save Adam from his puppy-like excitement, I conceded to letting Terinati open his gifts early, especially since the viewing finished much earlier than anticipated. Isn't my ninja wrapping job awesome? Thanks, MerchBot, for the awesome stickier-than-ever-before ninja tape! Very ninja-y! And, thanks to FlaxArt for the ninja-thick, black, wrapping paper. Perfect for concealing the surprise gift . . .

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the Wii surprise(Thanks, Dadoo, for being the biggest contributor! It really helped!)! Wrapping it individually worked out perfectly! Hooray! He was surprised, and touched, and much fun was had playing the Wii! The boys rocked out on Red Steel, among other games that Illuminique and her hubby brought over (there was a Wario game that was extremely silly, worth purchasing merely for the amount of giggles elicited alone! Thank you for sharing!), and of course, Wii Sports. I failed to take pictures because I was busy cooking, so I apologize. :( I really should have, but I was pretty beat too. I really have no excuse other than being exhausted and busy. :} But, those who were there can appreciate the sentiment, I'm sure! Also, thank you to the kitties, for keeping the secret with me so that I would not die. :}

Among the wonderful gifts, there were two special things for me. 1.) My dear friend, Kyriel, got to come and visit. Not only did she introduce me to the internet, but she brought my true love and I together. I can never thank her enough for this. 2.) Kyriel gave me my birthday gift early: a copy of Jack and the Beanstalk, the musical, on DVD. No, not just any copy, but the copy of the 1974 film that was released on HBO in the 1980's, when I saw it and recorded it on VHS . . . A VHS tape I had been lamenting the accidental destruction of for a couple of years now, because when I put it in a rewinding machine, it tore it at the beginning of the tape roll, and I thought I would never see my beloved film again. Not only is it a beautiful telling of the story, an anime before animes were anime, and full of childhood memories, but this film is my moral center. Everything I wanted to become growing up, everything that I stood firmly for, roots back to this film. I love it, and I actually cried when she presented it to me. I know, that probably sounds silly, but this movie is one of the rare treasures in my life. We watched it that morning, with Miguel, Kyriel, myself and Terinati, and it was even better than I had remembered, especially since the quality was greatly improved from a decades-old VHS recording that was pretty shabby to begin with.

In the past, if someone would have asked me what I would take with me if the apartment was on fire, I would have said, Terinati, Stardust, Tatsu, and then I wouldn't have known what else. This item would definitely come with me. Thank you, so much, Kyriel. Nothing is more special than a sentimental gift that shows that someone truly knows you, and that gift was that and more. I will never forget it, and I will cherish it forever.

Well, that's all of it! Thank you to everyone who made Terinati's birthday really shine and let him know how loved he is, even if you couldn't be there. I'm so happy that he has so many good friends! :) You are forbidden from changing! EV4R!

Back to the grind for me, now. Take care, everyone!