SURPRISE PARTY!!!

When Stacy Creamer turned 39 last year, a vast conspiracy of friends launched a surprise party for her (see Stacy Creamer's Surprise 39th Birthday Party).  Obviously, this year, this subterfuge would not work as is.

On the morning of her fortieth birthday, Stacy was at the Corporate Challenge Championship.  While this is her first master race in a technical sense, if we count her exact hour of birth, she would not be a true master until a few minutes after finishing the race. 

• Photo D: When she returned to her apartment afterwards, she opened the door and found ... to her surprise ... a cheering crowd behind a finish line.  In this photo, she has her hands on hip as she shakes her head to say, "I can't believe you people would do this!"

• Photo E: Using the form that she has practiced many times (see photo and photo), Stacy broke the tape in her first true masters race.

• Photo F: When she got to the finish area (=her dining room), she found the standard fare of Gatorade, Powerbar and bananas, plus balloons, ribbons and a birthday cake.  Stacy has her mouth wide open in astonishment.  Her sister Colette is next to her.

• Photo G: When the birthday cake was brought over, it was discovered that the letters had in fact moved!

• Photo H: A quick bit of rearrangement led to this rather strange looking cake.

• Photo I: You might have noticed that there were quite a few balloons around.  Yes, a professional trombonist (Mark Birkey) from The Gutter Poets was brought in to perform the production routine.  He was good!