A Day of Sweet Surprises
Wednesday, October 19, 2011 at 04:57PM Yesterday was a sweet day for me. As I arrived at work in the morning, I was greeted at the door by 50 employees, all wearing numbers around their neck, wishing me a happy birthday. Totally unexpected but such a pleasant surprise!
And, unbeknownst to me, the surprises were just beginning.
We had a corporate team meeting in the morning, and several times during the meeting we were interrupted by groups of 50 employees, each group different from the one before and each individual wearing a number, delivering some sort of birthday greeting. The members of one group handed me one flower each, for a total of 50 flowers.
Another group handed me one balloon each, for a total of 50 balloons. Yet another group all gathered quietly behind me while I was working with other CT members at the white board, blissfully unaware of what was happening. When I turned around, they were all there, holding signs and bursting into birthday cheers.
And in case you think Kanab was left out. . . oh, no! Our Kanab employees had handwritten birthday notes on papers that were arranged in the number “50” on my office door!
Finally, at the end of the meeting, we took what Rich called a “field trip” to check something out downstairs. As we stepped out of the elevator, I was greeted by all our Stampin’ Up! employees, enthusiastically singing “Happy Birthday,” accompanied by our own Greg Pitt on the piano.
I was so touched as I looked around at the hundreds of employees and my family, all singing and wishing me a happy birthday!
In addition, there were several baskets of hand-stamped cards from employees and demonstrators around the world (I’ll have fun reading those in the days ahead!).
Our special events team had arranged for treats—some of my favorite treats, of course. There were Double-Stuff Oreos (once you’ve tried Double-Stuff can you ever go back to the original ones?), black and red licorice, Baby Ruth, Butterfingers, macaroons, and gelato! I thought I had died and gone to heaven!
And not just because I was surrounded by all my favorite treats, but because I was surrounded by some of my favorite people. (Even most of our girls were there!)
I got to chat with employees and share hugs, and several employees mentioned that they never would have guessed I was 50. I replied that they were my best friends forever!
This really has been an amazing birthday—the birthday that never ends! Usually I lay kind of low on my birthdays, and don’t do much celebrating. But this milestone birthday has certainly been pleasantly different, with celebrations happening with family, friends, demonstrators, employees. . . everywhere I’ve gone, I’ve felt appreciated and celebrated!
Last night, after I got home toting the flowers and balloons (you should have seen me try to get all of those into my car!) and goodies, Sterling took one look at everything and said, “You know, Shelli, there are a lot of people who love you!”
And that’s exactly how I felt. Thank you all for your sweet birthday wishes. . . I love you too!
Reader Comments (32)
Also, I was thrilled to see this blog post, all day I was checking and waiting to see it. :)
Happy Birthday!
Love,
Di
So glad you had a wonderful birthday Shelli. If anyone deserves it, it's you!! Thanks for sharing it. It's always wonderful to see and hear what's happening in your world as it makes me feel like a real part of the famliy.
Josie