The Birthday That Almost Didn't Happen

My Birthday Boy

I don't know about anyone else, but this

has been one of the longest weekends ever and I am not talking about the time change.

 

Seriously glad it is Sunday today.

Yes, I still have meals to make, chores, laundry and get the fam bam ready for Monday, but compared to Saturday, this will be a breeze.

Let me elaborate....

 

My son's birthday was November 1st.

Unlike other years, I decided to do something completely different this year by hosting his birthday party at McDonalds instead of dealing with the fuss of doing it at home.

I was super stoked and two weeks before his party, I had went down to our local McDonalds and put our deposit down to hold the party room. I had reserved it for November 1st, from 1:30-3:00 pm.

The way I looked at it was, this is going to save so much time and money and stress.

For a little under $100, you get a decorated party room, your own party host, or hostess, 10 Happy Meals, 10 Goodie bags, 10 Ice Cream Cones, Balloons, and a Birthday Cake.

The kids can be loud, play hard and you don't have to worry about a thing.

 

SOUNDED GOOD UNTIL I ARRIVED

 

The kids and I showed up to McDonalds at 1pm (30mins until party time) to check in with manager and pay the balance of party costs.

 

As soon as we walked in, I noticed the party room was not decorated, and I went to the front counter to check in. I told the cashier I was here for the birthday party, she said she would get the manager. I watched her go in the back and speak to the manager. I saw Miss Managers face then turn white.

The cashier then came back and told me Miss Manager would be out in a few minutes.

I then knew something was wrong.

10 minutes go by, I'm still standing there waiting. I asked again to speak to the manager, I was then told she was getting everything ready. By this time, guests are starting to arrive and I am fuming, but still doing my best to maintain my composure.

It is now 1:30, most of my guests have arrived.

Finally at 1:40 Miss Manager comes out and tells me there was a few set backs, and they would be more then happy to give us an extra hour for the inconvenience.

I asked her what was the reason for the inconvenience?

I never got a straight answer. I asked her if they at least had the cake ready? I never got a straight answer. Now, remember I am hosting a party, I paid a deposit, my party room is not decorated, I have no host/hostess back helping me, I'm not sure if there is even a cake, I'm missing most of the party trying to discreetly handle this without my kids knowing anything is wrong, and you want to fix the situation by giving me an extra hour of free play time, that is basically already free.

Finally at about 2pm the manager brought out about 10 small plain balloons. She then asked if I would like to please come up to the counter and finish paying for the party?

"Party? What Party? "

As far as I knew, by this time, we were just a big group of people going to eat at McDonalds.

I had officially had it by now.

My so called party is already half over, and I missed half of that. I went to the counter and asked for my deposit back.

I was very surprised that they refunded my money without a hassle, but they knew they were in the wrong.

 

I then ordered 10 Happy Meals.

Luckily for me, we had also ordered an extra cake from our local grocery store just in case any of our guests had food allergies.

I took the Happy Meals back to the party, where the kids ate, sang Happy Birthday, had cake and opened presents.

We did all of that in the last 30 minutes.

 

My son and his friends did have a good time, even though it was pretty rushed in the end.

The cake that I brought from Raleys Supermarket was the absolutely best tasting cake I have ever had. I received so many compliments and it was decorated beautifully.

 

I was so relieved when it was over, it was a super stressful situation that left me with a terrible tension headache for the rest of the day.

I don't think we will be going back to that McDonalds for a long, long time...

 

Do you have any birthday party horror stories or even maybe a McDonalds horror story you would like to share?

 

 

 

 



WRITING DARK STORIES EBOOK REVIEW

I recently was lucky enough to read and review WRITING DARK STORIES

BY RAYNE HALL

This is an Ebook that is easily ordered from Amazon

I saw an advertisement this book and I knew I had to read it since I personally love to write and blog and because my daughter who is 12 also loves to write scary stories. I thought this would be an excellent book project that we could both read and work on together. 

Rayne Hall is an amazing author and not only that, she is also very knowledgeable when it comes to writing, storytelling and helping aspiring authors really say what they are feeling and putting that into words.

WRITING DARK STORIES is the 6th installment of her WRITING CRAFT BOOKS.

What I really found interesting about this book is that Hall clearly defines that everyone is different, and the suggestions she has written, are just that, you do not have to use her suggestions, or you can use a combination of them, 

I did a little research on what other reviewers of WRITING DARK STORIES had to say about this book, and a few of them upset me because they stated the book didn't give them good enough ideas or story lines, I don't want to go to into depth on that but I believe it is up to the author to make up their own stories, plots and characters. 

This is a writing technique book. It will help enrich your writing, not too restrict your writing. This book helps bring us out of the box, and add that extra spine tingling touch that us as writers want our readers to feel. After all, this is why we read and write dark stories isn't it?

I would like to first state that this is written in British English and I am a Californian who has never traveled overseas and I could follow it just fine!

I really could go on and on about the subject matter that Hall has shared in this book, but then you wouldn't need to purchase it, so instead I am just going to touch on some of our favorite and not so favorite parts.

My daughter and I both agreed one of our favorite chapters was Chapter 1. It is titled:

FEED YOUR FICTION WITH YOUR FEARS

It really helps started our creative process flowing and Hall really explains in it a way that easy for a teen to understand but also in depth enough for an experienced author.

At the end of every chapter Hall as an assignment for you to partake in, I was not expecting that as I have never read any of her other books, but we found it very helpful and encouraging.

My daughter and I also found Chapter 3 extremely interesting as there is a section titled PROMPTS that gives you some great coping skills for and tips for dealing with writers block.

Hall gives new meaning to horror genres as she covers topics like horror, splatter plunk, extreme horror, dystopian, and many more, Its like having your own dark glossary but with a fresh twist.

Chapter 6 is one I personally enjoyed as well as it teaches you how to write and acknowledge different characters point of view.

Chapter 8 & 9 were awesome and my daughters ultimate favorites as she could really relate.

In these chapters, Hall explains how to creatively write and give that anxiety type feel and also how to get visceral. Excellent advice!

I do have to admit that some of the ending how to chapters do feel a little redundant at times, but I do understand that Hall is trying to be as informative as possible.

Chapter 13, 

HOW TO END YOUR STORY

This has some very good advice and great points. The ending is supposed to be the climax and leave you wanting more.

I know of quite a few popular authors who could use this chapter. There has been so many times when I have been reading a good book and the ending is just a mess. it can ruin the whole book. Hall explains how not to do this.

WRITING DARK STORIES also help you understand your readers more and in the very end Hall also gives you examples of some of her copy written stories that when you read, you can now relate to what you have read and learned in WRITING DARK STORIES.

In closing I want to say that if you are an author or thinking of becoming an author of dark stories you may want to seriously considering purchasing this ebook. This is a book that will remain on our Kindle and be used throughout our writing career.

Author Rayne Hall's kitty Sulu.  Hall rescued Sulu from the shelter. 

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.