I'm Going To Disney World!!!!!
(I'm not actually, just needed a catchy title!)
Remember the guy a few years back who (I THINK!) won a Super Bowl and when asked what he was going to do next, he replied, "I'm Going To Disney World"
Well, I feel like that guy right now. 'Cept I need a week long NAP before I try it! LOL
With the help of my darling children and some very, VERY precious friends, I pulled off the impossible today. We threw my husband a 50th birthday party and managed to COMPLETELY and TOTALLY surprise him. It was MY Super Bowl Victory!!
To any and all who know Mike one little whit -- they know this was NOT an easy task. I have been more deceitful and duplicitous in the last two weeks than at any time since I was a sophomore skipping Coach Murray's Gym Class. (Of course, anyone who went to BHS knows Coach Murry never showed up for that class EITHER!) LOL
To set the stage for those who DON'T have the pleasure of knowing Mike, this next bit will make him sound like a suspicious or maybe controlling person. Rest assured, he's really neither. But his small talk is just often peppered with "Who? What? When? Where? Why?" He can be annoyingly inquisitive at times. But he's much sharper than Inspector Clouseau and much better looking than any incarnation of Hercule Poirot, so we try to tolerate it all good-naturedly.
Ergo, the last two weeks have consisted of me and the kids planning, inviting, shopping, cooking, all the while plotting hiding, sneaking -- We could give Al Qaeda some lessons!
Remember the guy a few years back who (I THINK!) won a Super Bowl and when asked what he was going to do next, he replied, "I'm Going To Disney World"
Well, I feel like that guy right now. 'Cept I need a week long NAP before I try it! LOL
With the help of my darling children and some very, VERY precious friends, I pulled off the impossible today. We threw my husband a 50th birthday party and managed to COMPLETELY and TOTALLY surprise him. It was MY Super Bowl Victory!!
To any and all who know Mike one little whit -- they know this was NOT an easy task. I have been more deceitful and duplicitous in the last two weeks than at any time since I was a sophomore skipping Coach Murray's Gym Class. (Of course, anyone who went to BHS knows Coach Murry never showed up for that class EITHER!) LOL
To set the stage for those who DON'T have the pleasure of knowing Mike, this next bit will make him sound like a suspicious or maybe controlling person. Rest assured, he's really neither. But his small talk is just often peppered with "Who? What? When? Where? Why?" He can be annoyingly inquisitive at times. But he's much sharper than Inspector Clouseau and much better looking than any incarnation of Hercule Poirot, so we try to tolerate it all good-naturedly.
Ergo, the last two weeks have consisted of me and the kids planning, inviting, shopping, cooking, all the while plotting hiding, sneaking -- We could give Al Qaeda some lessons!
We/I could leave NO paper trail. Switching monies and dusting off credit cards -- just in case he looked at the bank account online. Stashing food in neighbors and friends refrigerators. Assigning jobs to anyone who couldn't run from me fast enough!!! Oh, yeah...I earned my stripes on this maneuver.
Well, today was the day. It was all coming down. And I was pretty pumped it was all at hand. His Dad and brother had called to say they might pop down for the weekend -- without it raising any alarms with him. Our son and his darling girlfriend also came to town late last night, but he was unaware.
I got out of the house on the excuse of attending a Photography class -- and almost went! But decided I would be too distracted, so instead I grabbed a couple of the kids to meet me so we could go ahead and set up tables and decorate. Imagine our surprise when we arrived at the venue and found it fully decorated.....and with a Golden Oldies theme.....
for 140 guests from another party!!
Yep -- somehow the place had been double-booked for the evening.
Now, I wish I could say my reaction was a nonchalant "Not to panic..."
And I DID......
..........eventually say those words....
But only after I PANICKED -- BIG TIME!!!!
Well, today was the day. It was all coming down. And I was pretty pumped it was all at hand. His Dad and brother had called to say they might pop down for the weekend -- without it raising any alarms with him. Our son and his darling girlfriend also came to town late last night, but he was unaware.
I got out of the house on the excuse of attending a Photography class -- and almost went! But decided I would be too distracted, so instead I grabbed a couple of the kids to meet me so we could go ahead and set up tables and decorate. Imagine our surprise when we arrived at the venue and found it fully decorated.....and with a Golden Oldies theme.....
for 140 guests from another party!!
Yep -- somehow the place had been double-booked for the evening.
Now, I wish I could say my reaction was a nonchalant "Not to panic..."
And I DID......
..........eventually say those words....
But only after I PANICKED -- BIG TIME!!!!
Not only did I not know exactly WHO was coming to our party, but I had no way to let them know if we relocated to another address. No, we HAD to stick it out no matter how bad. (NOTE TO SELF: Never, EVER fail to RSVP ... ANYTHING.....EVER!!!)
We found that there was an upstairs area, complete with booth seating and an adorable 50's Diner decor!!!! (How cool is THAT!) that was perfectly suited for a party our size. So after a quick phone call or two to get permission to move ahead, we started getting it ready. And I sent out bulk text messages to let as many people as possible know about the slight alteration to the plan.
God is SO good to me. I'm such a "Mary" who gets caught up in the moment and has a hard time tending to the tasks at hand.....so He has put many, MANY "Martha's" in my circle of family and friends!! Its happened everywhere I've ever lived, so I know He did it just for me!! ;-) <>
(My friends know any invitation from Pam is most likely a WORKING invitation...in other words, don't offer to help unless you MEAN it, because duty assignments are forthcoming!)
So -- while all this FLURRY of activity is going on at the party site. Mr. Mike is AT HOME, with his Dad and little brother....just fussin' and fumin' because he is HONGRY. (That's slightly more cranky and irritable than just regular hungry.) He is calling me and my son, Phillip (who is supposedly getting his tires rotated!! LOL) wanting to know where we are and what is taking so long!! We had my son-in-law, Dominic, call Mike to invite all of us over for BBQ at 7:30. Melissa, my gestating little doll of a daughter-in-law, was our eyes and ears on the scene and was texting and calling to keep us appraised of his Threat Alert Status (he was mostly orange, but nearly went red a time or two.)
So -- right on cue, most everyone arrived just a few minutes ahead of 7 o'clock. Just as, back at home, Mike is herding PawPaw Woody, Mark and Melissa toward the car to head to Dominic and Michaela's house.
We found that there was an upstairs area, complete with booth seating and an adorable 50's Diner decor!!!! (How cool is THAT!) that was perfectly suited for a party our size. So after a quick phone call or two to get permission to move ahead, we started getting it ready. And I sent out bulk text messages to let as many people as possible know about the slight alteration to the plan.
God is SO good to me. I'm such a "Mary" who gets caught up in the moment and has a hard time tending to the tasks at hand.....so He has put many, MANY "Martha's" in my circle of family and friends!! Its happened everywhere I've ever lived, so I know He did it just for me!! ;-) <
(My friends know any invitation from Pam is most likely a WORKING invitation...in other words, don't offer to help unless you MEAN it, because duty assignments are forthcoming!)
So -- while all this FLURRY of activity is going on at the party site. Mr. Mike is AT HOME, with his Dad and little brother....just fussin' and fumin' because he is HONGRY. (That's slightly more cranky and irritable than just regular hungry.) He is calling me and my son, Phillip (who is supposedly getting his tires rotated!! LOL) wanting to know where we are and what is taking so long!! We had my son-in-law, Dominic, call Mike to invite all of us over for BBQ at 7:30. Melissa, my gestating little doll of a daughter-in-law, was our eyes and ears on the scene and was texting and calling to keep us appraised of his Threat Alert Status (he was mostly orange, but nearly went red a time or two.)
So -- right on cue, most everyone arrived just a few minutes ahead of 7 o'clock. Just as, back at home, Mike is herding PawPaw Woody, Mark and Melissa toward the car to head to Dominic and Michaela's house.
Over the days I'd testing DOZENS of potential ideas for HOW to get him to the Family Life Center.....even getting others to attempt to help me get him there. Finally, I settled on a perfectly timed phone call telling him I had stopped by the FLC to help someone who was having a party and had locked my keys in the car!! (Frugal and practical man that I've been married to for nigh unto 30 years!! would NEVER suggest calling a locksmith. Especially since we only live a mile and a half away!)
"Honey? Hey, I'm up at the gym helping somebody and I locked my keys in the car and I need you to come let me in."
He said, "Well you better call TRIPLE "A", because I'm NOT coming up there!"
Me - frantic!! "No, you have to!"
"Well, I'm not coming!"
At this point I actually started to tear up -- thinking, 'it's all blown now, just don't embarrass me in front of everyone!' With nothing-to-lose-resolve I said, "Well, there's NO ONE at Michaela's house right now, so you might as well come up here! And come upstairs I need you to help me with something."
There. I just knew he'd have it ALL figured out by the time he arrived. But, I put my party face on and rushed to assure everyone that he was ON THE WAY and would arrive shortly. We gathered around the stairs and merrily waited.
A few minutes later my Bluetooth went off in my ear. "Hello?"
Mike: "Your car is open, do you need anything else before I leave?"
HE WASN'T EVEN GONNA COME INSIDE!!??!!
I whipped out the MOM-voice that I wouldn't normally use on him and said, "No! I NEED you to come upstairs RIGHT NOW!!!"
There was some muttering and breaking up on the phone line and I was calculating if I could make it down the stairs and drag him up by the collar faster with or without my shoes on when he finally hit the bottom step!! I've seen little boys sent to bed without supper not clomp up the stairs as insolently!!! Just as he hit the landing and turned, a resounding "SURPRISE" went off over his head and he was confused, stunned and utterly surprised to see an assortment of faces: family, neighbors, church friends, co-workers all peering over the railing at him.
WE GOT HIM!!!
He never saw it coming.
Looking back, now he can see a TON of little signs that should've clued him in, but it didn't register. One Pollyanna-ish friend pointed out that he might be slipping a little since he is aging so rapidly. LOL But I said, "Yeah, but that means I am aging too fast to be as creative and inventive as I used to be, too!!"
My cousin, Kenneth, offered him HOPE. Having just celebrated his 72nd birthday earlier this month, he assure Mike he could still do everything at 72 that he had been able to do at 50. Which -- he suggested -- just went to prove what horrible shape he'd been in at 50!!
"Honey? Hey, I'm up at the gym helping somebody and I locked my keys in the car and I need you to come let me in."
He said, "Well you better call TRIPLE "A", because I'm NOT coming up there!"
Me - frantic!! "No, you have to!"
"Well, I'm not coming!"
At this point I actually started to tear up -- thinking, 'it's all blown now, just don't embarrass me in front of everyone!' With nothing-to-lose-resolve I said, "Well, there's NO ONE at Michaela's house right now, so you might as well come up here! And come upstairs I need you to help me with something."
There. I just knew he'd have it ALL figured out by the time he arrived. But, I put my party face on and rushed to assure everyone that he was ON THE WAY and would arrive shortly. We gathered around the stairs and merrily waited.
A few minutes later my Bluetooth went off in my ear. "Hello?"
Mike: "Your car is open, do you need anything else before I leave?"
HE WASN'T EVEN GONNA COME INSIDE!!??!!
I whipped out the MOM-voice that I wouldn't normally use on him and said, "No! I NEED you to come upstairs RIGHT NOW!!!"
There was some muttering and breaking up on the phone line and I was calculating if I could make it down the stairs and drag him up by the collar faster with or without my shoes on when he finally hit the bottom step!! I've seen little boys sent to bed without supper not clomp up the stairs as insolently!!! Just as he hit the landing and turned, a resounding "SURPRISE" went off over his head and he was confused, stunned and utterly surprised to see an assortment of faces: family, neighbors, church friends, co-workers all peering over the railing at him.
WE GOT HIM!!!
He never saw it coming.
Looking back, now he can see a TON of little signs that should've clued him in, but it didn't register. One Pollyanna-ish friend pointed out that he might be slipping a little since he is aging so rapidly. LOL But I said, "Yeah, but that means I am aging too fast to be as creative and inventive as I used to be, too!!"
My cousin, Kenneth, offered him HOPE. Having just celebrated his 72nd birthday earlier this month, he assure Mike he could still do everything at 72 that he had been able to do at 50. Which -- he suggested -- just went to prove what horrible shape he'd been in at 50!!
We had our fun and laughs...OH! And the party downstairs....? They were perfectly sweet about us being so close AND -- get this! -- we got full benefit of their live DJ who was spinning the oldies from Big Band down to Cyndi Lauper!! How cool was that? Because music had been one thing that never entered my mind in all my party planning!
Okay -- so I'm finally winding down enough to consider falling asleep. Just wanted to blog this before I went to sleep. I'll try to add pictures in later. There were enough cameras present there should be some good ones. (BTW-if you were there and have some, please share!!)
And again.....to those who came and helped by working or just helped by making him feel loved. THANK YOU. It made me and my kids proud to see how special OUR Special Guy is to all of you. We love you for it. And for those who missed it....?
Well. You missed it.
Bubba asked me "What are you going to do for his 60th?"
I said, quite sincerely -- "NOT A THING!!!"
(Oh, and when they wondered what they would do for MY 50th, I said, after the stress of this week -- we'll be lucky if I make it that many more years!! LOL)
Pam
P.S. Put your fingers back in your pocket -- I'll be there in 3.5 years! ;-)
Okay -- so I'm finally winding down enough to consider falling asleep. Just wanted to blog this before I went to sleep. I'll try to add pictures in later. There were enough cameras present there should be some good ones. (BTW-if you were there and have some, please share!!)
And again.....to those who came and helped by working or just helped by making him feel loved. THANK YOU. It made me and my kids proud to see how special OUR Special Guy is to all of you. We love you for it. And for those who missed it....?
Well. You missed it.
Bubba asked me "What are you going to do for his 60th?"
I said, quite sincerely -- "NOT A THING!!!"
(Oh, and when they wondered what they would do for MY 50th, I said, after the stress of this week -- we'll be lucky if I make it that many more years!! LOL)
Pam
P.S. Put your fingers back in your pocket -- I'll be there in 3.5 years! ;-)
Comments
Armymom :)
I wish I could have been there!:(
I would have watched that sweet, little two year old for ya'll.
I'm glad through it all, it ended up being a surprise!
Love to the fam!
The "other" Pam