SURPRISE!!!

I had decided a couple months back that I wanted to do something fun for Dallas' 30th birthday. Number 1, he's turning friggin 30! Number 2, his birthday is exactly one month before Severin's due date, so life will change very shortly. Number 3, I love him and wanted to celebrate him.

Trouble is... He's not one to celebrate himself. I'd considered keeping him in the loop of the party planning but felt pretty sure that if he knew about it in advance, he wouldn't show up. A surprise it must be! But to tell you the truth, I was a little nervous about that too. I could totally envision the scenario where he walks in, gets "SURPRISE" yelled at him, and walks right back out. But fingers crossed, I forged ahead.

It's very hard to get things done without his knowledge, because for better or worse, we are "that couple". We do everything together. So I had to use lunch hours and other people to get the cake ordered, buy decorations, and send invitations.

Step one: Invitations were my first order of business, and also the trickiest. I didn't have every one's address, or know how to get in touch with all his buddies. So I'd been eyeballing his phone in stealth mode for a few days waiting for my opportunity to hack it and steal some numbers. He's more dependent on that thing than he lets on - FYI. But luckily for me, he decided he could shower without it one night and left it unattended on the couch. I waited till I heard the shower turn on... then I waited till I heard the curtain pull back... then - I knew it - he comes hopping out of the bathroom. "Forgot a towel" Runs back in. I hear the curtain again. I wait to hear some banging around and finally, what I'd been waiting for - the whistling and singing! Yes! He's in full on shower mode now, and therefore its safe to gank his phone! I hum the theme to Mission Impossible to myself as I tip-toe around and listen carefully to his bellowing of "AND IT'S ALLLLMOOOOSSSTTTT LIIIIIIIKKKEEEEE, whistle, whistle, la la la..." because I know I'm safe till the singing ceases. Sweating, I get the numbers I need, enter them into my own phone and make sure I place his exactly as he'd left it so he wouldn't get suspicious. Success! Shower over with, he be-bops around the house like nothings wrong and I secretly pat myself on the back for being such an excellent sneak.

Step two: Obtain addresses. Thank goodness for Facebook and Sharon! I sent out a mass message, and Sharon helped me track down any scragglers.

Step three: Mail invitations. This was relatively uneventful except for the fact that one of the invitations got returned. And wouldn't you know it? It got returned on a day that Dallas actually got off work on time and checked the mail first.
Dallas: Why is my aunt mailing you stuff?
Amy: ~snatches envelope~ It's, um, baby shower stuff. Just don't you worry about it, you boy!

Step four: Wait an exorbitant amount of time for people to RSVP. Begin to get very worried that this will be a party for two. Finally get two RSVP's - one from my grandma, and one from his aunt. Begin to get very worried that this will be a very unusual party of four. Finally send out another mass message and texts asking for head count. Breathe sigh of relief that almost everyone will be in attendance!

Step five: Tell the lie. Dad's birthday is a week before Dallas' so I thought it would be perfect to tell him exactly when and where we were going, but to let him think the party was for Dad. This didn't go as smoothly as I'd thought it would for two reasons. #1 - I'd unknowingly scheduled his party smack in the middle of the Daytona 500. "AMY! What was your mother thinking?! EVERYONE knows when the Daytona 500 is, and you. don't. make. plans. unless. its. for. a. watch. PARTY!" #2 - We'd just had a get together for dad (see previous post). "Jeeeeeeeeeez! How many parties does Barb think Terry needs?! Spoiled..."

Step six: Keep all the balls in the air, placate cranky husband by telling him we'll have the race on TV at the party, all while praying he'll be at least somewhat happy about the freakin party... if I can get him there.

So Sunday arrived and I left Dallas perched on the couch, happily watching the race, to go "help mom set up for dad's party". He said he'd just meet me there, but I didn't trust him to tear himself away from the race at the agreed upon time so after we got everything all set up I went back home to retrieve the little booger.

Dallas: Commercial! Let's go! ~runs out to car~
Amy: ~Doesn't get car put in reverse quick enough for Dallas, so he does it for her.~
Dallas: Step on it, lady! ~Pushes on Amy's leg to trigger accellerator~

We arrive at the coffee shop where Dallas immediately spots his cousin's bright yellow hummer and gets suspicious. But then when he sees his little cousin sprint across the parking lot he said "Hey, that belongs to me!" and put two and two together. Even so, he still walked in, took the "surprise" like a champ, and if I do say so myself... had a jolly good time!

Thanks to everyone who came and helped me celebrate my precious Dallas! It meant a lot to both of us.

That was on Sunday. His actual birthday was on Wednesday, so I waited till then to give him his gifts and took him to dinner here. It was very delicious.

Funny side note: The restaurant is in the casino, and we went in the wrong doors, so the little old security guard stopped us and asked for ID. I handed him mine and he squinted at it, saying "Says 1987, right?" I fluffed my hair and batted my eyelashes at him, but did correct him that it in fact says 1981. Then Dallas stepped up to hand him his ID as well, to which the old guy replied "Oh, want me to check yours too?" HA! Nothing like a kick to the gems on your 30th birthday. :)