Thank you for today. Thank you for the abundant outpouring of love that my friends shared with me today. Thank you for Steve. Thank you for the idea he had to surprise me with the gift of fun through my meaningful friendships with my tuesday adventure mamas. Thank you that in this year of feeling so separated from them, with all the Tuesdays I have missed, that they made a special effort to drive all the way to our house and hang out for the afternoon and evening. They were here for a whole afternoon. Wow. They surprised me. They were all hiding behind the dining room wall. Waiting. Eager. Anxious to say surprise!!!! And then they all burst into song. It felt like soooooooooo many people singing me happy birthday! And when I had walked in, Steve was casually lying on the couch, all comfortable and relaxed, watching a baseball game on tv. And yet that was not at all the pace he had been going at in the couple hours prior to that. He was running around like a madman at crazy intense lightning speed, preparing all the food for 38 people!!!! Going grocery shopping, buying chicken, pork, and carne asada. Buying the famous motherlode chocolate cake at costco. Getting the backyard ready for the huge amazing party. All the while I thought he was out at Campus El Segundo, watching Jacob play his last soccer game of the spring season. And I thought my outing to the Chado TeaHouse in Torrance with Greta and Jana, was my surprise. They hadn’t told me where they were taking me. They said they’d pick me up at 1pm. And they did. Actually at 12:55. They were both dressed in the most amazingly cute dresses. And had super cute shoes on. And Jana drove us in her Honda. But Greta and I had to sit in the back seat. Turns out Greta even sat in the backseat from Lakewood to Hawthorne, because Jana had gotten a recall on the Honda’s inflatable air pouches possibly not deploying. And she wanted Greta, as her passenger, to be safe. So the bouquet of flowers rode shotgun. 🙂

Chado was an awesome experience. I had a white tea. So yummy. But even more yummy was Jana’s lavender earl grey. Wow. That was spectacular. I’d definitely order that again. And Greta had Darjeeling Wonder Surprise, or something along that line. I thought this was my gift. Flowers. Cards from each of them. A special luncheon at a tea house. We had a whole tray of delicacies to eat…..finger tea sandwiches, a scone, desserts. And, yet, no. That was just the beginning.

Wow.

So overwhelmingly awesome.

Truly awesome.

I’ve never had a surprise party before. This was a first.

I had no idea that the surprise of it would cause my body to exude lots and lots and lots of sweat. All of a sudden I was sweating profusely. The back of my back was drenched. Even my legs were sweating. It was an incredible physiological response- quite fascinating indeed!

Here they all were, hiding behind our dining room wall. And as soon as I passed from the living room to the dining room, they all burst into song.

Wow.

They all drove here for me. For me.

Do you know how special that makes me feel?

Am I worthy of so much love and attention?

Wow.

What a beautiful afternoon and evening.

I don’t remember the last time our house had so much bustling energy.

Kids everywhere. Activity non-stop.

Hammock swaying.

Swings swinging.

H-O-R-S-E basketball

Dumping ice on driveway.

Stomping on ice.

Chalk drawings on the driveway

Smashing chalk with feet

Mixing chalk with ice water to make chalk paste, all with feet

Heads being bonked by flying basketballs

S’mores being made at the fireplace

Playing with the fountain; exploring how it works

Davy walking around with the conical bday party hats all over his body

Ping pong being played

Rip sticks

Skateboards

Lego-EV3 building

Chess inside

Battleship

LEGO Friends playing in Natalie’s room

Kids visiting Omie non-stop; wanting to see her “little house”

Food

Lots and lots of food

Mexican food: tacos, rice, beans,…..margaritas

Gifts

Massage gift card

Thoughtful cards from kids

A home-sewn apron made for me by Lilly

Natalie so proud of herself for keeping this all a secret

Ohhhhhhhhhh I get it, now I know why Omie went to Home Depot to buy geraniums

Ohhhhhhhhhh I get it, now I know why Omie arranged for the cleaning ladies to come yesterday

I’m so glad the cleaning ladies came

I would have been SO embarrassed to have my friends see the mess of our house

Phew! I feel so glad I finally organized and cleaned up the messes in our house

Wait- where did Steve put all the robotics stuff/boxes I had put out on the ping pong table?

Ohhhhhhhhhhh I get it, that’s why Steve got up at 5am to start the smoker

Hey- so cool- he put the broken dining room chairs somewhere. Where?

Friends are so cool

We have an incredible community with this group of friends

I feel really special that they did all this for me

I’m humbled

I don’t feel worthy

Wow they just gave me a confidence boost!

Thank you Lord

Thank you

My heart is full and bursting

Going to lay my head down to sleep and think happy thoughts

I’m 44

I just experienced my 1st ever Surprise Party

That was incredibly fun!