Kathy's Party

I think it was in September when I asked Christie (Willis) to help me organize a surprise party for Kathy. Then I did nothing until about the middle of December. I have always been pretty good at putting things off till the last minute and this was no exception. I started making notes, drawing diagrams, and of course lying to my wife. All the deception was the hardest part... it was killing me!
Almost everyday I would expand my plan, this was a bummer because whenever I have what I think of as a good idea I tell Kathy with great excitement. Usually she then very lovingly tells me why my plan won't work. But this time I had to keep it all to myself. When Kathy asked me what I wanted for my birthday I told her i-tunes gift cards, this of course was also for her party, as I downloaded a bunch of party songs. This way I didn't have to shell out $ 600.00 for a D.J.. I'm pretty sure she thought I was trippin. Her parents were here from AZ and I'm in the office feverishly spending all my money on songs for my ipod. The next big project was building a huge tent structure onto the back of the house. This was difficult because how do you do it without raising suspicion? HEY BRIAN? HOW COME THERE IS A HUGE TENT IN THE BACKYARD?
So when she was out shopping I simply built the pieces and stashed them on the roof or the side of the house. The food was the next big challenge. I told her Coby wanted me to go with him to look for stocking stuffers for his girls. Of course she asked "where are you going"? Uhmm well Costco. Now where do you put several hundred dollars worth of food when you aren't supposed to have it? At the neighbors and Moms house of course. I thought it would be cool to have a fancy cake of some sort but hhmmm what kind? Well since Kathy is such a huge fan of chocolate chip cookies, I ordered a cake that looked like a cookie. Thats done but the question remains "Will there be enough food?" so I ordered fried chicken from Albertsons. Now its the day after Christmas and Kathy needs to be out of the house, so her mom takes her to see Mama Nelly.
Everything is going good. I called the "help" and had them come over. Christie, Rachelle, Laura, my Mom, Jackie and Emma all did a wonderful job with the food and decorations. Thanks ladies!
While that was going on inside Mark (Kathy's Dad), Coby, Bill, and I were outside setting things up. Now is the time when I say sorry. I am sorry you guys had to put up with me. I was a wreck.
I missed calculated on the roof trusses and it was not going to work with what I had, bummer.
What do you do in such a situation? You call your dad. What I did not know was my Dad was at home and was very sick, sorry Dad, but of course he picked up the lumber I needed and brought it right over, then he went home to bed. Your the best Dad! Daniel was in the middle of this whole mess with the tent trying, and succeeding, to put up the 10' screen, projector and Wii. Thanks Daniel you rule! Did I mention that each room was lit with different color lights and we had black lights outside. It was really cool.
The guests are here. We are all ready. I am a mental case.
Kathy calls me and says "Why did Albertsons call me and tell me my 75 piece order of chicken is ready?" WHAT!! I forgot the chicken and I gave them the wrong cell number. Yes I know what you are thinking. So I say to Kathy "Well we ordered chicken for dinner but there must be some mistake I will call them and see whats up". I know....lame, but it was the best I could come up with. Luckily for me my wife thinks there is no way her husband can pull off a surprise party so she still did not figure it out.
Finally after another 20 minutes of waiting she walked into a house full of friends and family yelling SURPRISE! And yes she was! The music was loud the Wii was LARGE the food was plentiful and the people....awesome!
The party was a lot of fun and Kathy had a great time. Thanks to all who attended.