Surprise birthday party reversed
Bill had his 30th birthday yesterday. He hasn't been looking forward to this milestone for a while & didn't want to celebrate in any way. I would ask him what he wanted to do & half jokingly he would say, "I just want to stay in bed". It was difficult to think of anything to do because he wasn't into it.

Over Easter when Aunt Ju-Ju, Uncle J & Cousin B were over for the Easter Egg hunt, Uncle J was trying to convince me to throw a surprise party for Bill. "No way, he would kill me. He doesn't want to do anything for his birthday", I told him. After they left, I got to thinking more about it. I couldn't just ignore Bill's birthday because he was being a grump about getting older. Hell, we're all getting older & he isn't dead yet. So, I kept poking & prodding. "Are you sure you don't want to do anything for your birthday? What about dinner with friends?" That seemed to get his attention. "That sounds like fun, but I don't want it to seem like I'm planning my own birthday party". And that's how the reversed surprise party was born.

Now that I knew he was looking forward to this & everyone else wanted him to have a surprise party, it was easy & fun to flip it around & get a party planned. I asked Bill for all of his friends email addresses so I could send them invites. I emailed them all saying that I hoped they didn't mind, but I got their addresses from Bill's email account & invited them all out to dinner to celebrate. I let them know to keep it on the down low so Bill wouldn't find out about his "surprise party". The RSVP's came rolling in.

All week long, Bill& I snickered at our little secret as all of his co-workers kept asking him what his weekend plans were knowing full well that there was a party. They kept trying to test him to see if he had found out. Bill played it up saying that he didn't want to do anything & if I did plan something, he would be pissed. This was a lot more fun than actually trying to pull a fast one on Bill & even better that it was something the two of us could laugh about.

Saturday rolls around & it's the day of his dinner party. I gave him his birthday present which I was so sure he figured out (a new disc golf bag), but this he was surprised about & really liked. We dropped Logan off at photographer friends house & drove to the restaurant. We were running a little late, so Bill sent a text to the friend who got there early to reserve a table (since the restaurant didn't take call ahead reservations). He sent the text as me, saying that I grabbed Bill's phone while he wasn't looking. This made us snicker even more.

We got to the restaurant & met everyone there with Bill pretending to be surprised. It was the funniest thing ever. Everyone kept asking if he ever found out & saying that I did a great job keeping it a secret, even texting people from Bill's phone. Little did they know that Bill was in on it from the very beginning. Dinner was a blast with lots of fun & laughing & many, many drinks for everyone (but me). After dinner I intended to give Bill a roast that turned into a toast that quickly came to an end the minute I talked about starting a family together. In true hormonal pregnant fashion, tears began to well up in my eyes & I wrapped it up quick so I wasn't a crying mess in the middle of the restaurant in front of all of his friends. A few tears on the eyes - OK. Streams coming down the cheeks & dragging mascara down with them - not OK. I still got the point across without looking like an idiot. Or so I hope.

After dinner, we went across the street for birthday shots & a few more beers. Bill was taking full advantage of it being his birthday & having a pregnant wife to drive him home. He had a lot of fun & so did everyone else. After we left to go pick up Logan, we just laughed & laughed about the reversed surprise party. I think it's something we'll be laughing about for a while.

Hope you had a happy 30th Billy!