A Night of *Surprises*
11-12-2004, 11:46 p.m.

We had a *surprise* party for my SIL tonight. Her birthday was last Sunday and my mom wanted to do something special for her, to show her how much we care. It was to be a little intimate dinner at my house, but yesterday the *surprise* was on me. I called my brother to see what time they were coming... 7 he said, but everyone else would be here at 6:30. Everyone else? I asked, afraid to hear the answer. Sharon's whole family! EEK. Now, not that I mind normally.. but what? 15 more people... and 24 hours? OMG. I was furious! I knew that there was no way I could pull this off so I called a restaurant a few blocks from my house, a place where we've had family parties before, and asked if they had availability. Thank goodness they did, but what a pain in the butt... a small intimate dinner now turned into an *expensive* big dinner. Still she was surprised, and it was very nice. We had a really good time and I am not sorry that we did any of it.

Another *surprise* though... how did my brother get her over without her knowing what was going on? Well... he told her that he wanted to take her out and he arranged for me to babysit. At the end of the night he told me that she had her heart set on going out and could I babysit still. So somehow I ended up with six kids spending the night tonight. Oh, I am not complaining, I don't get to spend so much time with them, and it's fun. They are all just about to sleep now, or at least calmed down and watching movies. All is well.

Oh and my biggest surprise of all... Chrissy decided to spend the weekend with us. Been a long time for that, and I am thrilled... totally! When she heard that we are going to Andy's first birthday party tomorrow, she asked if she could come. It's been so nice having her here. Gosh, I've missed that.