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A Partay Animal

Paul's birthday has come and gone.  He was surprised by the socks I knit him because, as I suspected, he wasn't reading the blog.  The colours very much pleased him; and here's a photo of them on his petite little feet.

The gift has been delivered
There was in addition to the surprise pair of socks, a surprise birthday party for Paul in our home.   Here's the major steps in planning such an event.
  • First, it is relatively easy to start the surprise by not holding the party on an actual birthday.  Check, I held it before his birthday. 
  • Second, I had to get him out of the house long enough for me to get the place set up for the party.  Check, I had a friend of his ask him out for drinks, an opportunity I knew Paul wouldn't refuse. (I had an hour to get the house ready.)
  • Third, pick a menu that works.  It took me longer to come to an appropriate solution than it should have about this item.  I had illusions of cooking and baking everything outside of the house and then bringing it in at the last minute.  But as I thought about all the equipment, spices, pans, etc, etc, I'd need to take away, it dawned on me Paul would figure something was up.  So I purchased a great spread from a local "Italian Costco" deli.  Check, I found an instant menu that could be carried into the house.
  • Fourth, find just the right reason to call to get the Birthday Boy home.  This perhaps was the trickiest to figure out.  Paul is a very bright guy so no lame reason to come home would do, it had to be compelling.  I started thinking about telling him we had water damage in a bedroom from a leak in the roof and anticipated his answer--call a roofer and put a bucket down.  I ended with him having to come to my rescue and it worked.  I told him I fell again and twisted my ankle and needed him to take me to the emergency room.  If you know Paul you'd know he's not the type to get flustered about this type of situation.  In fact he admitted later he'd just ordered a beer when I called and finished it before coming home.  But while he was driving home he was planning how he'd get me to see the doctor because obviously I had some balance issues.  Got to love that practical approach to problem solving, no emotions necessary, thank you.  So I got the reason for Paul to return for the party in the house on time.  (I'm still wondering when karma will get me, and I actually do twist that left ankle again.  So far so good.)    Check, my come-home excuse worked and didn't tip him off about a party.
  • Finally, and most importantly, invite just the right mix of people to help celebrate.  Included were John and Jami, wonderful friends, who helped me transform our house in an hour from lived in to party ready.  Check, check check!
Paul was indeed surprised and enjoyed my instant party for him.
However, when you don't tell someone you are holding a birthday party for them, it is possible they will plan their own.  And so it was.  Paul came home from his latest trip with a frozen turkey and decided it would be fun to have a Thanksgiving-like meal with friends.  I was able to steer him away from the date already booked for his surprise party and he did select a date I could manage to cook and bake.  He started planning a bigger group, but in the end there was just four of us.  I could manage this meal relatively easily and since it was John and Jami, it was truly a no-fuss affair.  Instead of having a birthday cake this year, Paul had a birthday pumpkin pie, one of his favourite desserts.

The Birthday Boy with his birthday pie (pumpkin no less)

Finally, today (Saturday) I had the department over for a dinner; it's the work department's annual Xmas party.  There were approximately 25 people eating beef sirloin tip roast, baked cod, with perogie potatoes, vegetables, salads and desserts.  Again getting the logistics figured out is the most time consuming part of the event and all went well.   I spent the day putting all the pieces together, and Paul helped with the clean up. Done, done and done.

Part of the Department after Dinner
This is a very long journey to get to this fact, there hasn't been much knitting done this week.  I expect that will change now that this partay animal is done with planning and executing parties.  Just going to them will be so much easier.
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