The cat is out of the bag (twice)

This past Friday, Jesse's surprise party was definitely a surprise....only not the kind that one would hope for. Four of her friends had been invited. By Wednesday, I had only received one RSVP and that was from one of her best friend's saying she would not be coming as she was grounded for a month due to punching a boy at school, giving him a bloody nose, and being suspended the last two days of school. Nice. This friend then insisted on calling Jesse THE WHOLE WEEK and almost spoiling the surprise multiple times until I finally got on the phone with her and pleasantly asked her to shut her mouth about the party (that Jesse was not supposed to know about it, hence the surprise).

So, come Friday afternoon, I had one definite "no" and one "probably" and two no responses. We went ahead with the plan of Ron picking her up to take her shopping for an early birthday present so Nate and I would have time to decorate and wait for guests to arrive. There was only one problem....no guests. When Ron and the birthday girl arrived home she was surprisingly not too disappointed. Maybe a little confused though. "So, this is my party? But where are all my friends?" I just told her to get on the phone and see what mysteriously happened to them.

Luckily we were able to resolve the situation and two of her friends were able to come. Better late than never, right? They played games before it got dark, threw glow sticks in the air to the beat of Jesse McCartney and Kelly Clarkson (very cool effect), and stayed up half the night eating leftover cupcakes and watching movies.



Surprise, you're the only one at your party!!!



The prize blanket...surprisingly no one ever claimed the skunk or the squirrel



Hand-knitted kerchiefs as party favors



I've always loved scavenger hunts



The most cherished gift....a big a$$ jar of dill pickles

*****
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I've been keeping a secret under wraps for weeks now and am very proud of myself for not spoiling the surprise. For part of Ron's Father's Day gift, I bought him tickets to go see Rush in August. He'd been talking about it on and off but had no plans of actually buying any tickets. Surprise! We get to go and reminisce over one of our first dates ever....going way back to the summer of 1990.....the smell of Mary J wafting through the air.....Mr. Big opening the show......almost getting trampled at the beginning of the concert.....the big dude that saved us from almost getting trampled. Hopefully this time will be a little calmer. Not the music, but the whole trampling part I could do without.