Mission Accomplished

After months of planning and several weeks of work, my mom's 60th birthday weekend went well. Only one small hiccup - I had to tell my mom over the phone on Friday that Grandma was in the car, and I was driving her to Ohio as a surprise.

What can I say. Mom started panicking when she called Grandma three times on Friday morning and got no answer, so she assumed the worst; that she was injured, dead, or possibly kidnapped. Ok, I made up the kidnapping part.

So I received the dreaded call from Mom at 2pm, just as I crossed into Indiana. She started out asking me where I was, how was traffic, and whether I had a headache. Considering she did not know where I was, I had to make up stuff. I could tell something was bothering her, so I asked her straight out and then I got the panic about Grandma. She was about to call Grandma again for a fourth time...so there was nothing I could do. I admitted I had her mom in the car, and after stating three or four times that I wasn't joking, I finally handed the phone to Grandma so she could prove that what I was saying was true.

I was pretty devastated for about two minutes. All the effort, all the stress with keeping it a secret, and the fact there would be no joyful moment with the whole family once Grandma arrived...it was a severe kick to the stomach. But then I realized that I had accomplished the mission - giving my mom time with her mom, and making it a surprise - so all was good. I got over myself and the situation.

Thursday through Monday was a hectic, time-consuming, exhausting, physically painful blur. Actually, that really describes the last few weeks. But in the end, I think everyone had a lot of fun, and I managed to get everything done that I had planned. I got about 4 hours of sleep a night at most, but I made it through.

I have some good pictures and good stories, but that will probably have to wait another week or two. Technically, the birthday gift/work is not officially over. I still have Grandma to take back to Iowa this weekend, and then next weekend I have several things to take back to various stores that I did not end up using for the cake. Since I have a few days of "down time" (excluding my work-related hours of 5am to 6:30pm this week), the goal is to try and get as much sleep as possible these next few days. To say I'm exhausted from the past few weeks is an understatement.