A night to remember...

My wife is a crazy woman.

She totally (and I do mean totally) surprised me this past Sunday night with the birthday party to end all birthday parties.

I'd had a bit of a bummer of a day.  Two people stormed out ten minutes into my sermon at THE WELL, which is never that fun and I was generally 'bummed' at not having any kind of rip-roarin' birthday party planned.

I'd been trying to 'man up' and not 'suck out' about it but Niki could tell I was feeling grumpy Saturday morning as I made breakfast while trying to keep a positive attitude about the apparent lack of party materializing for my birthday night.

Exacerbating things was the fact that my kids were going to be out with my mother in law at their favorite local motel (swimming, eating fruit loops etc...) because my eldest daughter shares my birthday and the night out was her present.

So we were going to be 'taking it easy' with two couples (both of whom I love) Oscar night on my birthday with no kids...

Great...

So, Sunday afternoon.  

I'm still so thrown by the people walking out.  I'm doing a lot of thinking about it, trying to examine my heart to see if it was because of 'me' (something stupid I said or did, which would be entirely in-character for me...) or because of the 'content' (in which case, there's nothing I can do about that...) and I truly felt troubled.

The phone rings, it's one of my director-friends calling to see if I'll come visit him on-set.  It's going to be cool. Black-lights, models in body-paint, a RED cam, you get the picture.  

And here's the great part.

My director friend is one of the most relentlessly social guys I know.  He loves having people around and seems to really enjoy my company which is cool 'cause I really enjoy his company. Anyway, it's TOTALLY in-character for him to call me multiple times when he wants me to do something.

So, I wasn't surprised that he called a couple times to see if I was still planning to come.

See, I wasn't sure.  Typically, the last thing my wife wants me to do is leave her on a Sunday afternoon.  No problem, I'd said to her, you can come with me.

('cause, let's be real here, models + body paint + my wife who we'd convince to get into body paint = a very happy place...)

But then, on Saturday she went out with the kids to run some errands for Sarah's and my birthday.  I thought she was getting a cake, and maybe (in the best case scenario) a surround system to match my new LCD TV.

She comes home flustered, which is typical for her when she's got too much on her plate that she's trying to do too well, in too little time, upset that she didn't get done what she needed to get done.

(liar...)

So, now she's going to have to do it Sunday after church.  "Great..." I think, no models in body paint for me.  If she can't go, I won't go, end of story.

Then my friend calls Sunday afternoon to see if I'm still coming, and--turns out--Niki is cool for me to go.  "Yeah, I'll just run that errand while you're gone..." she says.

(liar...)

And I don't clue in, even slightly.

So I go. Drop the kids off at the motel with their grandmama, then hit the studio.

And here's the thing.

I had a great time at the studio.  I love being on-set.  I just hung out, got into it, soaked it all in.

By the time I was leaving for home my mood had lifted and my funk had gone. My friend (and his wife) who were slated to join us that night for our 'casual Oscars' asked me for details as I headed out and I just said, "Hey man, it's totally low key.  Just you two and my sister and her husband and Nik and I.  Whenever you get there we'll be chilled..."

Then I get home.

And the blinds were down.

"Aha..." I think.  She did plan something.

So I make sure to double lock my car so there's a 'honk' to warn whoever's inside that I'm walking up, then I open the door and find my house decked out like an Oscar party and packed with 30 of our closest friends, all of them dressed for the red carpet.

Shocking.

"LIAR!!" are the first words out of my mouth to my lovely wife.

See, when I saw the blinds down I thought maybe (MAYBE) in the best case scenario she'd gotten two other couples we've been trying to get under our roof at the same time for months to come--and that would have been ballistic enough--but to lock 30 people?

Insane.

And the food, and the black lights and sound system that my friend brought from the shoot with him, and the dancing 'till all hours, and the Oscar's and the joy...

Quite the night.

Thanks Niki.

Now I'm racking my brain as to how I can top that for her 35th in a year and a half.

I gotta' make me some money 'cause the only way I'll be able to do it is to include dancing on the beach by firelight in the Caribbean.

My work starts (on that) this week.

(And if you're reading this and you already know you'd be on that--caribbean--guest list, start saving your money NOW!!  I'll try to pay for it all myself, but you never know...)

T