It's finally over!

My mom's cake (a pic of her when she was four) My proud mamma and brother, Kevin

A pic of us girls dressed in 60's garb My brother Kevin and me
(Dawn, my SIL, Moi and my sis, Tina)

My mom's birthday party went off without a hitch on Saturday, I am so glad that it did. I literally (along with my sister and SIL) busted my ass to get this party set up, I am most certainly feeling it now. I am amazed (as well as my other sibs) that she didn't have a clue that this party was being planned. I seriously thought that she had some inkling that we were doing something for her big 6-0 birthday, especially since I have been running around non stop getting this or that done. This is out of the norm for me, I am not normally all over the place, maybe she thought that I was testing out my new wings of independence and was looking for any reason to get out. Maybe that is partly true, I did enjoy getting out. When my brother picked her up (she thought that he was taking her out to a fancy restaurant), she still had no idea. Even when he pulled into the hall's parking lot, it didn't phase her...my poor brother tried to coax her inside (there was a bar inside, he wanted her to go in and have a drink with him, but she refused to go in). He finally had to confess that this was her party and that she had to go in. Boy was she surprised! I could see tears stream down her cheeks as she made her grand entrance while everyone yelled "surprise!" She actually thought that we forgot about her (we really downplayed her birthday)!

Over the last few months, I felt so much like a private investigator LOL! I literally combed my mom's entire bedroom for pictures and memorabilia, being very careful not to disturb other objects that might have tipped her off. She is very particular like that, she notices anything that is amiss. Even the slightest difference that most people would ignore or not notice, so I had to be extremely careful to replace anything that I moved to get to the photos to their correct places or get grilled. I am seriously not kidding!I even had to blame a few incidents on the dog! Anyhow, I found the mother lode of stashes as far as pics go and was able to grab them, make copies of them and replace them that same day. I did this for well over 300 pictures ranging from when my mom was an infant to her current 60 year old self and everyone else who is in her life. It was fun, I have to admit enjoying sneaking around her, it kind of reminded me of my teenage years, but this time around yielded a much nicer ending.

With those photos, I put together an album of her life and all of the people that she loves or loved. It made me cry putting it together, I could only imagine how my mother would respond to it when she opened it and took a trip down memory lane. I knew that she would love it, she is very emotional and sentimental and I was right. When I presented it to her at her party, she cried as she turned page after page. She now has that album at her bedside and admits to looking at it over and over.

The party was a 60's theme party to boot, so I dressed up (so did my sis and SIL along with a few of the partygoers) and had a ball. My sis teased my hair and blasted it with so much hairspray that it still hasn't completely washed out LOL! The DJ played quite a few 60's hits, people danced and laughed and ate until they couldn't move. There was so much food, that is the one thing about my family, you never leave a function even remotely hungry. Usually you can barely make it through the door. The cake was fantastic, I highly recommend Shop N Stop for their cakes as far as reasonable and being very tasty goes. I found a picture of my mom when she was 4, she had the most beautiful smile complete with dimples and a mess of ringlets everywhere. She was adorable and it was agreed that this should be on the cake. It turned out wonderful, it was almost too nice to cut into. My mom loved it and couldn't believe that I found that picture in the messed up heap of photos peppered around her room (nothing was organized...nothing. It took forever to go through thousands of pictures over several days and being very sneaky about it)

Today, my mom is still crowing about that party. My heart is singing for her, she deserved a wonderful, all out party. She had sacrificed so much in her life to raise the 5 of us practically alone, she is the most selfless person I know. She would give up the shirt on her back to any of her kids if they needed it more than she did...she is that type of person. It was about time something really nice was done for her.

Anyhoo...I am officially taking a well deserved rest and being as lazy as I can be for at least a few days. My poor joints and lungs are fighting with me and so I am listening to them and lumping it up. I am tough though, I will be okay, hopefully in time for our next family bash, Thanksgiving which is usually a big affair with lots of people and food to make. Oy!

I guess it is time to sign off my friends. Until later....peace and hugs! Jenn :)