Knowing how to support...a surprise!

So the surprise happened. In quite the way I had pictured it. Yes, there was a chance that he would see the blog before he saw his chair, but I had that covered. Firstly, I posted close to midnight, when he had already gone to bed. And when he woke up on the birthday morning and came down for some coffee, I fixed him some without giving up my own laptop access (yes he sometimes reads my blog with his morning coffee!). Incidentally, it also happened to be my star birthday. We joined hands in this one too! :)

One little blooper did take place however. He told me with shining eyes, that he had found a balloon on the ground, and had discovered a trail....so could he know what I was upto?? I froze when I heard that and thought furiously on how to cover it up. Then I apologised and told him that I didn't get him any gifts this year, but since I didn't want to disappoint Winkie, I had blown up a lot of balloons to make it feel festive enough for him. He smiled and nodded and didn't buy into it at all. But what else could I do then???

The unveiling happened soon after, once he came out of his bath. I had woken up the boys by then and Winkie was super excited. He's a wonderful co-conspirator to have and always questioned me on different feasibilities and made sure there were no loopholes. R was still in the shower, when Thambi did the big job. Oops! Time to get that cleaned up....we don't want any stinkers with the wishes now, do we?? :D

So I locked the door. I didn't have enough time to clean him up and also be ready and smiling when the door opened. So to the door was locked and R stood and knocked outside for a few seconds. We were finally ready and Winkie unlocked the door. Happy Birthday!!!...we said cheerily! He looked at all of us, before he even looked towards the chair. And he was definitely surprised to see it. OH! he said.....Wow! And then I guess we all started talking at once. Winkie, squealing about the surprise, Thambi just squealing for no reason, I, trying to tell him all about my expert planning and the back breaking assembly work, and him just taking it all in. Now the details are already fuzzy to me.

We had a little photo session where he tested out the chair and posed with the boys on his lap. And then he went to work. And Winkie went to school. And I went shopping with my little man for some cake supplies. I decided on doing a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. Sinful, to be sure, and not to be repeated for a whole year! I know it doesn't look like much in that picture, so if you want to see what a slice of that looks like, go here.

I had grand plans of making soup and gobi manchurian and fried rice for dinner, but the cake took away a lot of energy and enthusiasm. Gobi Manchurian is a painful and elaborate process and I have never enjoyed it, and I didn't enjoy it yesterday. But it got done, and its the only thing that got done. Just made some plain rice to go with it and all I wanted was to be out of the kitchen.

Winkie came home after school, took one look at the carrot cake and declared he couldn't stand the smell of it. Thereafter, he complained that his tummy didn't feel right after that smell! Hmmphh! My co-conspirator wasn't upto speed with me anymore! But he was still excited that his father would get a surprise of the cake. R came home and went upstairs to freshen up. That's when me and Winkie set the scene downstairs. By this time, I have to admit, I was really tired and saturated after all that manchurian business, but I pulled myself together for the cake. We found a really cheesy, but cute Happy Birthday song on You Tube. I switched off all the lights and just lit one candle on the cake. R took a long time coming down, so just to kill time, we lit some more candles...as many as I could find. I don't have a picture with all the candles, but I remember that it looked pretty and lighted up the whole floor with a soft glow.

Winkie was tensely waiting for the sound of his approaching footsteps, and when we finally heard it...I played the song. Darkened room, the soft crooning of Happy Birthday to you...and seeing a table with a cake full of lights....it must have been a pretty sight. What he said in response wasn't very significant, but I guess he was happy. My son was happy seeing his father being surprised. It is a good life.

A friend's husband, after reading the last post, wrote to me said....now I know, you are really into surprises. He's right. I AM really into surprises. In fact, I think I thrive on them, and no longer know any other way of doing things. But in addition to knowing the right ways to surprise, it also helps to have a recipient who knows this side of you only too well....but plays along anyways, just to keep you going. A part of my husband would have known that something was up, and that I wouldn't let his day go without marking it rather significantly, especially since I have this blog to answer to (oh yes I do!). Yet, he kept out of my way. He shut his ears and kept his words to himself and he gave me scope to play out my inspirations. I think it shows a lot of unselfishness, consideration and restraint. And that's just the kind of person that he is. Always the wind...beneath my wings. Now I can't wait for next year!!! :D

On a similar vein....I have to thank all of you who wrote in with wishes for him and excitement on how his day would pan out. Really, your excitement was infectious, and it made me want to really give it my everything even when I didn't always feel like it. This little celebration of ours saw 4 people around a table, over a cake, but in effect, it extended to all of you out there! So grateful!