Honesty is the best policy...except for surprise parties!

Well, the good news (at least I'm pretty sure its good news) is that I am definitely not cut out to lead a double life!

Today is Robert's 30th birthday, and last night I threw him a surprise party with some

of his friends. I had been planning this for weeks, and believe me, it took a LOT of planning, due to the fact that we have 3 kids and only 1 car to juggle! Many people helped me out, but I still ended up inventing a lot of excuses and fictional reasons to leave the house, leave the kids, or spend money! (I ended up having to order the cake on the phone, go get cash to pay for it to avoid the bakery showing up on our credit card, and then pick it up on a third day under the guise of "buying diapers!" Just one example of the elaborate subterfuge I had to resort to...)I think I told more lies this week than the whole rest of my life combined! Following the code of morality instilled in me by my mother, which is tell the truth at all times - except when it's someone's birthday! ;-) She's the expert at this. Me, on the other hand...

To tell the truth (finally!), all this lying really took a toll on me! I have been way stressed out trying to come up with the right excuses for all my odd behavior, and the things I was doing, and trying to keep Robert from finding out about the party. I am not a very good liar to begin with - Robert can always tell when I'm trying to hide something from him, and he can even guess what I got him for his birthday or Christmas half the time! Although I must have done a pretty good job this time because he didn't figure anything out until he walked into his party! Yay! I am very excited that I managed to surprise him...but mostly I'm just relieved that I don't have to lie to him anymore! I was afraid to open my mouth all week for fear I would give something away, and he actually got kind of mad at me a couple of times when my behavior was inexplicably strange - and there was nothing I could do to defend myself even though I had very good reasons for all my actions!

I can laugh about it all now....but I am definitely not designed to keep secrets! So I think for the sake of my own sanity, this is the last surprise party I'll ever throw!

Happy Birthday, dear husband!