Joules = 1; cancer is a big fat zero. The Party.

I don't even know how to begin this post. I am 5 days late from sitting myself down to write this; but it is like life, take II just started and I have been busy having my cake and eating it too, so to speak. See above picture, where my very sneaky redheads and I are taking a bite out of my "Happy One-Year Cancer-Free" cake. I think Amanda's face says it all. Btw, the kids wouldn't eat the cake. They just made faces, a few hand gestures that we took pics of but I won't post here, and then absolutely demolished my piece of cake. I had surgically removed the piece that said cancer from the rest of the cake because I was feeling a bit passive aggressive and thought it would feel good to tear into that particular piece with my kiddos, who had their own well-deserved aggression to get out, on the cake that said cancer. Just to be journalistically honest, I did eat the cake. I ate the chocolate part, which coincidentally, was the C, the A, and the N, which I think is pretty optimistic when you think about it. The other half was yellow cake, and it's not like I have anything against yellow cake, but I didn't eat it. It's not like I planned it to end up being all poetic and everything...but I guess I'm just poetic by nature like that.

So I mentioned the sneakiness of my redheads. OMG, did they totally blow the lid off the definition when they threw, and actually got away with, a surprise "Happy One-Year Cancer-Free" party for my anniversary Saturday night, or what?! I have never EVER been so caught off-guard in my entire life.

I had wanted to throw a big party to celebrate, and especially thank all our friends who have been so supportive this past year, but Dave was out of town on business, and his trip kept extending, and I didn't want to plan it not knowing if he'd be back for it.

Enter Matt the mastermind.

Matt called his Daddy-O and hatched the surprise party of my life. On Wednesday. With only a probably that Dave would be back late Friday night. Then he and his sibs pulled off the impossible: surprising the you-know-what out of me. Which I still can't believe they did, even 4 days out. I am super hard to surprise, mainly because I am a control freak and do not let myself be caught off guard. That is just a fact. Ask my kids. I anticipate everything. It drives them crazy. But I would really like to have seen my face when they made me eat those words.

They made a secret Facebook event (that I wasn't able to see, or come to think of it, was I invited to), called in the help of a couple of my friends who helped extend the invite, and coordinated everything from my "Happy One-Year Cancer-Free" cake to having everyone park in the tennis parking lot behind our home so I wouldn't see the cars or the surprise coming. Completely on the D-L. Deceitful sweet things. Where do they learn these things?

When I found out Dave would be home Friday night, I made plans with our friends Bob and Debbie, to go out and celebrate with us. There is a cool Tapas restaurant near our home that I love and wanted Debbie to try.

It's funny, how many people misunderstood me when they asked how I was going to celebrate, and I said, "going to a Tapas restaurant" and they all somehow hear "topless restaurant" instead. Like I would go to a topless restaurant to celebrate my mastectomy. ;) You just have to laugh at things when they are funny like that. And people who do and say such delightful funny things.

Anyway, so Bob and Debbie were in cahoots with the kids to eat Tapas with us while the kids gathered friends in our family room to surprise me and celebrate with us.

I had no idea.

Amanda had been at work all day, Mikey was doing tech team at church, and Matt was Facebooking and playing Spiderman on X-box 360, when we left. I initially felt bad when I realized we were leaving Matt home alone. I knew Amanda was scheduled to work, but didn't know Mikey had tech team. I was telling Matt how badly I felt, leaving him home alone on such a big day in our life. Inside he must have been shoving me out the door so he could make like crazy and pull the party together...but outside he was so nonchalant, telling me it was ok and he was going to be fine Facebooking and playing Spiderman. Oh, the web of deceit he was really weaving.

We had a fab time with our friends at the Tapas restaurant. I was completely oblivious throughout all the texting that Dave and Debbie did through dinner, even when they abruptly decided we would go do coffee and dessert on my back deck and called for the check. I had a moment when we walked in the front door and I caught a glimpse of a candle burning in the bathroom on our way to the back deck. Why in the world did Matt have a candle burning in the bathroom when he was home alone? But Dave quickly checked this thought in me by practically chest bumping me into the family room, where I cannot believe my kids had packed so many of our friends to give me such a delightful surprise. Thank you, redheads! It was a celebration proper. You guys totally rock at throwing a surprise party.

But the deceiving part of the business makes mum worry a wee bit. I'm just saying.