shhhh!

I am planning Abe's birthday, which includes an element of surprise. Abe thinks I can't keep surprises, and he is right! I have already asked him twice if he wants to know what his surprise is, and he insists he doesn't want to know. But I want to tell someone! I feel confident confiding this to the family blog because Abe is super, super busy this week, and he will have no time to discover this post. (Even if he did have time, he usually just waits until I tell him we have a new post before checking.) So I can tell you, but promise not to tell Abe, okay? He appears to want to be surprised.

I am planning a surprise party for Abe--but not the kind where people actually show up. Follow? Abe's bests friends, with about one exception, all live far away from Chicago, and so I am planning a Skype surprise! Well, actually, one of his friends has very generously offered his conference line for the occasion, so Abe's friends will all be plugged in via a conference call, and Abe's family will plug in via Skype. I am very nervous because I hate coordinating stuff like this--so many things could go wrong! I have visions of dropped calls, Skype not working, people getting left out, people forgetting, and so many other bad-case scenarios. Also, it has been years since I've used Skype, and I am sure I will botch up the group Skype session. But I love Abe, and I really want him to know he's appreciated on his birthday, so I am risking disaster all in the hopes that he will feel surprised and loved.

Here's how it will work (if it works):  Unbeknown to Abe, Abe's best friend and his best friend's girlfriend are coming up for the evening.  When Abe walks in the door, he will be greeted by the three of us. One of us will be holding a phone with  seven of Abe's best friends on the line, and the other two of us will be holding computers with skyped in family members. We will all yell "Surprise!" and tell Abe how much we love him and how happy we hope his birthday is.

Then I am planning on serving a bunch of appetizers (thank you wonderful Facebook friends for your helpful suggestions!), which Abe and our friends can eat while I play the piano for Abe. He loves listening to the piano, but I rarely ever play for him because I'm always out of practice. I hate producing substandard music, but I have been working this past week to get a Mozart sonata and a Chopin Ballad in shape to play. My muscle stamina still is horrible, so I'm hoping if the pieces fall apart the food will be good enough that no one will care.

Then we'll have dinner, after which everyone except me will jump in the hot tub. (No hot tubs while pregnant! Plus I don't really enjoy the sensation of being boiled alive, even if it's in the company of friends.) After that we we'll come back and play some board games and enjoy everyone's company. Abe has to get up the next morning at 5am for work, so we can't stay up too late. On Saturday he works from 5am- 9am and then attends our birthing class from 9-4pm, after which he returns to work until who knows what hour. Same thing on Sunday, only I am hoping he gets some time off of work in the evening so we can go to a violin concert at 6pm. Abe looooooooves concerts, so I'm thinking the violin concert would be a nice extension of his birthday celebrations.

Whew! That feels good to tell about the surprise. I just can't keep secrets. But I'm hoping you can! =)