Mirrored Surprise

Okay, I can finally reveal the secret I’ve been keeping for several months, at least from the most avid reader of this blog.  My wife and I were brought into the conspiracy by our redoubtable son in law back in May concerning our daughter's impending 30th birthday.  Two of their closest friends had chosen her birthday as a wedding date.  To their immense credit they first checked with my daughter to insure she was okay with this.  My son in law wanted us to show up at the after party to surprise out daughter and make the day a little bit about her.

Father and Daughter With Some of the NYC Gang in their Party Hats

He did a fantastic job maintaining operational security on this and my daughter had no idea.  It was difficult not letting it slip out as I talked to her about her birthday in the days leading up.  My wife was intensely following events from Panama and so disappointed she wouldn’t be joining me but this probably helped in terms of operational security – not my wife’s strongest suit. 

 

My son in law kept me advised throughout the day with text messages and as I made my way the hour south into the wilds of Connecticut.  The party was at the groom’s uncle house and I was a little apprehensive about crashing a party meant to honor the newly married couple.  I shouldn’t have worried because they could not have been more welcoming or supportive.  These are just really nice people.

 

The plan fell into place like clockwork.  I pulled up on the darkened street spotting the bonfire directly ahead just as my son in law was making his way down the driveway.  He was walking next door to get the cake and I retrieved the requested sword (hey, it’s a family tradition!) to cut the cake.  I did feel a little strange waiting in the dark armed with a sword and can only imagine what the several motorists who passed me thought.  

Wielding The Family Sword with Aplomb

My son in law and I walked up out of the dark as a group of her friends kept my daughter distracted.  She finally wondered why nobody was paying attention to her riveting story and why they were all looking over her shoulder.  She turned around and was shortly wrapped in my arms and everything was suddenly okay.  It was one of those moments in life where everything seems just so right.

 

Her outstanding friends from NYC had gone out of their way to make her feel special, even to the point of creating t-shorts adorned with various photos of my daughter and complete disrespect for supposed nap time.  If you can judge a person by the friends they keep than my daughter is a superstar.  Although they had to leave shortly after my arrival it was fun reconnecting with this fantastic NYC gang.  They did seem a little awed by the ability to see stars (except for one ardent defender of the Brooklyn sky) and were nervously looking at the woodline after hearing about bears.  These are definitely city folks and some of the nicest people around.  

They Were Celebrating Her Birthday in Panama Also

The rest of the evening was spent just hanging out with my daughter and son in law, a truly cherished time.  I kid at times about my rock and roll son in law but last night is a perfect example of why I love him so much.  He went out of his way to insure my daughter felt special on her 30th birthday.  He said she seemed a little wistful prior to the big surprise and was definitely not afterwards.   As I get older you start to think about not being around any more and I am confident my daughter will still have someone in this world that, like myself, thinks she is the sun, the moon, and all that.

My Daughter with the Architect of the Surprise

While anxiously awaiting for my departure time to this long anticipated event I used the day to address a surprise for the other woman in my life, my soon to return wife.  I try to accomplish some major home upgrade each time she’s away on one of these extended absences.  Contrary to popular opinion this is not only so she will disregard my house keeping standards during her absence and the state of the house when she arrives (that’s what the roses are for!).

She’s always complained about the mirrors in two of our bathrooms and purchased two large, fairly ornate mirrors a couple months ago.  She had resolutely campaigned to get me to install them but I resisted as I thought the existing mirrors were fine and tried to impress upon her that it wasn’t a simple as it sounded since it would involve painting the bathrooms since the mirrors were different sizes.  

The Existing Mirror Pre-Project

Yesterday was devoted to this long avoided project.  It was just about as complicated as I thought it would be.  The main downstairs bathroom had a huge expanse of white wall behind the mirror that had to be painted.  I wasn't sure we still had the right color green paint. We have a stack of paint cans in the basement from the painting party almost eight years ago when we moved into the house.  There was one can of paint that was marked green but I wasn't sure it was the right shade.  I pried the can open for the first time in eight years which donated a not insignificant amount of rust to the paint.   

Buddy Inspects the New Mirrors

I decided to throw caution to the wind and painted a large splotch of paint on the wall where I was fairly sure it would be covered by the new mirror.  It did not look like the existing paint, at all.  I went to the family room and contemplated my crime while enjoying an episode of Strike Back.  Crossing my fingers in anticipation I returned to the scene of the crime to find the paint dried to the same color of the existing paint, even with the rust added!  

The Test Paint Splotch

The rest of the job was fairly straightforward although the guys who built the house decided to leave a lot of gouges in the drywall they thought were safely hidden behind the mirrors.  Little did they suspect my wife’s drive!   After wall repair and some fairly athletic juggling of mirrors (not recommended for a sane lifestyle) I finished the job shortly before heading to Connecticut.  I have to admit that once again my wife has an impeccable eye when it comes to home décor – they look fantastic.

The End Result

The Upsatirs One - No Paint for this One