The chaos before the party…

As I promised, I would share all the chaos that led up to Zach’s party!

Well, normally, when family comes into town, we head out to eat that Friday night, especially when it’s someones birthday. However, I wanted a low-key gathering since his best friend was going to be here, as well as sick kids and two pregnant mamas. So, my we thought and thought and thought and came up with GOOD BBQ from VA and some sides (and an ice cream cake!) Usually, we just meet somewhere, as Zach gets off work at dinner time, but I was afraid I would have to twist his arm to get him to come home…

Since we were going to do a Star Wars party, we of course, needed Star Wars decorations (and here’s where I’m kicking myself because I didn’t take a single picture, but you’ll soon understand how that got forgotten….) My mom and I headed to Party City a few weeks before the party and got a table cloth, a banner, some orange plates, orange plastic ware, some wrapping paper, a ‘special’ Star Wars cup and a Darth Vader Candle. So, we’re checking out and the lady behind us said, “I just bought all the same stuff for my sons’ 8th birthday…” I laughed and said, “Yeh, this is for my husband’s…30th…” I got a weird look… 😉

We headed to Coldstone to pre-order the cake. I asked if they had any ‘themes’ they could do, like Star Wars (thinking a Darth Vader mask or something). The guy thought for a second and said, “No, but, we could do something…like….write ‘Star Wars’ on the cake…” Really?? You think that’s what I’m looking for? I told him I’d pass, but instead have, “Happy 30th Birthday Zach” written on it…with Orange icing (since there was orange in the decor). “OK, well, we don’t have orange…” Seriously? The guy names off every color imaginable except orange…so we went with red.

Well, we get everything lined up. Everything is going as planned.

I go to wash diapers on Thursday morning so there isn’t a huge pile sitting in the bathroom. As I wait for the cycle to click over…

Nothing.

Happens.

I wait.

For a long. Long. Time.

Nothing.

So, I try to make it switch cycles myself.

Nothing.

I have a washer filled with dirty diapers that won’t drain.

Awesome!

So I leave it alone for awhile (because that will totally work!) and try again. Nothing.

So, Thursday night (the night before EVERYone is scheduled to arrive), Zach oh-so-humbly gets all the nasty water out of the washer and takes the diapers and puts them in the bathtub in the boys’ bathroom to soak. He attempts to fix the washer, but nothing is working. For the record, this was the 3rd washer we’d been through in 5 years and they were all used. I was honestly at the point of holding my breath anytime I did laundry in fear of it not working properly.

So, at this point, I’m too tired/frustrated/stressed (remember, he has NO idea that anyone other than his parents/sister & her family will be here Friday when he gets home from work!) to figure out what to do so we don’t discuss it anymore that evening.

In the morning, we decided that we would search for a reliable, inexpensive new washer (We JUST bought a vacuum the previous Monday, and so I was sick and tired of reading/deciphering reviews of appliances!) so, since this needed to be taken care of ASAP, at 630am, Friday morning, I get to work researching prices, brands, options, delivery fees, etc…All while my mom is driving down to get here before lunch so we can go get the cake…

I finally decide on what I want.

Then Zach texts me and says something along the lines of, “A friend at work knows a repairman….maybe we can get him to come out this afternoon – my parents will be there to help you with the boys…”

Um. Not so much – we.are.having.a.party.!!!!!!!!!

Meanwhile, I go to wrap Zach’s birthday gift – two tiny tickets in a HUGE box…

And the wrapping paper is….

Transformers….sigh.

I triple check the other items we bought JUST to make sure it’s all Star Wars. We’re good. But then I realize that the ‘paper products’ are all orange…the cake will have red icing. Who cares? I do. So I throw it all back in the bag to exchange.

My mom arrives and we head out. I decide to run into Lowe’s and Home Depot to see if they have anything on clearance, but no such luck.

We grab lunch for the boys, I run into Party City, but I have to have the card for the items and my mom had graciously purchased them – so I waddle back out, tell her EXACTLY what I need and she goes in for me. We run to Coldstone and grab the cake…No mistakes, just a delish looking cake!

All during this, Zach thinks I’m at home, slaving over lunch for the boys and trying to get them down for naps…And all the while, via text we’re playing virtual tug of war: Repairman VS. New Washer.

I convinced him the new washer was the best idea, although, he wants to pick it up and NOT have it delivered on Sunday (fine by me…but YOUR PARTY!!!!) He’s talking about paying friends to swap vehicles and then says, “Maybe my dad can meet me at Sears with the van…” ok, just a bit more stress, but we can make this work…

So, I order the washer.

His best friend arrives…

And we wait.

I talk to his parents and they are fine with him going to meet Zach. So at the appropriate time, he leaves for Sears to meet him. I get a frantic phone call saying, “The washer is loaded, and Zach’s not here…wait, he’s pulling up, what do I do???” I told him to have Zach check it out and make sure it looked ok, ask him a couple questions…just delay him, as my mom had run out to grab the sides…

I get another call a couple minutes later, “We’re on our way home!” ooooook!!!! AGH!

Approximately 30 minutes later they arrive, I peeked into the garage and Zach’s all like, “Let’s hook this up and wash some clothes!!!!” I had to persuade him to come eat first since we had hungry, pregnant mamas and starving kids! He was READY to get to work on that thing! (Very anti-climatic to have a BRAND NEW WASHER and not use it — for both of us!)

He walks in and laughs so hard when he realizes it’s his party. His best friend comes walking in the kitchen and I think Zach did a triple check before realizing he was there!

Then I collapsed in a chair…and stayed there…

…and didn’t take a single picture 😉

whew.