Sunday, January 15, 2006 Well jet lag is a drag! That is for sure. It took Howard about a week to recover from the trip and it took me about four full days. Brooke on the other hand had adapted to New York time in two days and was again sleeping through the night on day three. That’s my girl! I was looking forward to a relaxing weekend to help adjust back to New York time. I was informed when we got home that a special belated birthday dinner was planned for Aunt Shari at a local restaurant. Now I love my sister very much but a big birthday bash on day three of our return was something I just didn’t think we could handle. I pleaded my case that I was just too tired and would not be much fun to be around but Howard said “Let’s go and have a good time and then come right back to rest.” I relented and off we were to celebrate Shari’s belated birthday. We had bought both my sisters Shari and Leslie, and Howard’s sister Michele, beautiful pearl bracelets in China. I painstakingly hand picked each strand of pearls so I dug through the suitcases (which were still in the middle of the hallway) to find the package. Once I had them we got in the car to grin and bear the festivities and give my sisters their pearls. We arrived at the restaurant, a local Persian grill, called Ravaugh. Matthew had gone ahead earlier with Papa June and I saw him peering out the restaurant window waiting for us with a big smile. I waved to him from the window and he was happy to see we were finally arriving twenty minutes late. Once we got inside I got the surprise of the century. All my family and a group of friends were standing in front of me with balloons and presents and a big SURPRISE! Howard, Leslie, Michele and Shari had planned a welcome home party for Brooke and for me. I was so shocked I couldn’t believe it. How guilty did I feel giving Howard and my dad such a hard time for wanting to stay home? Pretty darn guilty! Brooke had a grin from ear to ear when everyone shouted SURPRISE! Not even a tear. That’s my party girl all right. She went from person to person smiling and cooing and everyone enjoyed holding and playing with her. Matthew was also so excited to be part of the surprise. We had a great time and believe it or not, that tired feeling had vanished into thin air. We ate and drank and laughed and had a ball. The nice part of the surprise was that Andrew, Barbara, Josh and little Lindsey were there too! We had spent a whole two weeks with them and they never even spilled the beans. Too bad our other travel companions couldn’t be with us but they had previous plans. I found out later that Howard would be on the laptop late at night in China orchestrating the party plans and delegating details to Shari and Leslie via the internet. It must have been pretty late at night because I can swear that I was on posting to this site every night way into the wee morning hours. I can’t begin to tell you how happy Howard had made me. It was so thoughtful of him to plan a party for me. I will never forget it.

Surprise! Cousins Harris and Sam and Aunt Michele Aunt Claudia and Brooke Overseas party planners

Brooke cuts the cake


I pulled it off!  She was surprised.


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