Mike's Dad's Birthday and "What A Good Friend"

Mike's Dad turned 70 so we hosted the big party. It was a surprise party and he was genuinely surprised. Mike and his family had a hard time keeping it that way and had dropped clues left and right, but they pulled it off. We had about sixty or seventy people here on Saturday. A few of Grou's brothers came and they were happy to see each other. Most of Mike's Mother's family came too, and everyone stayed til about 9:00 pm.
Mike's parents stayed until midnight, so I think they had a good time. Grou seemed very appreciative and Mike was hilarious to watch through the surprising. Tracy and I were both laughing at him and she even said "Look at him, he's nervous." And Mike said, "I am, I'm nervous," and then couldn't stop smiling. He was pretty much giddy all day, and was really happy to have everything go so well. He had planned everything, made all the phonecalls, hired the decorator (Tracy), and set up the chairs, tables, and even picked up the food. In fact, he almost missed the surprise and had to literally be ordered into the shower to get ready because he was doing Everything! The party turned out really well and I was happy for Mike and his Dad, too. I think everyone was happy for Mike's Dad, and he really did seem to have a great birthday.

Thank Gosh Tracy was there to keep me company. Mike enlisted her help with decorating because her skills are far better than mine. She makes everything beautiful, so I wasn't the least bit offended he wanted her help. She brought tablecloths, crates, balloons, sombreros, candy, and all kinds of things. Everyone loved the decor and complimented everything. Later, when Mallory's friends came over around midnight I let them think for 2 minutes that I had done it all myself. They were amazed and loved it, and then I told them it was all Tracy. They all laughed because they literally laugh at everything, which is why I love all of Mallory's friends.
As for My Poor Friend, many of Mike's relatives thought she was the hired help and treated her as such! Mike made a formal announcement and told everyone this is our friend, who has been our friend for a long time, and she helped us with the party today, but is not the hired help. Anytime someone asked Tracy who she was she said, "I'm nobody." But when they treated her like that she said, "Mike can never, ever be mean to me again!" I agreed, and told her none of us can. The entire night I just kept thinking how lucky I am and both of us are to have such nice friends who will always help us out, keep us company, clean up, and laugh at anything that is ridiculous. Erin had even written, "What a good friend you have," and it's true. I know it. We both do. Even at the end of the night, Tracy was walking around with a trashbag picking up the backyard, and so was Brian. One of Mike's cousins stopped me and told me how lucky I was and that I have a friend who will, "Watch Your Back." Of course, Trace had to scoff at this and "Watch Your Back" became the catch phrase of the night.
Most of our night went like this, and we found a million things to laugh about. I was grateful to have my buddy there keeping me company and making me laugh at everything through the whole party. I would have been lonesome without her, and she knew it. Erin said it perfectly, "What A Good Friend!"