Anatomy of a Surprise Party
I am a person who prides myself on being prepared, being calm cool and collected, and knowing enough about what's going on around me in order to avoid being surprised. I've always enjoyed the saying that chance favors the prepared mind. This Saturday, that all went out the window when I was taken - hook, line and sinker - completely by surprise for my 30th birthday party.
Let me say that, after careful analysis and with full benefit of 20-20 hindsight, the pieces of this clever web of deceit seem to fit ever so carefully into place - and just right. I have newfound respect for my wife and her scheming. While thinking back on all of the clues I completely missed, I feel like Truman on The Truman Show when he looked back on his life after learning the whole thing was a sham - that he was an unknowing cast member of his own life story living in a movie set. Had he just looked a little bit closer, he would have realized, plain as day, what was happening around him. Oh, the humanity.
I've never had a surprise party up until now. I had a suspicion that Dina might try something so I had my guard up a bit. My birthday came and went. I had a small party last Sunday which was a gathering of a few friends and some of Dina's family. I knew my family was coming the following weekend so the fact that they wouldn't come up two weekends in a row seemed perfectly normal to me. I was happy with my party. I was very happy (and surprised) by my birthday gift. I was perfectly happy with my party. It was normal. It was comfortable. It was routine. Afterwards, when it was over, I bid farewell to my twenties and stood ready to face my 30s. Somewhere in the process, I completely let my guard down.
Fast forward to this past weekend and past even more clues to the point when my parents arrived Saturday at noon to spend the weekend with us. Sure enough, they arrive right at noon as I was getting out of the shower. Dina and I had nearly concluded our routine last minute cleaning - sans bedroom and 2nd floor (why would they go up there?). All of it was perfectly normal. Our plan was to split up with my Dad and I headed out to CT to test drive a motorhome he's been eyeing for some time and my Mom, Dina, and Colby would head to Christmas Tree Shoppes for the purchasing of some non-essential trinkets. Colby went down for his nap at about 2 so my Dad and I headed out then. It was just north of Hartford, so the trip took about an hour and change. It turned out to be a gorgeous day and the ride was beautiful. We took all back roads to get out there and drove through some beautiful towns - particularly Stafford Springs. We arrive at the dealership and my Dad got to test drive the rig, we looked all around the place, looked at different layouts, different campers, talked to the dealer, talked about different deals and why he should buy sooner rather than later, yada yada yada. We left there to head back at about 4:30, stopped for some ice cream in Stafford Springs, took a leisurely walk around the town, got back in the car and continued the drive back through beautiful country roads. My mom called my dad to confirm that we had reservations that evening for shortly after 7. We were eating at an Italian place in Douglas. Once we were nearly home, we then stopped at a Toyota dealership because my Dad wanted to look at purchasing a new vehicle - something more fuel efficient. So, we looked at model after model, checked the stickers for the MSRP and the fuel economy estimates... looked at more of the same model... opened the hoods, opened the trunks.... Then, we got less than a mile from my house and stopped for gas and to get my Dad cough drops. Finally, we drove the last mile to my house, pulled in the driveway and, to my wondering eye, saw Dina's father merrily strolling down the side of my yard towards the back of my house. He glanced over at us and smiled and kept walking. Strange I thought and exclaimed to my father, "I think that's Dina's father!? Wait, it is. What the hell? What the hell is he doing here? And what is that goofy grin he's got on his face? Why didn't he come up to say hi? What's he doing here, working in the garden? Wait, where's his car?" All of these thoughts ran through my head and/or were vocalized to my father. My father's response? "Looks like he's had too much wine." And then I walk in the door to get completely and thoroughly surprised.
Now, without going into any detail about how great a time I had or how good it was to see everyone who came or how awesome it is to be truly surprised, here is my Truman Show relevation where I outline the clues I realized I had overlooked once I began to piece everything together:
- Dina asking me for an export of my Gmail contact list. Preying upon the way I meticulously (anal) keep everything organized. I didn't think much of that.
- Dina visiting me at work and Renuka mistakenly saying to Dina how she now had her email.
- Having one of my co-workers (Arlington) swap his on-call shift on a Wednesday / Thursday so he could take my weekend. That almost didn't happen as I didn't think it was fair to him to give up his weekend for a mid week. I even think I remember saying something like "Rookie mistake". Well, look who's laughing now.
- Dina coming home from BJ's with $500 worth of food. "Just stocking up, dear!" And missing the fact that the receipt and list of "things to make" was in plain sight on the counter.
- Accidentally seeing an email in Dina's GMail titled "Surprise 30th!" and thinking that last week's party was supposed to have been a surprise which she messed up somehow.
- Seeing an event in our shared Google Calendar called "Ladies' Night" for this past Saturday (a cover).
- Dina having intimate knowledge of my on-call schedule.
- Dina's mom offering to take Colby on Saturday (to give Dina time to prep), but instead taking him on Thursday night (for "date night") so Dina could shop on Friday.
- My Dad's numerous stall tactics on Saturday afternoon: Driving an hour + to CT to test drive a motor home, spending quite a bit of time after the test drive looking at motorhomes and campers which were of no interest to him, stopping for ice cream on the way back (my idea, ironically) and then proceeding to walk all over the town, stopping at the Toyota dealership to look at some models, and then proceed to look at the same models on the other side of the lot, stopping at HoneyDew for gas and "cough drops" and him taking longer than it would normally take someone to purchase one small item.
- Having the address of the motorhome dealership miraculously show up automatically in the "to" field of Google Maps.
- Dina asking on numerous occasions what we wanted to do when my parents came up.
- Dina insisting that we buy a new patio set. "Wouldn't it be nice to sit on the porch and enjoy it when your parents come up?"
- Dina purchasing a new fire pit when we already have a perfectly good circle of rocks.
- Dina not giving me too much of a hard time when he went down for his nap and she was "stuck with him" when my dad and I went to look at motorhomes.
- Possibly more....
In any case, as you can see, the writing was on the wall and I still had no clue. My hats off to all who helped in these shenanigans, but mostly to Dina who did an amazing job pulling everything together. Thanks everyone! I had a great time and am now officially ready to head into my 30s.
[Posted on 19-May-2008 at 8:07 AM]
[Comment]
Response #686 posted by Robyne Konz on 19-May-2008 at 11:11 AM from IP Address 68.197.46.63
Ya see, when you start into your 30s', it's the onset of that disease called 'oltimers'. You're only beginning. As you 'fly' through these years, it becomes more prominent and YOU will be writing more detailed notes for yourself....and only to rewrite them again because you've misplaced the originals. It's a mind game, Jimmy....a BIG mind challenging game....probably the biggest one you'll ever play. Hehe! ;B
