Earl and I have now been together for eight years. In that eight years he has tried to surprise me several times. It all started on the night he proposed. He tried to convince me that we were helping his friend Paul propose to his girlfriend though I saw right through his fragile plan. It was quite ridiculous actually that he thought I would believe we were going to stand around and hand out flowers and take pictures while another guy proposed. Anyway, that's a whole other story and we know how it turned out and that's what's important. Let's just say that that night's events set the tone for our marriage thus far.
Over the years Earl has gotten this idea that I snoop around and seek out my gifts and this is the reason that he can never surprise me. I can honestly say this isn't the case. I don't know why it is that I always figure out what he's up to or what present he has gotten me. I do understand why he thinks this way though. Another example: December 2007 Earl wanted to surprise me with getting my wedding ring fixed. It had set in my jewelry box--needing repairs--for several months without even a thought. I very rarely even get into the box. One day (which turned out to be just two days after he took it) I went into the jewelry box to find a necklace for Annabelle to wear and I saw that the ring was missing. I wasn't even worried; I quickly concluded that Earl was getting it repaired as a Christmas present for me. I was actually a little disappointed that the surprise had been ruined because it was such a great gift. I wasn't going to say anything about it, but later when Earl saw Annabelle with the necklace on he figured out that I knew he had taken the ring. He was further convinced that I am a snoop. (Which again I say, I am not).
Yesterday was my 28th birthday and when making plans for it we decided that on Thursday we would celebrate as a family and that on Friday night we would have Jeni and Kevin babysit and Earl and I would go to a movie. All week I reminded Earl of this plan, though every time we talked about it he acted as though he had no idea what was actually going to happen. I told him that Jen and Kev would come over for dinner and then we would leave afterwards and go to a movie. All week he remained confused. I told him that on Thursday night I wanted to go to Famous Dave's for some barbecue. (It's a new restaurant that we have been wanting to try). He wouldn't agree to go, he said that we should go on Friday night instead when we didn't have the kids so it wouldn't be so expensive. The conversation went something like this:
Lisa: I want to go to Famous Dave's for my birthday dinner.
Earl: I don't think we should go there, it will be too expensive to go with the kids. We should go on Friday night.
Lisa: Honey, How many times do I have to tell you? On Friday night, Jeni and Kevin are coming over. They are making dinner and we are going to eat with them. After dinner we are going to a movie and they will watch the children.
Earl: Well, I still think we should pick somewhere else to go.
Lisa: Alright
We ate at Red Robin on Thursday night.
On Friday afternoon Jeni and I went to Wal-Mart and we talked about our plans for the evening. While we were out I complained to her about how flustered I've been with Earl this week about him not understanding our plans. I dropped her off at her house a little after 3 and headed home to get the house in order. She said she and Kevin would be over around 5 to start dinner. I came home and cleaned. I sanitized the toys and vacuumed the floor so Clark could enjoy himself without germs and eating things off the floor. I was hot and exhausted when they walked in around 5:10. I was standing in the kitchen when Jeni walked by--the first thing that I noticed was that she had changed her clothes and was quite dressed up for babysitting. Kevin was right behind her and he didn't have dinner in his hands or...Clark! SURPRISE they said, we are all going to dinner and a movie and the girls are going to the Carlsens to be babysat. I was really taken off guard--Need I remind you: I have never been surprised by Earl before. Jen told me to stop cleaning and get ready to go. Earl came home shortly thereafter with a fancy Jaguar and quite a look of success on his face. We took the kids over to the Carlsens (they promised us babysitting in exchange for Earl spending several late hours at the airport waiting for Ken's plane to come in). We headed to dinner and where should we end up? Why, Famous Dave's, of course. It was soooooo delicious. It's been a long time since I've had a good barbecue sandwich. Everything there was amazing. The barbecue, the strawberry lemonade, the service and don't get me started on the corn muffins! It was worth every penny. After dinner we headed over to the movie theater to see Taken. It was soooo good. I really enjoyed watching Liam Neeson kick butt. It's refreshing to see someone in their 50's do some action for a change. It was kinda like watching Jason Bourne all grown up. It was such a fun night. I got to ride around in a fancy car with my hubby and best friends and enjoy a super delicious meal and watch a great flick. We got reports that the girls were good and had a blast. It was a very successful evening. Once the intial shock wore off I was finally able to tell Earl how grateful I was for it all. I was pretty quiet about it in the beginning because being surprised is so new to me.
I can't wait for next year. HA!
