I had told Dana that I had not arranged anything for his birthday. After the surprise last year, I did not think that he would be fooled again, and as Sunday night is not as easy to plan as Saturday, I chose to adhere to his usual wish of 'no fuss or bother'. When he says he does not want a fuss, he actually means he does not want a fuss. There is no grey with my husband, it is all black or white! He is the original 'wysiwyg'. What you see is what you get! He did enjoy his surprise last year, but once a decade is good enough.
However, Samantha thought that the day should not go by without at least a tiny surprise. I was surprised that he did not guess that there would be a surprise. On Father's Day, her and Edward had turned up at one of our regular spots, and surprised him. He had enjoyed the surprise! "Are you going out on Sunday night, if so, where and when?" was the question. I had expressed a preference earlier in the day, just to give him food for thought, and had let her know it was a 'go' with a suggested a time. Of course, the best laid plans, etc., etc., came into play! I came back from my swim, got ready and sat down to edit last week's post. "Once I get this done, we can go", I told him. I turned my phone on silent, so that he would not get suspicious. I let Samantha know our estimated time of arrival at the restaurant. I sat and edited, and was nearly finished, but I had to stall for time. "Just putting in some pictures", I said, in a matter of fact way. Of course, the pictures would not upload properly, and my stalling for time became 'running out' of time. Calculating the time it would take for Dana to get ready, was not easy. He can be ready in a 'tick' or he can take longer than necessary. I have learned to relax when I am ready to leave and he decides his hair is too long and has to take care of it, there and then! However, there is no way to anticipate what will happen. I had thought that, perhaps, he would take slightly longer than he did, and I had to stall again. It is difficult to 'stall' when going for a 'take out' as I do not have to decide what to wear, or on matching shoes, or how I want to do my hair. I just 'go'. I was like a 'jumping jack', up and down, and basically acting out of character. I felt sure that he knew something was amiss, and he was playing his 'joker'.
I let Samantha know we were about to walk out the door and she responded that they had just left. This was now another problem. Their route is longer than ours! I had to spend a few seconds checking out the 'garden' before getting into the car. Not too long, but a few seconds here and there would cause a slight lapse in time. We headed out, and of course, the traffic was very light! As we arrived, I tried to text, covertly, that we were on site. I did so as Dana got out of the car, and walked around to open my door. I did not press the sent button, but instead managed to insert a strange picture after my message. I had no option but to 'send' as he opened my door, in his full view. Parked at the front of the store, Samantha saw us entering, and stayed in her car until we were inside. I felt sure Dana had seen them. He smiled as we queued. "What?" I asked. "Just deciding on what to have", he said. The door opened, and he kept looking straight ahead. "We have to stop meeting like this", said my daughter. My husband continued to look ahead. "Dana!" she repeated. The expression on his face was a picture. He spent the rest of the evening asking how he did not know, how he did not guess, especially after Father's Day. How was he always the one to 'give away' the surprise, but never the one to get the 'give away' actions! He was genuinely surprised. As I said, there is no 'grey' with my husband. He would have told me if he had 'faked' it, and being that there is no 'grey', he would not have faked it, but told us how he knew!
The week had threatened to be blisteringly hot, but the thunder storm that rolled in around four in the afternoon took out some of the heat. I wondered whether I would be able to swim before going out for dinner. I watched the storm calculating how long it would take to go swimming, get ready and leave to go out, but each time I got up to get ready, another strike of lightening hit, and another crack of thunder rolled. Eventually, time ran out!
The birthday cake was magnificent. Obviously, it involved Buccee!
Samantha outdid herself with the present!
It was one of those weeks where nothing fitted but it didn't matter.
There seemed to be little continuity, but it was not a problem. Each day there was something new. Samantha had found an application on her phone, (which she probably knew was there but had not used it, or had used it but not shown it,) where it would show what you would look like when you were old. Of course, my picture had me looking like my grandmother, with a bit of my mother in it. I often look at myself in the mirror and see my mother, but recently, I have seen my grandmother. It was rather odd! Grant looked very funny, as his head looked too big without any hair. Dana looked the same! He thought that Samantha had been fooling him! "You didn't put the app on my picture, did you?" He asked. Of course, she had. I tried to tell him that he would not age from here on out, but Samantha, being less kind, told him that he just looked old now! After showing him how it worked, and pointing out a couple of extra wrinkles, and a slight adjustment in his hair line, he became satisfied. Then came the cartoon characters! She had me plait my hair to one side, and as I had on a royal blue coloured dress, I became Elsa! Then I had to (yes, had to) 'lip-sync' to the tune, 'Let it go', and of course, (yes, of course,) I played it to the full!
"What do you mean, it has gone virali?" I asked. "To whom have you sent it?" It appeared that the video she made had been circulated among a 'chosen few'. "Just a couple of people", she said. "Jodie said she needed this today, and Laura thought it was really good. Louise thought....". Enough! How many? My rendition of 'Let it go', was now, apparently making its way around the English countryside, and along the outskirts of Texas! I suppose it was better than sending the picture where I looked like my grandmother!
The post lady came in the following day, with a newbie she was training. He was very shy, and did not say much. We commented that although there had been a lot of rain, the humidity was high, and it had not cooled down much. "Are you Texan born and bred?" I asked. He appeared to take offense. "No!" he said, in a rather gruff manner. "Me neither! So the weather takes some getting used to!" He went to leave, following the post lady. "Sorry, what is your name?" he asked me. I told him, and he told me his. "Is that accent from Australia?" he asked. I told him no, and that I was from England. "Isn't that the same place?" His genuine ignorance was rather astounding. "No, one is up here, and the other down under, hence the phrase, down under". He looked a bit confused. "But you speak the same, don't you?" I resisted letting him know that if he was talking language, then we all speak the same, but I let it go. "They speak slightly to the left", I said. He seemed happy with that explanation.
It was a good week, with compliments and other comments! It ended with some shopping and giving a recipe to the cashier at Costco who asked me "What do you do with Mahi-Mahi?"
I finished one book and started another over the weekend, and was quite relaxed by the time it was almost over. I do not plan to make any more videos, or keep my husband in the dark about surprises, but I am sure there will be plenty of things to make ........... another story!
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