Closet update

Pocket Door installed...
And closet organization in place...yea!

There are still a few finishing touches (like door hardware and baseboards) - which we have bought...but haven't gotten to yet.

Also, the baseboards are waiting for the 'built in dresser', which I told Rob to put on hold while getting to other tasks (like my kitchen faucet!)- sterilite "drawers" will have to do for now!

Finally got "my" kind of faucet in - single handle (and the sprayer stops spraying when you release the handle...rather than drenching you!)

Next step: Drywall

Carolyn helped me paint the pocket door (she got the bottom half - I did the top then cleaned up her bottom half) - we still have the other side to do this Saturday...I wouldn't recommend hiring a 4 year old for painting jobs. :)Then, the exterior wall had no insulation - Rob took care of that.
Then, the drywall went up. (The joints and screws have all been 'mudded' once so far, and will need a second coat sometime this week before we paint it and add moulding.)

Wish Rob had another day off... 4 weeks til goal date...and counting (at least I am!)

Demolition done...ready for step 2!

This is all cleaned up after Rob and Seth finished the demo last night - all ready to start drywall on Friday! yea!We wanted to put in a pocket door, but weren't sure about dealing with the studs (changing them to "split studs") - but a blessing happened under the paneling! The wall has previously been set up for a pocket door (why they changed it I don't know?) - so excited!
More posting after the weekend...

Project 1: Closet Remodel

This is Beth posting for Rob...he probably should change the address of the blog - b/c the couch isn't moving. However, there is TONS of room for change in this house (just not in furniture rearrangement).

So,...to leave Legend Oaks behind (which he never finished posting about anyways), here is the first project of our new (40 year old) house! :)

This is how the girls' closet looked upon moving in (awful - 1 crusty rack that I can barely reach and pieces of wood nailed randomly to the wall, oh, and the tacky paneling didn't even cover all the way to the ceiling - about a 1" gap).

So, demolition begins (with Seth helping him) - first the crusty closet rack and nasty wood pieces come off...why were they there? We don't know? (We expected to find holes behind them!)

Then, all that yucky paneling comes off! (along with baseboards and parts of the door frame of course).



It's a decent sized closet - walk in actually (the only one in the house that's walk in) - so we decided to get creative. The twins' dresser is going to the baby (it has a changing table type top), so without any luck on craig's list, etc (and not willing to pay full price for a dresser), we are going to put some built-ins in the closet to hold the twins' clothes (maybe Carolyn's too?) - more racks, and some better shoe organization.

And the door (which swings into the closet, limiting what you can put in there) - that's coming down! It will be replaced with a different type of door, but we're still looking into what we want to make sure we can do it.

Well, we'll keep you posted! Goal Date for completion: November 14th

Ending Radio Silence - Part 3

Let's make some room!

The girls room had these completely worthless things called "toys," so we got rid of those.

We eventually took Carolyn's bed out as well.

Seth's room (which is now Seth and Carolyn's room) didn't lose as much, but we put the bunk bed in the far corner and greatly reduced the clutter.


Our bedroom went through a massive de-cluttering effort. We removed Beth's craft table, my exercise bike, and our guitars.


We removed the food storage shelves from under the shelf in the kitchen, which was a simple but great improvement in appearance.


Rearranging the living room accentuated the "open floor plan". It doesn't fit our personality at all, but it looks fine for now.


All that just so we could put one small sign in the front yard.

Ending Radio Silence - Part 2

Home projects are a family affair around here. And we're... unconventional... OK, so I guess I'M the one who's unconventional with many of my management practices.

In this episode, wanted to get a good idea of what we needed to do to prep the house, so I grabbed a piece of chalk and the nearest piece of wall and started writing. The kids helped.

Chalk comes off most paints with just a sponge and a bit of water. Use the idea at your own risk.


I'm pretty tall, so all I typically need for painting is a small stool.



Beth's youngest brother David saw room for improvement on my idea, so he set up the scaffold. Lots of room for movement- much more efficient than my idea.



Beth's next-oldest brother Will could NOT be outdone by his little brother, so he showed us all how it was to be done!


And here's the finished product. This is the same corner in which I was standing on the stool.


P.S. Want a white board but don't want to spend the money to get a big enough one to use? Use dry erase markers on a window or a mirror. Done one the cheap. Yeah!

Ending Radio Silence - Part 1

For those of you out there keeping score at home, I haven't posted anything about rearranging the house for quite a while- about three months, in fact. The reason is that we've been working on a long-term project. But, it has finally... well, finished isn't exactly the right word, but we've reached the end of the project.

So let's go back to March of this year and catch up. The last post of this series will be the longest because so many of the project pieces came together within the past couple days.



Story Time:

Once upon a time we had an enormous computer desk.


Beth and I were both in school and we used the computer a great deal, so it was the central part of... well, the entire house.

Then we got a great deal on what I liked to call the Bailey Family Receptionist Desk.


It was even larger than the first one! This thing could hold 2 monitors, 2 laptops, a printer, a KVM, 3 computers, a trash can, 2 drawers of files, 2 drawers of supplies- the works! But good gravy, it took up just about half of the house. So we downsized.

Enter the Executive Desk.


We wanted something still large enough to hold files and the computer, but now we had a flat-panel monitor so it didn't need to be so deep.


Enough is enough- we're going minimalist. We commissioned the two best carpenters in the house (Will and me) to make a simple desk.


No frills- no drawers, no cable drop holes, no Murphy Bed. It's sturdy, fairly stable and very low-maintenance. But most importantly, it's tiny. It's about four feet wide and about sixteen inches deep, so it fits between the couch and the wall.

Oh yeah, and it only took a weekend to create.

Miniature Golf Is A Serious Sport

Beth's post about our recent Miniature Golfing Trip to Myrtle Beach told only part of the story, so I thought I'd... embellish.

Seth demonstrates his commitment and dedication to the sport with his stance.

David, while deviating slightly from the serious image we golfers typically portray with his pink ball, demonstrates an admirable level of concentration in this challenging finishing putt.

Beth's Dad (Grandaddy) is the epitome of concentration. As Seth is being stalked by a ferocious dinosaur, he is keeping his cool and lining up his putt.

I had two recorded Holes In One during the game and this would have been my third, if I had nudged it a bit harder or if the wind had remained constant. I took the wind into account using my handy dandy slide-rule, but Mother Nature isn't as constant as I am.

More juicy details:

• Grandaddy stomped us all royally the first round. He was only a few strokes over par and more than 5 strokes better than any of the rest of us. Grandaddy was the best overall because he was both accurate and precise (he only deviated by one point between rounds and stayed very close to par in both). I'm appalled that my darling wife would have the audacity to laugh at such a fine specimen of a golfer as the Magnificent Grandaddy.
• I came back in spectacular form (if I do say so myself) to beat everyone by 1 or 2 strokes the second round. I won the title of the Most Improved by making up 9 strokes between the two rounds.
• Seth and David both dominated their respective age classes.
• Seth was the only other one in the crowd who had a recorded Hole In One.
• David was heroic in saving my borrowed hat from certain peril. The wind took it but David, leaping across the raging creek in a single bound, caught it before it got to the outer fence. Such gallantry!

And that, my friends, is something MUCH closer to the real story.

It's Alive!

Thank you, my loving, supportive public. Your prayers and well-wishes have been rewarded.

My little tree (Tree 2.0) has survived the harsh South Carolina winter. Go ahead! Laugh it up! It almost thought about snowing a time or two. Sorta. We even had snow days. (Sure, there was no snow, but school was canceled nonetheless.)


Behold! Green things sprouting out of the branches. It's alive! It's alive!


The other tree that I tried to transplant was just too traumatized by the move, so I'm going to have to remove it.

Fun with kids

One of my favorite Jack Handy quotes is "The face of a child can say it all- especially the mouth part of the face."

A few nights ago I was putting Carolyn to bed. In the middle of her prayer, she sits up and says, "Wait, I gotta bless somebody. Mom told me about... Never mind, I don't remember."

I then escorted Carolyn to her bed, tucked her in, and leaned over to get a hug. I had shaved my head just a few hours before. She reached her arms around my neck and said "Good night, Daddy. Where's your hair?"

Carolyn is very much like her Grammy (Beth's Mom). We saw Grammy the next day and the first thing she asked me was, "Rob, where's your hair?" I forgot it in my other pants.

One morning I heard the kids playing in another room. I heard Seth say, "Get in the bag." At first I was concerned- kids and plastic bags don't mix- but I decided to keep listening. He kept insisting, "Get in the bag," and I heard Carolyn disagreeing. It sounded to me like he was telling Carolyn to climb into his sleeping bag. He then stuffed a balloon into the sleeping bag and said, "There, see? There's a balloon in the bag. It's a party. There's a party in the bag. Get in the bag." I was grateful that I was in another room so that they couldn't hear my laughter.

Dream Big? Maybe

OK, all you great comment-leavers out there. Warm up your fingers and get ready to drop some thought in my comment section. Please- I'd love some guidance here. Ground rules: you can't echo someone else's comment. Be original.


These are mostly unorganized thoughts, but they have a point and they have a common theme- I'll get to those two things soon.

I. By small and simple means are great things brought to pass
Story: About 2 years ago I found Beth's old Rubik's cube in Seth's toybox and decided I was going to figure it out. I worked at it at random times (while my code was building at work, when my computer was rebooting, when I rode to and from work with someone, etc). After a few months of practicing for far less than an hour a day, I had it. And from there I learned how to solve the 2x2x2, 4x4x4, and 5x5x5. All from minutes a day.

Story: I love to read, but with 4 kids I seem to have less and less time each year to dedicate to reading. I started listening to books on CD that I got from the library. During the past 4 years, I have "read" nearly 2 dozen books during my commute to and from work and church activities.

Moral: It's amazing what you can accomplish with simple, repeated effort.


II. Career
Thought: Jared and I were talking about work and our available career paths. He and I both have talked about wanting to pursue higher degrees so that we can teach and help people. Some look at higher degrees as portals to prestige, income, or flexibility in schedule. Others want to make a difference- make their mark on the world. We stayed on that last concept for a while. Jared tossed out this thought like a lawn dart that intuitively finds- and punctures- the sprinkler system: What is the source of our sense of accomplishment?

Unanswered questions: Are we living someone else's dream? Who are we listening to that tells us we have succeeded? Are we deciding that for ourselves? How much do you have to earn/accomplish/be in order to be "done"? Why?


III. Eternal Perspective
Monologue: Many things we do in this life will have eternal consequences- eternal importance. What job we hold or what career we build, however, will probably be just a detail. But in the meantime, while we're still in our lives, making money is a huge deal- having your family end up on the street is a bad thing.
Our relationship with Heavenly Father is supposed to be #1 in our lives. But with work draining 9 hours a day (plus 2 more for commuting)- it sure doesn't seem like He's getting His fair share. There must be some way to put the Lord first while still giving work the lion's share of my time.


IV. Wrap It Up
I'm actually not going to point out the common theme. I'll leave it all out there and let you figure out what it means to you. That's more important than what it means to me.
The point, though, is that how we use our time can prove to be critically helpful or critically damaging.


V. Leave the Loose Ends Untied
Is it okay to dream big? Maybe- if you can be "moderate in all things". Is it okay to float through life with no dreams or plans at all? Maybe- if you make good choices. Where's the line? Nope, sorry- no answers to that one here. Does this whole thought group make you feel unsatisfied and a little uncomfortable- maybe even a bit lost? Yeah, me too. That's why I wrote it down.

Your turn.

Shiver (Try This)

I got this through Facebook, but thought it would be fun to post here. I'm not going to "tag" anyone formally- just do it if you want to and pretend I tagged you. It's fun!


Guidelines:
1. Put your iTunes or Windows Media Player on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your next answer.
3. You must write that song name down no matter how outrageous it sounds!
4. Tag friends who might enjoy doing the game as well as the person who tagged you


IF SOMEONE SAYS, “IS THIS OKAY” YOU SAY?
The Sound of Silence - Simon and Garfunkel


WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Something More - Train


WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
I'll Be There - Me First and the Gimme Gimmes


WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
Another Park, Another sunday - The Doobie Brothers


WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Push - Matchbox 20


WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Pienso En Ti - Chayanne (I think about you)


WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT OFTEN?
We Will Rock You - Queen


WHAT IS 2+2?
Gone - TobyMac


WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Lake of Fire - Nirvana


WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Wishing It Was - Santana


WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Children In Bloom - Counting Crows


WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
The Streets - Jay-Z


WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Daylight Fading - Counting Crows


WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Hello - Me First and the Gimme Gimmes


WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Just You 'N' Me - Chicago


WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Situations - Jack Johnson


WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Dreams Be Dreams - Jack Johnson


WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
American Beauty Rose - Frank Sinatra


WHAT’S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
In The End - Linkin Park


HOW WILL YOU DIE?
Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me) - The Temptations


WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
Lying From You - Linkin Park


WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
Then I Did - Rascal Flatts


WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
Wildflowers - Tom Petty


WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
Landslide - Fleetwood Mac


WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
Gettin' Jiggy Wit It - Will Smith (Hahahahahahah!)


DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
Disease - Matchbox 20


IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
Supposed to Be - Jack Johnson


WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
Brand New Song - Reel Big Fish


WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
Shiver - Coldplay

Project: TV Stand

We got a new TV and didn't really have a place for it. So, we put it on top of the old console TV that Beth's grandparents gave us (thanks, Grandma and Gramps).

Well, around the beginning of the year, we decided to try to find a TV stand to match the TV. We looked at Walmart.com, Target.com, HH Gregg, Circuit City (remember them?), Best Buy, and even a couple of real furniture stores. Bottom line- we weren't happy with what we found.

The ones that had enough storage space and looked nice were well over $500 and our budget was $250. The ones that were affordable were either cheaply made, ugly, or didn't have enough storage space (or a combination of those).

So, by golly, we made one. This was, by far, the hardest project I've ever completed. It also looks nicer than anything I've ever made (besides my adorable kids, heh heh heh). And I approached it in an entirely different way- each step was its own mini-project. I decided to make the cabinet and if it turned out well I'd make drawers. If they turned out well, I'd make doors. And if it was acceptable all together, I'd finish (stain and seal) it.

Step 1: The Cabinet



Step 2: Drawers



Step 3: The Doors



Step 4: Finish!



Check out the storage space! (Beth loves those things.)



And we made it within our budget as well! Woohoo!

P.S. Take a closer look at the links, and hover over the pictures with your mouse. "Easter eggs" abound.

Saturday, 31 January, 2009 (part 2)

Near the end of the surprise party, Beth and her Mom start taking down the decorations. Some of the guests thought that was hilarious- they’d never seen a party being undone while it was still in force. They just wanted things clean, so the decorations needed to move along. The couple I was talking to said “Well, it looks like we’ve overstayed our welcome. Time to go!”

A load of people went to Jacob’s new apartment to take a gander at it and I was tasked with putting the twins down for a nap. This I accomplished with very little effort. We simply watched a movie they found boring and they fell asleep in my lap due to lack of interest. Ha!
Once the movie was done, we fired up the Wii and I was getting ready to mop the floor with Will in Golf, but realized I needed to get dressed and out the door for my meeting. I got dressed and headed out the door just in time to hear Jared say,
“Oh no, he fell.”
I looked at Jared and followed his gaze up the road, noticing a figure crumpled in the street. The man stood up and Jared said,
“He got up. He’s okay. Good.”
I could see the guy, but he was almost a quarter mile away so I had no idea who he was. There’s a guy in the neighborhood who can be seen some days on his skateboard and I thought it was him. So I asked Jared,
“Is he just some guy?”
“No,” he replied, “it’s Jacob!”
He started walking quickly toward Jacob and I jumped in my car to head out for my meeting. As I approached them walking back towards my house, I could see concern in Jared’s face (he was walking about a dozen paces in front of Jacob) and blood running down Jacob’s face. Jacob was chatting away on his phone, verbally minimizing the damage he’d done to himself. I stopped and said,
“Holy crap, Jacob.”
Jacob came closer to my car and leaned over so that he could look at himself in one of my side mirrors. It looked like blood had been flowing, but that it wasn’t going to be serious, so I bid them good luck and headed on my way to church.

2 hours later, I pulled back into my driveway and noticed the absence of cars. Only our van was in the driveway. I went through a mental roll-call to figure out where everyone would be. Dad and David would be at the Stake Center; Mom, Beth, and Kristen would be heading to the fireside; Jacob must have headed off in pursuit of womenfolk, as usual… But the lights were on, doors were open, and I knew the kids were still home. So I just had to figure out who was left. But what I saw didn’t add up. Jared and Kristen’s car wasn’t there. I didn’t think Beth would leave Will all by himself to hold down the fort (and more importantly, I didn’t think the kids would let her or Grammy leave them with Uncle Will). It just didn’t add up, but I’d figure it out soon enough. One thing was for sure- it wouldn’t be another surprise party!

I went through the garage door to clean up my mess and Beth and Kristen came out to talk to me.
“So, you don’t know anything about the drama do you?” one of them asked.
“You mean Jacob? I saw he was bleeding as I left. Is he okay?” I replied.
“Well, Jacob and Mom went to the… Wait, no, Dad… Mom, Dad, Will, and Jacob are all at the emergency room. They tried to go to Doctor’s Care but that was closed and then some EMT guy told them to go to the hospital but they’ve been there for hours and haven’t even been seen yet. Jared’s cleaning out our car.”
Bells and whistles begin going off in my head. I am left with a bunch of questions.
“Wait, what? It was serious enough to go to the hospital?”
“Yeah,” they replied “we got him some bandages but they wouldn’t hold. The cut was really deep and it just kept bleeding.”

Again, I was left with more questions than I had to begin with. It took a good 10 minutes of listening to them in hopes that those questions would get answered, but that was pointless. So then I just came out with them:
Q: Why in the world does it take 3 people to take one to the ER?
A: When Jacob came home bleeding all over the place, Kristen and Jared went for bandages while everyone else tried to get the bleeding to stop. After K&J came back, Mom took Jacob out to “find someone” to help. I’m STILL not clear about how it all happened, but the end result was that they went to Doctor’s Care (which was closed) and to the parking lot of some grocery store and found an EMT who (couldn’t fix it, but) told them to go to the ER. They called back here to my house and Jared offered to take Will and go sit with Jacob in the ER so that Mom could come home and enjoy time with the kids. Dad said he was going to go sit with Jacob and that Jared didn’t have to and Will went with him. So that’s how they all got there. After that, Mom came back to the house to go with Beth to the fireside thing but they decided not to go and Jared and I went to sit with Jacob and send Dad and Will back to the house to get ready to head home. If you’re keeping score, it turns out it takes 5 people to babysit one guy while he sat in a waiting room, an exam room, and a bigger exam room.
Q: Are Mom, Beth, and Kristen going to the fireside? They should have left 10 minutes ago if they were hoping to get there in time.
A: Kristen didn’t want to go. Beth wanted to go, but not by herself. Mom originally wanted to go, but didn’t want to leave Jacob and also felt bad that her grandkids hardly saw her all day, so she ended up really not wanting to go. Things were back and forth for a few minutes, but they ended up with Mom coming back to the house with Beth and got to see the kids for a little while before they left.
Q: Did Dad not go to the thing at the Stake Center? My Bishop was hoping to see him, David’s there by himself, and I thought he’d want to be there.
A: Nope.
Q: Did Will like the Wii?
A: We don’t know.
Q: What do you mean, you don’t know? This is one of the coolest technologies to come out big while he was on his mission, and you weren’t paying attention to his reaction?
A: Nope.
Q: Are there any more burgers left from the party?
A: Yeah, and hot dogs too.

So we all had leftovers while we thought about what to do. I changed my clothes and announced I was going to the ER to let everyone get out of there and get on with fun stuff and to knock some heads of the staff there. The last time I checked, it was hazardous to your health to be bleeding from your head for several hours without being seen. Either they were slammed with people (they’re never slammed) or they’re just inefficient (Ding ding ding! We have a winner!). The women had the brilliant idea of making sandwiches for the waiting crew, so Jared and I took them over there.

We waited for a while, sent Will and Dad back to the house, waited some more, and finally saw a human being. She told us to move to another exam room to wait some more. It turns out we didn’t have to wait long- the nurse or doctor came in soon with a needle this long… Just kidding. The needle wasn’t long. But the needles for the stitches looked like pure evil. They taped Jacob’s eyes shut and *We’re sorry, but the details of this encounter were removed from this record because they were in violation of HIPAA regulations. And that photograph you just took will need to be deleted as well. What were you thinking anyway?* Man, that looked painful.

Jacob kept asking me questions in Spanish while they were doing unmentionable things to him (not unmentionable as in immoral, unmentionable as in I don’t want to get sued). It didn’t do any good, though, because the Doc had spent several years in Miami and had picked up Cuban. I mean, Spanish. Her Spanish was pretty bad (partly because she was a gringo and partly because she learned Cuban), but she was pretty proficient at it.

Anyway, we got Jacob back to my house and sent him on his way home with strict instructions to avoid all vomiting and other signs of concussion. Then Jared and Kristen headed out and it was just us again. We watched a movie together and then hit the sack. All in all, it was a surprisingly phenomenal day.

Saturday, 31 January 2009 (part 1)

Yes, part 1. That means not only do you have to read ONE enormous post, there will be at least one more after it. And I'll have another soon (probably shorter) about the woodworking project that's been consuming me for the past month.

I've entitled this installment: Saturday's Surprise. Enjoy.

On the calendar, Saturday looked like any other in the month of January- overloaded. But thankfully my list was fairly short. All I had to do was finish my project, spend time with family, and attend a baptism at 5. Beth planned on going to an event at church in the evening so I guess I technically also had to push the kids through the bedtime routine, but that wasn’t a part of my list- that was Daddy duty.

The baptism would be easy (I didn’t have any major involvement in the plans), I just had to show up. Beth’s brother Will had returned from his mission to Chile just a few days earlier and the family was coming for their first visit since the Triumphal Return. We were all going to get a chance to hang out with Uncle Will (aka. Mr. Bill, aka Willis, fka Elder Edwards) and I was hoping to mop the floor with him in Wii Sports. As to finishing my project, that would take no longer than a couple of hours. I tasked myself weeks ago with creating a TV stand and was finally within sight of the finish line. All I had to do was assemble two small doors, attach them to the front of the cabinet, and transport it all inside the house. Those three tasks would only take a fraction of the waking hours of the day, leaving plenty of time for relaxation.

The morning started normally and as planned. The twins woke up at 6:30 am; we resisted getting out of bed until absolutely necessary, finally dragged ourselves into the kitchen for breakfast, and plugged the kids into their cartoon IV drip while we got stuff done around the house. I went out to the garage and began the final steps of my project. While I was out there, Beth’s brother, Jacob, called and asked me to give him a ride back home from the eye doctor since they were going to dilate his eyes. I finished attaching the cabinet doors by 10:15 and spent a couple of minutes with the kids before I headed out to get Jacob.

When I got to where Jacob was, he was waiting for me and jumped right into my car. We headed toward his house and I asked what he was going to do that day. He hadn’t mentioned coming over to our house to see the Golden Child when they came over, so I wanted to make sure he put that in the plans. We went to his place, where he showered and changed. Then we went through a tunnel (yes, we actually have a tunnel in Columbia) over to Bi-Lo where his friend Mary works. I hadn’t met Mary and neither had Beth, so I invited her to join us for an afternoon of crazy family fun at my house. I chauffeured them to my house and even played DJ with Jacob’s iPod during the commute.

We pulled into my yard- literally- and they jumped right out and headed for the door. I was a little behind them when they pushed open the door, so at first I thought the yell of “Surprise!” was for one of them. But then I saw people looking at me and recognized a mixture of friends and family- MY friends and family, in fact. Like a freight train, the thought rushed to my head “They threw me a surprise party! How awesome!” As I was looking around the room at all of the people that showed up to honor my Big Day, little details tormented me with their sudden clarity. I had seen a Focus wagon that looked like my parent’s car around the corner from my house. It hadn’t just looked like their car, it was their car- there was my Mom sitting at the computer desk, holding the twins. Jacob hadn’t forgotten about Will coming to town, he was the decoy- luring me out of the house while the party was readied. Dilated his eyes- yeah, right. I had been growing a goatee since the beginning of the year and Beth hadn’t hassled me about it too much. In fact, she told me I could keep it until the 31st- which just so happened to be the current date.

Beth was telling me how hard it had been to hide all of the details of this party. People were hugging me and telling me Happy Birthday and reminding me I was officially old now. Kids were running around, playing, popping balloons, and blowing noisemakers. Beth’s brothers and parents were apologizing for not calling me on my actual birthday earlier in the week- they had been in on the conspiracy and hadn’t called for various reasons. Some didn’t want to risk saying something to spoil the surprise, while others had gotten confused about the date because of the plans. Smells of food beckoned me from the kitchen. My neighbor, Frank, that I often carpooled to work with, was manning the grill and providing enough hot dogs and hamburgers to feed an army. I worked my way towards the food, greeting friends that had come from as far as across town and as close as just a few neighborhoods away. Streamers hung down from the archway leading to the kitchen. Balloons littered the floor and hung from the light fixture in the kitchen. A birthday cake, weighed down with 30 candles, sat on the oven. There were people covering every square foot of the den and dining areas. And there was a mountain of food covering every square inch of the countertop/bar structure that separated the kitchen from the dining area.

And then, just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, Beth hands me a scrapbook. I didn’t even have to know what it was about but with just a glance, I knew 2 things. First, it was new- I had never seen it before. Second, it was thick- thicker than my mission scrapbook. She spent months on my mission scrapbook, with my help. I understood then that my wife, who can’t tell a lie, had gone through an enormous amount of effort to surprise me with this day. This party represented effort, love, dedication, commitment, focus, and the desire to show me how much she loved me and that I am surrounded by loving friends and family. I fell in love with my wife for yet another reason.

I’d like to thank all of you that participated in that event- whether or not you showed up. You showed me your love and your willingness to add to my happiness and I love you for it. Thank you for helping my darling wife “deceive” me. Thank you for giving her ideas, covering for her, keeping me from asking too many questions, agreeing to help her do something hard, all that and more. I’m overwhelmed with gratitude and I can’t thank you enough. I will remember that party as one of the happiest days ever.