Two Things on the Agenda Today . . .

. . . and I'm going to talk about the second one first, because it's my blog and there's nothing you can do about it except not read (which apparently works, since in the United States alone nearly 300 million people daily exercise their right not to read my blog.)

Anyway, I'm as excited as Obama at a mirror store. I think it's going to be a lot of fun; my parents are taking the kids, and I'm going to spend this time alone with my wife. The catch is that I don't know where I'm going or what we're going to do.

She didn't use our home computer to arrange anything, so I can't sleuth it, and she didn't tell the Blabbermonkey Twins anything, so I can't trick it out of them. This was wise on her part; she must be learning. She once came home to Kane shouting "MOM! You can't go in the kitchen 'cause your birthday cake is in there but I'm not gonna tell you about it 'cause it's a secret!"

She absolutely refuses to play the hinting game with me anymore; she says it's no fun. She seems to think I always figure out surprises if she tries to give me hints, which I have to admit is truth. Part of her problem is that she gives very simple hints and always--always--says more than she intends to say. It doesn't help that I'm a guy with very defined interests, so if you're buying me something or doing something with me, I already have a pretty good idea what it might be. As a matter of fact, I have a couple of pretty good ideas about today, too. But what's the point of ruining the surprise, right? And I could be completely wrong.

Now she's nervous that I've raised my expectations. She keeps telling me, "I hope this is as good as you think it will be." But as cliched as this sounds, sometimes it is the thought that counts. Sometimes what really matters is that she gave a damn about me, and she did something to make me happy.

And when her birthday comes, I have a surprise for her. :) No, I'm not going to tell you what it is, because she might very well read this. I'll just say this: it's something we've done together before, and it was great, but this time, I think I did a better job.