mackenzie ninjago cheeseman, surprise ruiner extraordinaire

today is my dear husband's birthday. he is 39.

DM's family never made a huge deal about birthdays, so he doesn't care so much. but i do. growing up, birthdays were a big thing. my birthday was always my favorite "holiday." in my family, "birthday month" is a phrase uttered without sarcasm. over the past dozen years or so, i've painstakingly trained DM in these exacting standards, and i have to say, for the most part, he's really stepped up to the plate. though, i will admit, when the kids were born, each within a week of one of our birthdays, the lens was necessarily refocused. pesky little buggers, horning in on birthday month ;)

anyway, sadly, this year, i am not holding up my end of the bargain, at all. what with all of our summer plans, familial obligations, getting my ass handed to me at work, and preparing for jack's joint-preschool-starwars-birthday-bonanza this Saturday, DM's special day has sort of fallen through the cracks. add to that the fact that he is crazy busy with work, too, and won't even be home until the kids are asleep tonight. seeing as i haven't washed my hair or my pants in 3 days, and can't even think about baking a cake right now, i'm actually considering that a blessing. but, as far as birthdays go, this one's going to be a dud. 8pm last night: i'm so sad your birthday is going to be so uneventful. i'll get up early and make pancakes! 6:30am: crap. toaster waffles? 7:30am: DM is making me toaster waffles, and there's a sad little pile of presents. jackson jay: "i'm not going to tell you what it is, but it's a coffee mug." sorry, my love.

we are having date night and going to a concert tomorrow, but that's about all i have to offer him. in my mind, i was borrowing birthday credit from next year, with plans for the big 4-0 already in the works. for some reason, DM won't stop talking about north carolina, and specifically, the outer banks. i mean, he doesn't just want to visit, he at least somewhat seriously wants to move there. i'm not even sure he's ever been so i can't explain the reasoning behind this obsession, but, it is what it is. two different friends recently attended weddings in the outer banks, and this only served to stoke the fire. i'm not too keen on the concept of moving across the country to north carolina, but an oceanfront vacation? that i can do.

okayyy. i *guess* i'll go here. if i must.

i don't really like surprises, but DM does. or at least, i think he would, if i could ever maintain the requisite secrecy! this was going to be THE ONE. i researched lodging and flights. i told his parents and siblings about my plans. then i sent a group email to his large network of cousins. he is always lamenting the fact that he doesn't get to see them enough, so i figured we could make it a family affair.

i proceeded to email back and forth with several of the cousins, including a conversation on an unrelated topic that DM and I had recently discussed. i then FORWARDED this email conversation to DM. the subject line of the email was literally, like, "SHHHH! BIG HUMONGOUS TOP SECRET SURPRISE!" honestly. i am such an IDIOT. he probably wouldn't even have read back to the beginning of the thread if it weren't for the glaring breaking news subject line. grrrrr. i am still so mad at myself! the top secret surprise that lasted all of 19 hours. sadly, that may actually be my personal best.

oh well. SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! this time next year, may we be taking photos of our feet :)

this was actually from my birthday last year. DM really outdid himself. probably because he was going to spend my birthday weekend at his fantasy baseball draft in vegas. whatever. i will happily feast on the spoils of guilt :)