Surprise!

No, I have no surprising news, just a story to tell. I somehow agreed to help a friend give a surprise party for his wife, also a friend of mine (no worries, neither are aware of the blog. Sheez, I may be flaky but not that flaky!). So how do I get myself into these things? He is such a sweetheart, but I am so not the organized party planner. Well, his first and foremost concern was how to get her out of the house for a couple of hours before the soiree. I asked if she had a close friend who could take her out for a little one-on-one girl time to celebrate the two milestones that she is about to reach (I'm thinking cocktails of course, even though we may be talking about 3pm on a Saturday). He gets excited, thinking of someone, and says they occasionally go get manicures and pedicures together. Err, okay, perfect! Until the phone call the next day. Girlfriend cannot do it, has other commitments on the one day husband can throw the party. Imperfect. Surely we can come up with another plan though. Ah, but husband already has another plan. Mathgeek will take her for manicure/pedicure! Wha? Huh? What just happened?

Thinking it through, after I more than likely agreed to this plan (the conversation quickly became a blur, I was so stunned), I see two main problems to this plan...a) friend and I are friends, I like to be around her, I think very highly of her, but we are not, like, girlfriends. We have hung out at neighborhood parties together, but we have never planned an outing for just the two of us, without either kids or husbands or both. Will she think I'm weird, taking this friendship to the "next level"? (on the other hand, maybe this is a good excuse for me to take it to the next level, I don't really have that many girlfriends in my life). And b), possibly causing me even more anxiety, is the fact that I have NEVER EVER IN MY LIFE had a manicure or pedicure!!!! Yep, pushing 4.5 decades, and I've managed to avoid it all my life. My fingernails? They bend like paper when grown, so I keep 'em short. I don't think the manicure will be too awkward, even for the mathgeek, but someone handling my feet? Erm, I'm beginning to realize I have some hangups. Well, on the bright side, I won't have to help husband-friend decorate for the party. I'll be "relaxing" with my new girlfriend. I hope. What if she rejects me? What if I freak out at the pedi and have to bring her home early? Before any of the guests arrive? Oh my, so much to worry about, so little time.

Headed to my dad's house this weekend. We'll be hauling the artificial monster called a Christmas tree out of his basement, since we won't be back until Christmas. Love that task, that thing is a fighter. And, with velo-dude not running at full steam right now, it will be pretty much me and the tree. And cotton balls in the kiddos ears so they can't hear all the Christmas Story-style swearing going on. And a stiff drink when I'm done, of course.

Oh, and thanks to laggin for mentioning somewhere in a comment to someone the most hilarious blog I've seen in a while. I thought I would quickly check it out last night before I went to bed, but I was immediately hooked. Stayed up way too late viewing as many posts as I could, stomach aching from laughter. That's the kind of laughing that'll do you a world of good when you're feeling down or stressed. Just good silliness.