Wrong Place At ALMOST The Wrong Time
Yesterday, a bunch of game nighters and other friends gathered to celebrate Megan’s college graduation. We previously had a gathering of her family and selected friends. But Carol and I thought that a less formal day of pure fun was in order so about a month ago we began to plan. I sent out messages to the game nighters and a few of the other friends via facebook and had Carol contact the rest. A fb fiend ALMOST blew the entire thing when she posted on Megan’s “wall” that “she was sorry that she could not attend the party.” So, Carol had to cover and I fiendishly came up with a cover story. I sent out at least 3 different messages informing those I sent the message to that the party was a SURPRISE and to not give the guest of honor any tips. When I found out about the criminal deed, I acted surprised and said that I knew nothing about a party on May 3oth at 2PM.
About a week ago, I came up with my story. Our fellow tangenteer, Derek (hope he doesn’t mind being an inadvertent pawn in a devilish plot 😈 ), was coming to visit for the weekend. A game night was planned for Saturday which SOME of us could not attend. I told Megan that we were planning a fun day at the park so the rest of us could visit our friend.
Yesterday at 10AM, I went to what I THOUGHT was the correct location. I waited until about 10.30 and decided to wander the park grounds to see if I had mistaken the location. After seeing no sign of Carol, I decided to go to mass at 11 and come back at noon. When I got back to the pavilion, still no sign of Carol. Around 12.30, I decided to call another of the invited guests to tell him of the “dilemma.” However, his phone was out of service. So, I took another walk.
Across the park is a shelter house. As I made my way to the building, I heard a little voice yell… “May ME!” BEEBER! The surprise seemed to be on on or, more likely, someone’s signals got crossed. At least, I was close. In my defense, the annual WCCT fun day usually takes place at the pavilion.
Finally, around 2 o’clock, I venture over to Megan’s house to escort her to the fun day. Her mother warned me that she might be sleeping. So as I approached the house, I phoned her and left a mile long voice mail. Kept talking until I got to the door. Telling her to “WAKe UP!” I finally beat down the door until she appears looking as if she had just been woken. But… what are ya going to do! She was worried that she did not have any food to bring but I had plenty for both of us! So a half hour after the festivities were to begin, we pull up in my car to a sea of faces staring at us until everyone burst into a roar of “SURPRISE!” And I am happy to report that the scheme worked perfectly!
After all the merriment concluded (some late comers one of whom also overslept 😉 ), Megan and I decided to catch a movie. We got to the multiplex but the next round of movies did not start for an hour. We finally decided to sneak in late to The Back-Up Plan which had only begun 15 minutes earlier. Not my usual choice of movie fare but for a chick flick it wasn’t horrible. There were even some laughs and Megan enjoyed it and it was HER day, after all.