Lordy, Lordy: Look Who's Forty!

Kevin turned forty yesterday. For some reason, the birthdays that end in a "0" have a higher impact on our realization that we are, in fact, aging.

I knew he was dreading December 7th year and not just because of Pearl Harbor day. I wanted to make it a birthday to remember for good reasons so I took the liberty of putting together a few surprises.

It started in April. I went to visit Aimee, Kevin's sister in California. I had mentioned I wanted to do something special for Kevin's birthday like take him to a real life cheese factory or something along those lines. After returning from the trip, I started pounding the virtual pavement looking for a great getaway for a great price. I knew the following things:

1. It had to be somewhere without snow. Kevin hates winter.
2. No more than a couple hours of travel time. When taking a vacation, you shouldn't be travelling more than you're vacationing. We were limited to five days.
3. Must be affordable. Since this was a secret, I'd have to be able to pay for it without Kevin noticing a second mortgage on the house or a sudden scar on my belly from the kidney I sold.

The first option was a cruise. Neither of us have ever been on a cruise. It's warm. It would only be a couple hours to fly to California. Affordable. But. Only affordable during certain times of the year and not during the time of Kevin's birthday. Pass.

Next was the cheese factory. No snow in California, travel time would be the same as a cruise. Affordable? No. This is California we're talking about.

Finally I started looking at Las Vegas. Warm? Well, warmer than Utah. Travel time? About an hour. Affordable? Ch! Yeah! Plus, Kevin is addicted to Texas Hold 'em, what better place to practice his new found talent than the city of lights!

So it began. I opened up a bank account "for my online business" and began slowly building up the balance in preparation for our trip. I bought the tickets in July and continued to save each pay period so we'd have plenty of funds to have a great time while we were there.

If you know me at all, you know not to trust me with surprises because I get too excited to keep it a secret. I was blessed with a buttoned lip, though, and didn't say a word (other than dropping a hint here and there about how cool it would be to go to Vegas).

I also started looking around for gift ideas. Kevin is impossible to shop for. He has everything he needs and doesn't want anything he doesn't. I know he loves sentimental gifts and I happened upon a company who publishes self-made books and thought, "wow! Awesome!". I then asked for contributions from the family: Pictures, stories, memories...anything Kevin-related. I even secretly got some of the pictures of the kids when they were younger off his laptop. His sister Heidi painstakingly scanned tons of pictures of his childhood. Once it was done, I ordered the book and it is FREAKING SWEET! I ordered it in a 10"x10" hard cover.

Meanwhile, I was listening to a morning radio show during which they mentioned this crazy contraption called a SodaStream. Basically, it turns ordinary tap water into delicious carbonated water in the convenience of your home. Kevin has been on this soda water with lemon kick for months now. So I got that, too.

This brings me to the day before the big reveal. I didn't want to leave my car at work for the next five days, so I had to come up with some reason why Kevin would have to take me to work. I called his sister Heidi and we came up with a plan that her car was in the shop being repaired but she had to have a car to take her son to a doctor's appointment that afternoon and NO ONE else could help her. So she'd have to borrow my car. Kevin was obviously irritated (hehe) but reluctantly agreed. I also had to figure out the luggage situation. I couldn't very well have Kevin drop me off with 3 suitcases in tow without him becoming wise to the plan. So I waited until he left for work on Thursday then packed up our bags and took them to work with me. I have only worked there for about 6 days, so people were very curious why in the world I was bringing suitcases to work with me. After a little explanation, it all made sense and the suspense continued to build. Keep in mind I had to arrange this time off not only with my previous employer but also with my new employer. It was a condition of employment that I be granted these two days as it had been planned since July. I had also made arrangements with Kevin's boss to make sure everything would be ok with work before we left.

Finally: Friday was the day. There were still a few things I hadn't had a chance to pack such as toiletries. Those definitely would have been missed if I'd packed them the day before with everything else (I had also packed all of Kevin's jeans, so he didn't have any to wear to work that day! He ended up wearing a pair with a big hole in them because I told him all of his others were in the washing machine). In order to arrange for the toiletry packing, I made up an excuse just as we were leaving the house that I forgot a bag of stuff I wanted to take into work to decorate my desk (all part of the plan, of course). I ran into the house and grabbed a backpack and started throwing things in as fast as I could. I am sure I looked liked a mad woman, something like that game show a few years back where people had to raid the grocery store throwing everything they could in their cart before the time was up. I had just zipped the zipper and was ready to head out the door when I remembered...Phone chargers! I wiped the sweat from my brow as I tried to tear them from their outlets. Just as my hand touched the doorknob, I remember I forgot to feed the dog! I hurried and grabbed a scoop of food and with a sigh of relief/worry, ran out the door to a disgruntled Kevin wondering what in the world took so long.

I remembered my video camera after we were already on our way. Couldn't very well go back for it, so I called his sister Heidi and asked her to pick it up on her way to come get me. I HAD to get his reaction on camera! It was getting late. Heidi was supposed to be at my work at 4:00 to pick me up so I could get to the airport, check in the bags, and get to Kevin before he left to come get me at 4:30. I quickly looked up the number to his co-workers and started calling. First his boss, no answer. Then Dean, no answer. Finally, a last resort, I called Scott. He picked up on the last ring and I was so relieved I forgot to tell him who I was. After a few seconds of pleasantries, I told Scott I needed help stalling Kevin. Anything he could think of. I needed 45 minutes. He said he'd think of something.

Heidi made it right at 4:15 and we headed up to the airport. When I started checking our bags, I realized Kevin would have to check himself in since it required photo ID. Oops. The ticket lady whispered I could check him in at one of the self-serve kiosks since he wasn't with me. Thank goodness! I finally got the bags checked and tickets in had, then found a place to sit so Kevin wouldn't spot me right away. Then the text messages began.

Me: Ok, meet me at the Delta Terminals.
Kevin: What? What do you mean?
Me: I mean, meet me at the Delta Terminals
Kevin: I'm confused
Me: Come to the Delta Terminals and I will answer all your questions.

I saw him coming around the corner so I got the video camera ready to go. He spotted me and headed over. The look on his face was clearly confused, but also starting to piece things together. His ex-wife wanting to trade weekends with the kids without any clear reason why...Heidi borrowing the car...secret text messages to and from his sisters...

I was bursting! I was FINALLY able to let him in on the secret! I couldn't stop. I started telling him all about the plan and how I'd been working on it for months.

We had a few hours to kill before the flight left, so we decided to head downtown for a nice dinner. Afterwards, we headed back to the airport and boarded our flight to the city of lights! We got checked into our hotel and hit the casino right away. Now, we are wise enough to know that any money spent gambling should be treated as an entertainment expense and should not be counted on to return. However, there is a rush that comes from seeing the guy next to you win big and thinking, "hey, if he can win, so can I!". So we gave it our best shot. A valiant effort, but alas, we will not be purchasing any yachts or country club memberships in the near future.

We also attended a few shows such as Chriss Angel: Believe, The Blue Man Group and Tournament of Kings. They were all great! The Blue Man Group was my favorite. Must see if you're ever there.

We were ready to come home after a few days (as vacations usually go) so we headed back to the airport to await our flight home. I asked Kevin to sit with me in this beautiful room at the airport with glass windows overlooking the planes flying in and out. We sat down and I told him I had another surprise for him. I gave him the book I'd made with the help of his family. He started reading the first few pages and I could tell right away he loved it! We sat and looked at all the pictures, read all the comments and he shared stories about his childhood with me. It was awesome.

We got on our plane and headed home. After we got through security, I grabbed his hand and told him to wait there. I took a few steps back and started singing "Happy Birthday" - loudly. Once finished, we started looking for our luggage but...uh oh, no luggage. We asked the baggage claim office if it had arrived yet and they said it could take about half an hour or so. So we waited around...Kevin called everyone back that had called him during our flight. An hour later, we had seen two flights pick up their baggage and leave. Where was ours? Finally, I thought to look at the very last baggage claim carousel - the one for odd shaped luggage like golf clubs and skis. That's where it was. At least it wasn't lost!

It was ten o'clock and we weren't even home yet. We both had to work the next day. BUT, I still had the SodaStream surprise! We were both so tired, I didn't even bother wrapping it. I just told him to close his eyes while I displayed it on the kitchen counter. When he opened his eyes, he didn't really know what it was, but we quickly put it together and made a delicious lemon soda water. Perfect!

These days we spent together were so special. Everything leading up to it was so full of stress and anxiety, but the good kind, like what you feel on Christmas Eve before you wake up to the presents and kids and happy faces. Aaaahh, I love surprises and I love my husband even more. I'm so glad he had a good time and was able to remember how much we all love him. It makes those forties look much less ominous knowing you're not going it alone.