Thursday, May 5, 2011

A Surprise for Derek?

picture taken by Dan

Derek really likes surprises.  Not the kind that are for him, but the kind where he gets to have a fun secret and not tell somebody until they are about ready to clobber him to get the information from him.  For example, one of his very favorite things is to get movies for the family to watch and then not let us know what it is until he pushes play.  He seems to enjoy it when we all guess and guess, and he refuses to even give us a hint about whether we're close or not.  I think the more we guess and whine the happier he is with himself.

So what surprises are lined up for him on his birthday?  Well, since he will be reading this you can be sure that I am not telling.  But the non-surprises are this.  He will be coming home after work to have some Teriyaki chicken on rolls with chips and fruit on the side.  We'll stick a candle in a ginger cookie and sing happy birthday to him.  We'll probably watch a television show at 9 because that's what we do on Thursdays if we aren't busy elsewhere.

He'll have some presents and at least one he won't be able to guess. We'd try really hard to drive him crazy with a surprise present but he has this annoying habit of not being curious.  Presents?  He doesn't really care if he gets any.  He knows I'll never go out and buy what he really wants because A.  I don't know what he really wants (exactly) and 2.  It would cost more than I could comfortably spend without talking it over with Derek first.  Those fancy sports cars aren't cheap!

One thing is sure, we will try to make this a fun evening for him if we can because he makes every evening fun for us when he can.  Last time he was out of town I was reminded again of how he is most obviously the fun parent and I am the -- well the other parent who occasionally tries to be fun.  Our house feels absolutely strange without him here at night.

Derek is good at making things fun.  He is good at laughing, and listening.  He is smart and thoughtful and kind.  He is my best friend.  He isn't much into sappy blog posts though so I guess I'd better quit.  It is his birthday after all.

Happy Birthday Derek!

 Derek 5 years ago with his ginger cookie and candles. 

3 comments:

TisforTonya said...

happy birthday to Der!!! We are hoping that he is surprised and enjoys his Ginger Cookie :)

a bigger surprise would be if Quinn actually made his obligatory "sibling call" without a reminder - but let's not get carried away :)

Saimi said...

What a sweet birthday post!! Happy Birthday to your hubby!!

Happy Mom said...

Happy birthday to Derek! Hope the surprise goes well. Loved this post. It made me smile and remember.