Flowers, a Rock Song, and Optimus Prime

So today I will reveal the list of surprises that I couldn't talk about yesterday.  Was Derek surprised?  Yes.  A good way to keep someone from getting a surprise out of you is to not decide until the last possible minute what it will be.  So Derek came home to see flowers on the table.

Yesterday they stood up on their own, today they really wanted to lie down on the table so I had to hold them up to take their picture.  I got them for Derek because they smell kind of like lilacs and Derek likes lilacs.  Besides, we can plant the bulbs in our garden and enjoy them again next year!  The smell really is a bit on the overpowering side.  Our whole upstairs smells like flowers!

Besides the flowers, there was also a pile of presents and notes on the table.  One of the notes was from me.  It included the lyrics to my latest attempt at a rock song for Derek.  He's wanted me to write him one for years but, I guess I just don't have rock and roll in my soul.  So I'll let you read the words.  There is a tune but Derek hasn't even heard that yet and I'm pretty positive it won't be winning any awards.  The song is about sleeping because Derek does not have a knack for sleeping.

The Beast

1.  I lay my head down on the pillow
And close my eyes and then,
Instead of going right to sleep
My head begins to spin.

Chorus:
Round and round my mind goes
Dizzy as can be
Looking at the one thing
I don't want it to see.
I ask it to be quiet,
To let me rest in peace,
But no matter how hard I try to sleep
I cannot tame the beast.

2.  I say to my mind "don't think of that!"
I say it with command
But when I want to think of home
It wanders in a foreign land.
(Chorus)

3.  I try hard to distract myself
By thinking other things
But my mind does what I do not want
Running circles in a ring.
(Chorus)

4.  The Beast is coming at me now
It's menacing and mean,
It wakes me up when I finally sleep
I'm sure I'm going to scream!
(Chorus)

Okay, so it wasn't "I Love Rock and Roll".  Sigh.  Maybe I could write a hit country song about my boots -- except I only have snow boots and so maybe not.

Derek's surprise that gave us all the most fun was an Optimus Prime pinata full of candy -- though it was hitting it that was the most fun -- or for Derek it was probably attacking us with it while we were blind folded.  Here are bunches of pictures.  We all took a turn blind folded and then not and got pictures of both but I just picked one of each person...

I felt kind of guilty hitting the leader of the good Transformers -- but my choices were that or a Disney Princess or Spiderman (I didn't think of it soon enough to attempt making my own).  The picture of the roof has a leg on it.  Connor hit both of the legs off.  Poor Optimus.  I think everyone, except Optimus, had a good time.  We got to have a picnic outside too because the weather was great.  We did miss Trisa who is off at college, but she texted her Dad to wish him a happy day. 

The good news is that I pulled off a surprise, and the flowers, the Rock Song, and Optimus Prime added to a festive evening.