Surprise!

I am heading out the door shortly to attempt to surprise a friend on her 50th birthday! If I'm successful, she will wake up and find a balloon bouquet surrounded by 50 potted flowers on her front lawn. Oh! and a yard sign announcing it's her 50th. Then, I'm going to return around 6:45ish to pick her up and take her to breakfast before we both go to work. Hope I can pull it off. I wouldn't have stood a chance if my wonderful hubby hadn't run errands for me last night. After arriving at work at 6:30AM, I worked until 4:30ish, the headed home for a very quick stop here before heading out to a work-related meeting that lasted until 7:30ish. I ate dinner at 8! And had heartburn all night as a bonus. I need to get home and eat at a reasonable hour when I have those late evening meetings. Thanks, J., for running all those errands for me last night - and for supervising the repair/construction projects done yesterday - we finally fixed the dry wall in the garage from the leaking pipe - and fixed a shower leak and the hole in the dining room ceiling that they opened up to see where the leak was coming from. Hopefully, we are drip-free for a little bit.

Though there's water coming out of one of the A/C registers in the laundry room - another thing that we need to have checked that will probably cost us a small fortune. It's a 10 year old house, now....it's showing it's wear a bit these days.

I have hardly seen the kids - and when I have seen them, they are making me crazy. Crazier. After the meeting last night, I walked in and found two full-shoe muddy footprints on the carpet. I'm not just talking tiny spots on the carpet - I'm talking big-foot-esque full shoe muddy prints, complete with dirt stuck to the carpet. Yes, the same carpet we've paid a fortune to have cleaned repeatedly lately. They are oblivious - and of course, the culprit blamed his brother until we proved it was not his brother. Then he says 'well, I never walk through the muddy spot on the front lawn so I don't know where it came from'. All evidence to the contrary.....I gave the same 'order' I give all the time: take off your shoes in the entry way. You are oblivious to what you are tracking in so simply do not wear shoes on the carpet! Period.

I'd better go.....wish me luck. I could end up soaking wet from her lawn sprinklers. Or she could send the dog out after the 'intruder' on her front lawn. Luckily, her dog (Mia) is older and as slow moving as a dog can be. I can out run her. I hope.