Minute to Win It

It should come as no surprise that we spend a lot of time at my sister's house with her husband and her boys. It's just a block away from Chris's office and a handy spot to stop in when I'm dropping him off, picking him up, or just want to hang out and be entertained by two crazy munchkins.

We watched Life at their house each Sunday night while it ran. And before Life we watched Minute to Win It. And Nikkala and I both started thinking about how fun it would be to host a MTWI party.

This week I've spent a lot of time, even more than usual, at Nik's house. I guess I'm filling up my nephew cup, pushing the level to a perfect meniscus, rising above the edge of the cup without spilling over.

Chris had plans to go golfing with "the boys" tonight, and I invited myself along for a round. Only problem being there were no tee times. We had no backup plans and I was getting restless. After dinner I changed out of my grubby, going to plant flower clothes (said planting never actually happened) and told Chris that a trip to Sam's Club would have to count as our date. Before we got there I got detoured at the kitchen supply store. Chris told me he had to go to the stake center to help the executive secretary with some stuff for Sunday since he'd been gone last week. I was so bugged. I kept asking him if it could wait, and he told me no.

When the doors were locked and there was no Buick in the parking lot, I got really frustrated (how dare he ruin my date night like that!) and Chris refused to give the guy a call. We went around back, where Tameka's car was. And it looked like Nik and Chod's car, and their Jeep. I figured Tameka was there doing stuff for her calling, and there have to be other black Accords and tan Jeeps in the world, and the people who drove them must be playing softball. I brushed off the coincidence, since I was so annoyed with Chris.

I was being a bit bratty, and was trying to show my displeasure to Chris in every way I could-- just racking up the good wife points, you know?! We walked past the gym (which isn't really the easiest way to get to the clerks office) and I saw a projector set up, and heard Katelin laugh. Since Kate has become Tameka's roommate for the past little while, I figured they must have broken in the church and were watching a movie.

Can we just pause here to analyze how completely dense I am?





Okay, now that we have that out of the way, I'll tell you that the lights went on and every one yelled "SURPRISE!" and it still took me a little while to connect it all in my brain.

I do not know how Nikkala managed to pull together an awesome [and very much a surprise] Minute to Win It birthday party with me hanging out at her house all week. I knew she was thinking about it for a family reunion this summer, so we discussed details and logistics of it, without even a flash on my radar screen. I was actually rather disappointed that I hadn't thought to put one together sooner, and that the timing would have been a complete headache to plan and execute. Thankfully, I have an awesome sister who was able to collaborate with my husband in the few blips of time they had this week. I'd leave Nik's house to drive the block to pick up Chris, or vice-versa and they were able to plan a great party. Impressive skills. I'd say they have the party planning in sixty seconds game down solid. Bring it on, Guy!

I've told Chris time and time again that I would rather have a fun party than gifts. Though planning the party is usually the most fun for me, knowing that my family was working together, despite my best efforts to thwart them, to make my ideal birthday party happen makes me grin from ear to ear.

Thanks sisters, husband, cousins and friends for making this 25th birthday eve the best one I could dream of. My token of appreciation? Being so ignorant you guys could pull it off without me even having sneaking suspicions. I love you and wholly appreciate it.