Husband came back this weekend after being gone for six weeks for some military training.
Not surprisingly, I had a perfect plan in place to clean the house and welcome him home. Also, not surprisingly, things didn’t go as I planned.
Notice the stark contrast between my plans and the reality…
The plans: Husband called and said he would be home “around 3:30” on Saturday afternoon.
I planned to run a few errands in the morning, and then I’d have a solid three hours to make it seem like I hadn’t totally neglected cleaning the house for over a month and a half.
I’d clean the floors, then tackle the bathroom, and then vacuum the rest of the house. Then I’d finish baking some cookies for church on Sunday, change into a cute outfit, and be ready for him to arrive.
When he walked in the door, I’d give him a big hug and tell him how glad I was that he was home.
The reality: I did manage to clean the floors, and I put some cookies in the oven. While they were baking, I scrubbed our grimy bathroom sink, while wearing some equally grimy clothes.
It was around 1:30PM, when I heard the timer ringing, signaling that the cookies were done.
I ran into the kitchen, noticing that the cookies were almost to the point of being burnt. I removed them from the oven, and just then, I saw a person standing a few feet away from me.
I jumped and screamed. My heart was racing, and it took me at least 2 seconds to realize that it was Husband. It took my mouth another 2 seconds for it to stop screaming. I held my hand over my heart and breathed deeply, like I was having a heart attack. “You scared me!” I scolded him. I took a few more deep breaths, recovering from the scare.
Then, I realized that this moment, although certainly not what I planned, was what I was waiting for. I finally ran up to him and gave him a belated hug, telling him “welcome home.”
I asked him why he told me that he wasn’t coming home until 3:30, when he knew he’d be home so much earlier.
He smiled and said, “Because I wanted to surprise you.”
Mission accomplished.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Welcome Home: Plans vs Reality
Husband came back this weekend after being gone for six weeks for some military training.
Not surprisingly, I had a perfect plan in place to clean the house and welcome him home. Also, not surprisingly, things didn’t go as I planned.
Notice the stark contrast between my plans and the reality…
The plans: Husband called and said he would be home “around 3:30” on Saturday afternoon.
I planned to run a few errands in the morning, and then I’d have a solid three hours to make it seem like I hadn’t totally neglected cleaning the house for over a month and a half.
I’d clean the floors, then tackle the bathroom, and then vacuum the rest of the house. Then I’d finish baking some cookies for church on Sunday, change into a cute outfit, and be ready for him to arrive.
When he walked in the door, I’d give him a big hug and tell him how glad I was that he was home.
The reality: I did manage to clean the floors, and I put some cookies in the oven. While they were baking, I scrubbed our grimy bathroom sink, while wearing some equally grimy clothes.
It was around 1:30PM, when I heard the timer ringing, signaling that the cookies were done.
I ran into the kitchen, noticing that the cookies were almost to the point of being burnt. I removed them from the oven, and just then, I saw a person standing a few feet away from me.
I jumped and screamed. My heart was racing, and it took me at least 2 seconds to realize that it was Husband. It took my mouth another 2 seconds for it to stop screaming. I held my hand over my heart and breathed deeply, like I was having a heart attack. “You scared me!” I scolded him. I took a few more deep breaths, recovering from the scare.
Then, I realized that this moment, although certainly not what I planned, was what I was waiting for. I finally ran up to him and gave him a belated hug, telling him “welcome home.”
I asked him why he told me that he wasn’t coming home until 3:30, when he knew he’d be home so much earlier.
He smiled and said, “Because I wanted to surprise you.”
Mission accomplished.
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11 comments:
This sounds like something my boyfriend would do. He just can't accept that I hate surprises. He keeps trying to find new ways to surprise me.
Thanksi for finding me because I love your blog! You have a new reader!
I'm laughing but I'm not because my husband would do this too! I got smart and make him leave his keys when he deploys now, with the excuse that he might lose them.
Awe...isn't it funny how we 'plan' to make it just perfect and they 'plan' to scare a few years off our life...oh well, good intentions!
Welcome Home!
~K
How nice that he's home in time for the holiday. I'll bet he's glad to be home, housecleaning done or not!
I'm sure he appreciated the effort you were putting forth. It seems like when things don't go perfectly as planned is when they just seem perfect anyway!
I love it! It's so fun that he surprised you. It's more fun that way. Plus, he's happy to see you and not worried about how the house looks or anything else!
Ahh that's lovely though! You know what they say about best laid plans...
That is so sweet! I'm sure he could care less about what you were wearing or how the house looked - he just wanted to be with you! Too cute.
Found you from a link...sorry can't remember whose. I love this story. It makes my heart melt.
ha! flyboy did that once with a really late flight, he said he'd be home the next day and then showed up at 2 am while I was sleeping. I'm shocked the neighbors didnt call the cops I was screaming so loud. Now he calls and alerts me in case I didn't hear his airplane.
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