Birthday LIES

Today is my birthday!

My "Double Square" birthday.

(Did you do "Square" birthdays when you were a kid? You know, when your age was the same as the date of your birth? Like, when someone turned 10 on the 10th of the month, it was their "Square" birthday. Or, maybe that was just a mid-Michigan thing?) Anyway, today is my Double Square birthday.
Do the math. I'm 44.
And do you want to know what my husband and daughter gave me for my birthday?

Lies, I tell you. LIES!

It started at the beginning of last week.
I had made something to send to Elizabeth at college, and Brian offered to mail it for me. That evening I thanked him for sending it off. It ended up being a super busy day, and I sure appreciated having one less thing to do! He said something about it being no problem, and I thought nothing further of it. Until... a couple days later when I was in his car and saw the package still in the back seat.
I asked Brian about the package that night and he looked a bit sheepish as he confessed he'd forgotten to send it. When I asked why he didn't mention anything the night I thanked him because I thought he'd sent it, he responded, "Would it make you feel better if I told you I felt guilty about not saying anything?" Honestly, I thought it was a bit strange - but I have been known to forget a thing, or two - so I just asked him to send it out the next day.
And the next time I talked to Elizabeth, I told her the package hadn't quite been sent yet.
A day, or so, later I made one more inquiry about the status of the package. Brian looked me straight in the eyes and asked, "Do you trust me?" And I told him I did. Then he asked, "How mad will you be if I haven't mailed it yet?" I probably took a deep breath before responding, "I wouldn't say I'd be mad. Probably more like flabbergasted." He just smiled and said he wasn't going to answer my question. If I trusted him, I didn't need to ask - so he said. While I was tempted to press Brian for an answer, I was so impressed by how masterfully he was dancing around the question, I let it go.
But Saturday morning when I received a text from Elizabeth saying, "I got the jars!" I had the assurance I needed that Brian had sent the package.

So, imagine my confusion when I was sitting in the living room Saturday in the early afternoon and Brian handed me a box saying, "Here's your surprise!" (He had gotten me to clear my Saturday afternoon earlier in the week by telling me he was planning a little surprise for me.) I examined the box, noticing it's weight, and was sure it was the same box I had meant to be sent to Elizabeth. And the text I'd received earlier from her... It just wasn't making any sense to me at all.
Then who should pop around the corner and into the living room but Elizabeth! She was my surprise!
An unannounced (To me. Of course, the rest of the family knew all about it!) visit so we could celebrate my birthday together.

I quickly put together the lies and understood they were just trying to keep the surprise a surprise. But I had to ask Elizabeth, "Why the text this morning???" She said she wanted to make sure I wasn't suspecting anything. Which is also why she lied about told me she was going to be camping with her friends over the weekend. All for the purpose of keeping the trail cold.

Yep. So, I got lies for my birthday. Which led to an afternoon and evening of family fun.
Best.birthday.present.ever!