Do you like surprises?

It's not the easiest question to answer. For me, it definitely depends on the circumstances. I LOVE surprises on Christmas. Unlike many moms, I never let my kids know what their gifts are ahead of time. If I think they even suspect, I get them something else. Christmas is about surprises. But what about surprise parties? Like for birthdays? 

That's very different. I don't think anyone has ever thrown me a surprise birthday party, and let me be clear: That is just fine. The last thing I'd want is to arrive somewhere to find a bunch of my friends, when I didn't know they were coming. I mean just imagine me in my "sub-casual" look: pajama bottoms, sweatshirt, stringy hair, no makeup. Now imagine this "me" walking into a surprise birthday party with a bunch of people. Terrifying, I tell you.

As surprise parties go, you really need to know the person well and understand his or her level of comfort with being blindsided. For that reason, I've thrown surprise birthday parties for only two of my kids: Shulamith and Eli. Luke and Isaiah would never want a surprise party. They don't even like un-surprise parties, particularly. Isaiah humors me and lets me bake him a cake on his birthday, gather the family, give him a present, and sing; but given the choice, I'm pretty sure he'd pass on even that much attention.

Oh my goodness! It just occurred to me that I have no idea how Seth would feel about a surprise party. Hmmm? My guess is he'd be okay with it? But it's not something he'd truly appreciate? I've never thrown him a surprise party, and he still loves me very much, so I guess that's okay.

When Shulamith turned 14, I threw her a surprise birthday party. I was 8 months' pregnant with Seth, but I managed to pull off a successful surprise that included a dozen teenage girls, and miraculously, Shulamith never found out about it. We all gathered at Red Robin in Burlington, WA, and the girls helped me decorate. Decorating is surely not my strength, so I was grateful they were there. (Hi, Tia! Hi, Lynnsey!) At the appointed time, my mom arrived with Shulamith. She walked in and noticed me first. "Mom? What are you doing here?" Then she looked up and saw all her friends seated around a big oblong table, just as they shouted "Surprise!" It was perfect. She opened so many nice gifts, and we all dined on burgers and fries, tons of ice cream, cake and candy. I think she was so happy.

Seven years later, as Eli approached age 14, I asked Shulamith if she thought he would like a similar event. "Oh, he definitely would. I loved mine!" This time around it was less formal, mostly because I didn't know his friends nearly as well as I knew Shulamith's. His best friend Jonah helped me know whom to invite, and a bunch of guys showed up at a pizza place in Billings, MT. I don't remember a lot about what happened after that, other than lots of pizza eating, soda drinking, and teenage boy humor. But I think Eli liked it.

Last weekend, in celebration of Eli's 29th birthday, Amanda threw him a yet another surprise party. She even managed to find decorations themed with classic horror film villains. Eli, possibly the gentlest, kindest soul I've ever known, is obsessed with horror flicks, the gorier the better. I took Eli out for some shaved ice custard, while Amanda decorated their house with scary pictures hanging from the ceiling, and everyone arrived. It was a small gathering, just our family plus Amanda's brother and his family, but they all hid with the lights low, and jumped out with a hearty  "Surprise!" as we walked in the door. Another success! I don't think Eli had any idea. He got several fun presents: tickets to the upcoming Ice Nine Kills concert, Lego, Stance socks, and lots of good wishes, but he says the best present is this girl right here:

Happy birthday, Eli! We all love you so much.

Let the celebrating begin!

"I'd like to report that I am officially on spring break, a whole nine minutes early. Let the celebrating begin!"

This was my text on our family group thread Saturday, when I released my afternoon class at 3:41 p.m., rather than 3:50. That's how badly I needed spring break; I couldn't even wait another nine minutes. It isn't that this semester is especially bad; I like my classes and my students mostly. As is often the case when we feel overwhelmed, too many circumstances (any one of which, by itself, wouldn't be troublesome), coexisting simultaneously, have made it a challenging eight weeks. 

First, neither my students nor I are accustomed to being in the classroom quite so much. This is the first semester since spring 2020 that I've been in person for all my classes. Even this past fall, I had one online class and one livestream broadcast. I'm a wimp, so 15 hours a week of in-person teaching feels like a lot. And my students? Yeah, they aren't used to it either. Since COVID, they seem to think attendance is optional. They also kind of expect that I won't require them to meet any deadlines, because we relaxed our policies so much during the past two years.

For example, one student asked to meet with me last week, so I could help him "figure out how to do better in the class." I had no idea who he was when he emailed me because I had only seen him twice in eight weeks. Our conversation went like this:

Him: Sorry I haven't been coming to class.

Me: Is there some problem I should know about?

Him: Well, it's just that 7:00 a.m. is so early! I just can't come that early. I stay up late doing other things, and if I get up in time to be in class at 7:00, I won't get nearly enough sleep.

Me: But you signed up for a 7:00 a.m. class, so...

Him: I know, but it's just too early.

Me: Okay, let's look at your grades. It looks like you have 49% currently, and you haven't completed any of the weekly reading responses.

Him: I know. I really don't like reading textbooks, especially English textbooks. They just go on and on and on, blah, blah, blah, and it's so boring. I can't read them.

Are you beginning to understand why I needed spring break? And just to be clear, I don't love 7:00 a.m. classes either, especially way down at UVU in Orem! I'm definitely a morning person, but what I like to do in the mornings is SLEEP. So yeah, when my alarm sounds at 5:45 a.m. every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I go through every stage of the grieving process. You can be sure I won't be setting an alarm this week (other than Sunday, when we have the stupid 9:00 church block). 

I also don't love teaching all day Saturday. I have an 8:30-11:50 a.m. class on the SLCC Redwood campus and a 1:00-3:50 p.m. class on the Jordan campus. Saturday students tend to be pretty cool, and this time is no exception. Still, I'm in class the entire day. Not my favorite.

In addition, I desperately need to deep clean my house. I'm struggling (and failing) even to keep up with the daily maintenance and regular weekly cleaning tasks; I've had no time for any of the more intense projects. That's for sure happening this week. Exciting? Nope. But what choice do I have?

Finally, this week Imma wear pajamas all day, every day, and enjoy not going anywhere. If I decide to get dressed and go out, it will be because I choose to, not because I have to.

I can't remember a semester when I was this excited for spring break; I really need it this time around.

Let the celebrating begin!