Words to Live By

Don't be afraid your life will end; be afraid it will never begin.

Friday, May 30, 2008

My Super-Sneaky Memorial Day Weekend - Part II

Once I got my bag and found the bus to the rental car place, I was on my way. Let me just say this: driving in Boston sucks! The toll for the Ted Williams Tunnel is now $3.50. That’s THREE DOLLARS AND FIFTY CENTS! To drive through an f’ing tunnel?? WTF? My rent-a-wreck was a brand new Dodge Caliber with 1 mile on it, which I thought was ok at first, but not so much. It was like driving a brand-new, shiny, red tin-can. Dodge really missed the boat with that one! What a POS! So I got to my hometown, stopped off at Dunk’s for an iced-coffee (no surprise there, right?) and went to my sister, Gayle’s house. At this point I should explain that Gayle and her family live on a farm. So before she says, “Hello”, she says, “Park your car over by the hay trailers.” She has concocted a cover-story explaining the rental car in case my sister Christine stops by – which, apparently, she does frequently. So I parked on the other damn side of the barnyard, and then got settled in the house. There was a lot of phone-calling and text-messaging going on between Gayle, Jen and Shelly, because Christine was going to get her nails done, but nobody knew where she was going – it could have been right down the street, and then she definitely would have stopped by. She ended up going somewhere not near the house, so we could relax a little bit. After a while, my nieces, Jen and Shelly came over with baby Jason. Jen was in town covertly, and staying at a hotel right up the street from her Mom’s house…which could have been difficult, as they go to the restaurant there for dinner on occasion. But, they didn’t on Friday night. Anyway, I digress. Gayle’s husband Steve parked both of the rental cars in the barn, so if Christine or Ed came by, we could all just hide upstairs. Good plan – except that Jason’s toys were EVERYWHERE! We were lucky they didn’t stop by. While we were all sitting around the kitchen table, my Mom came over. Gayle had invited her to dinner so they could all discuss plans for the party on Saturday night. She had no idea that I was in town. I wish I had my camera ready for the look on her face when she saw me sitting at the kitchen table! Priceless! Gayle was a little worried she’d have a heart attack, but I wasn’t…it was a good surprise! So we had Gayle’s famous lasagna, which was incredible, and finalized plans for the party. When Jen, Shelly and Jason left, Shelly forgot Jason’s medicine on the kitchen table. If she had gone home without it, Christine would have known something was up. So my niece Amanda and I took a ride to the hotel, where Shelly was waiting for us. We made the drop safely, without being spotted! This sneaking around really wears you out! Saturday, there was even more sneaky stuff going on…it was ridiculous!!! Stay tuned…

10 comments:

Lady R (Di) said...

This sounds like so much fun! I think it's great that you were able to surprise your mom. My brothers and I did that one time at Christmas for my folks and they loved it!

I can't wait to hear the the big secret comes off!

Kim Thomas said...

Surprise trips are the absolute best! I can't wait for part 3.

Veronnica said...

Now you are doing what Big D does to us! Leavin us hangin and wantin for more! Can't wait for the next chapter!

Andrea said...

Great tale, thus far, can't wait for more. I don't have much sympathy for the 3.50 to go through a tunnel we pay $4-5 to cross water and you basically have to do that all the time here!! I miss the cheap tolls in Texas.

FLHX_Dave said...

Man, I'm feeling like I need to go out and do something sneaky now.

Queen B said...

Wow, it's all so covert! That's awesome that you got to surprise your mom without giving her an actual heart attack :) Can't wait for the next installment...

Jinjer said...

Love the secret ops! And I love even more that you made a trip to Dunks!!

"Joker" said...

Yeah, the pols really are screwing us around here and the dummies just keep voting the same bastards back in!!

$3.50 in the Ted, eh? Jesus. They've got to be kidding. Shows you how long it's been since I've been in town. I avoid the city like the plague. Too much traffic, rip-off tolls, and the world's worst drivers second only to Rhode Island.

Oh, by the way, welcome back!~

Paula said...

This sounds like so much fun!!!

Mike said...

I do love surprise trips--especially if they can be spur of the moment. Those are the best.