Life. It [Continues]

Words simply cannot describe this weekend. One may call it a weekend filled with irony or simply a weekend that will never be forgotten. Of course, all good things have to start with a slightly "under the weather" event and Saturday is what would I call an "under the weather" event. It started with a graphics card. A simple Radeon 9200 video card for my laptop which would improve the performance of the Sims 2. I did my research, checked out stores, and found a good deal at walmart. The card was 94 dollars, which was more than I had money for so, naturally, mom offered to cover what I didn't have until I could pay her back. All was good and dandy. Dad was out golfing so I didn't bother asking him about what I intended to do. It was a flawless idea. All I wanted was a better card for my computer and I knew it would work. That is, until I bought it, checked it out, and realized it didn't go with my laptop. Now, this was all before dad got home. I had opened the box and all but prayed that dad would tell me otherwise and it would work with my computer. Hopeful thinking didn't work this time. I bought the wrong thing and it cost my parents a tad bit of money. I felt stupid. I was careless and rushed into something that I should have checked on. This explains my previous entry from last night. I felt terrible. I really did feel terrible so after I posted that last night, I went straight to bed with my door closed. I think by now that my parents can tell that when I sleep with my door closed, I'm feeling out of it. I was feeling out of it all right and it carried on to this Sunday morning when I woke up. Trying to draw as little attention to myself as possible, I moped around the house until deciding to go to church with dad. I think I only said about 15 words those whole hours at church. I was feeling sorry for myself. I couldn't get out of my slump. To sum it up, I was bummed. All I wanted was to have a weekend where I could play the Sims and enjoy my time but as it was, I was feeling horrible. I pretended to shrug it off the whole time and say it was nothing. But still, I felt stupid. My first major uplifting of the day came after church when we went to walmart and returned the darn graphics card. I made that sound too easy but believe me, it took a MAJOR load off my chest. We got our money back and the mistake I had made was erased but it still wasn't erased from my mind. We got home and I went outside for a bit for some fresh air. I still moped around and acted like a bum.
Around 1:00, we went to see Rachel cheer at her football game and I think at this time I was coming out of the slump. We left early and went home and I resumed my position at the computer. This is where the day got interesting. This is where all the irony came into play and, as I write this, I am still awestruck.
I was on the downstairs computer. Mom came over and tried getting me to go outside. I agreed and was getting up when out of nowhere, she goes, "Why don't you and me do something today?" She asks where I would want to go and I can choose and I pretend to act like I'm just going to hang around and feel sorry for myself all day. Remember, that was my plan.
After pulling some teeth, I mention that I want to go to Barnes and Noble. "Sounds great. Let's go." At this point, I'm thinking, "cool." I get to go get that book I wanted and use my giftcard. About an hour later or so, we head off after Rachel got home.
We arrive at B&N and I've come to my senses. (I guess it takes a bookstore to make me happy) We go our seperate ways and meet up a bit later. I've got two books and mom has a few things as well. Things were going great. We were headed to get lunch now so we stopped at Wendys and ate in the van.
Suspicion #1: Why were we eating in the van on the go when we could have sat down at a table inside?
I went with it and we kept on driving.
Mom: "Is there anywhere else you wanted to go?"
Me: "I thought we were just going home. Wasn't that the point of the drive through?"
Mom: "Boy you're easy!"
I shrug it off. I was happy. I had my two books and I would have been fine going home now.
Suspicion #2: Why were we heading out to the Philidelphia area?
Something's up. "Mom, is this a different way home?" She said she wanted to go out to Philidelphia and walk around the area. It would be something different and we could find something to do in the city. I admit. I was a bit nervous. Here we are driving over the bridge and I'm thinking, "We're going into Philly. We never told Dad. No one knows we're going here and heck, I didn't even know we were going here!" I trusted mom knew what she was doing and let it go. We would find something to do.
Suspicion #3: Why in the world are we paying $10 to park in the Wachovia Center parking lot where a show is going on just so mom can look around and use the restroom?
We drive into the Wachovia Center and pay the parking booth 10 bucks for a parking space and I'm thinking, "Does this person know that we don't have any tickets for the show? Does she know that we just need to use the potty and we have no idea what is going on here? What if she asks to see our tickets?" I was scared. Yet, I never pieced it all together...
Suspicion #4: How come dad didn't sound angry when mom called him to let him know we were in Philladelphia?
Aright. I was a little relieved then. At least he knew where we were but why wasn't he angry? Mom never told him this did she? It made perfect sense to me. Mom had always talked about just taking me into Philly for a day so I figured this was it. We were going to walk in the Wachovia Center where we had no clue what was going on and wander around aimlessly. I never questioned her reasoning.
Suspicion #5: Why is mom letting the people check her bags but she doesn't know what the show is or if they'll ask to see a ticket?
I was under the impression we had no tickets. We didn't have tickets for anything but the bathroom. Mom glanced at me and made one of those "uh oh" faces pretending that she didn't know what we were getting into. I didn't say a word.
Suspicion #6: Why are we walking up to the ticket enterence??
Mom handed over two tickets and led me through the gate. This is where the whole situation passed like a dream because from that moment on I was speechless. I know people who get excited all the time say that they were speechless but until tonight, I had no clue what that felt like. Let me tell you, it's weird.
"Mom, what's going on?"
"What do you think?"
"I really have no clue. Is it that halloween thing?"
*This is where I lost consciousness so the quote isn't accurate* "No. Didn't you want to go to that gymnastics event?"
I know it doesn't sound like much and to be honest, it isn't like SUPER BIG like I make it sound but at that point, I was so shocked and confused I was speechless. For the first time in my life, I was speechless just from the whole shock of it all. A grin spread across my face and I'll always remember that. That wasn't all for the firsts. For the first time in my life, I think I actually shed a tear or two just from happines and surprise. I had wanted to go to this for a while but never said a word and just to know that mom had thought of me and kept it all one HUGE secret blew me away. I never would have guessed and these exact words came out of my mouth,
"Mom, you're awesome."
I don't think she heard it because I muttered it and was barely recovering from the speechlessness but it was genuine. I could think of no other words and just walked around taking it all in. We were here. We were actually here.
The show passed as quickly as it had come. I loved it. In my mind, I was piecing together all the signs that I could have picked up on but didn't. That brings me to a major point which I have learned from this weekend. As life passes, signs of the future and signs of what is to come are constantly around you but it is difficult or almost impossible to pick up on them. It started with the graphics card and ended with the gymnastics event. Looking back, I can see that it was all laid out accordingly and with the bad comes the good.
This weekend was truely a weekend full of firsts and learnig experiences alike. I've learned that surprises can be key to happiness and it's days like these that will really stick with you. I hope that in the future, I will be able to do something with my children that will truely surprise them. I can say that I know what it feels like and it brings some of the happiest memories in life.