A Great Surprise

For the last 2-3 weeks I have had to keep one of the biggest secrets of my LIFE! It wasn't a 'serious' secret or anything, but it was DANG hard to keep. See, my mom and I are best friends. I talk to her almost ever day. I tell her everything that is going on. I complain to her about my frustrations with certain things (especially in the last month with this film going on), and tell her my plans for the day, week, month, etc.

Well, about halfway through the film I decided "you know... it would be great if I could go home for Thanksgiving this year..." Everyone on set had been talking about their Thanksgiving plans, because we were to wrap just days before the holiday, so everyone was looking forward to it. It got me thinking, "Hmm... where am *I* going to go for Thanksgiving??" It's a great holiday when I'm at home, but otherwise I actually kind of dread it, because I always feel like I have no place to go without imposing on someone else's family.

So just for fun, I looked up the price of plane tickets. $311. I thought "hey, that's not too bad. I could probably handle that..." That was when the idea of surprising the family popped into my head. "Hey, what if I didn't tell ANY of my family members and just showed up on the doorstep? How awesome would that be!?" I called up my best friend who recently returned to the area and said, "I'm thinking of possibly surprising my family for Thanksgiving this year... if I did, would you be able to pick me up from the airport?" She could hardly contain her excitement for my plan and said with enthusiasm, "YES!! That is so awesome! Of course!!" Perfect!

However, I wasn't 100% sure, so I didn't buy the ticket right then and there. I don't like to make a massive decision like that without at least giving a bit of time to process and be sure. I mean, $311 is a lot of money to buy something 'on a whim.' Unfortunately, I guess I should have. The next day, the cheapest ticket I could find was about $380/$390. Drat. Maybe I won't go after all. I decided to continue looking a few times each day for the next few days to see if it would go down at all. Three or four days later, I came across one for $338. The departure and arrival dates were a bit more spread out than I had initially planned, but I thought "you know what? Why not? The film will be done, I will want a break, and what better way to take a break than with family you haven't seen in almost a year?" So I bought it. Done.

Now, the only problem was keeping it a secret for the next two weeks. And let me tell you... I have never in my LIFE had a harder time keeping a secret! And it almost slipped SO many times. I mean, half the time we would wrap for the "day" at 5 in the morning. So since it was 7am VA time and my mom was up getting kids ready for school, I'd call her and talk to her to keep me awake while I drove home from SLC. Well, when you are rather fatigued, it becomes harder and harder to remember what things you are and are not supposed to say!

Fortunately, it never slipped out. There were a few close calls, but I succeeded. I even disabled my facebook wall the day before I was to fly out, just in case someone who knew I was going to VA would forget it was a secret and write on my wall, giving it away. Now, for the actual surprise.

I got to Dulles around 4:30, and Mary picked me up around 5:30 (she had work til 5). We got stuck in the most horrendous traffic ever and it took us nearly two hours to get home; but it actually turned out to be a good thing, because my dad had only been home for maybe 10-15 minutes by the time we got there. Once we got to my street, I had Mary pull up just past my house and turn off her lights. I then got out of the car and proceeded to call my mother. It was nothing out of the ordinary - I talk to her every day.

"So, did you get the package I sent you??" I asked.

Confused, she replied, "No...? I don't think so...?"

My front door was in view and I was almost to the porch. In my best "fake-surprise" tone I asked, "Really?? ...because I got confirmation today that it was delivered."

My mom was thoroughly perplexed at this point. What package could I have possibly sent, and why was I so eager for her to get it? By then, I had reached the front door and could hear both on the phone and inside the house, "Logan? Did you sign for a package today??" Confused, Logan answered simply, "...no...?"

The footsteps were getting closer. I know my mom, and I knew she was going to check the front porch next. While still on the line with her, she opened the door and looked up. I stood, phone in hand, waving with the other; smiling, of course.

"huuuuuuuhhhh!!!" is about the only audible thing that followed. And yes, that is one of those deep-intake-of-breath noises. Also known as gasping, I suppose. At this point, my dad was curious as to what all the commotion was, and he and the kids quickly came to the front room to see what my mom had just discovered upon opening the door. After my mother got over her initial shock, she grabbed me and hugged me tightly. Then the tears came, and amidst the tears, she managed to utter, "You got me good."

Then the younger siblings got involved. Tiana came and tackled the bottom half of me, and Logan wrapped his arms tightly around my midsection (shows how tall each of them are. haha). I then went to hug my dad and then we all sat and chatted for a while. Then Logan came up with a brilliant idea: hide in Rachel's room and scare the crap out of her when she gets home. So we found out roughly when she would be home, and a few minutes before she was to be back, I went into her room and hid under some blankets.

I waited until I heard her open the door and then I jumped out of the sheets screaming, "RAAARRR!" She screamed, jumped, and backed into her half-open door - all at the same time, of course. haha. Then, once the initial shock had subsided, she excitedly asked, "What are you doing here!?!" and proceeded to tackle me. Come to think of it, I guess my siblings and I like to tackle each other... because Tiana and Logan almost knocked me down when I first got here. haha.

Well, there you have it. The best surprise I have pulled off thus far in my life. It was pretty awesome. So, I am now spending the next week in VA with my family. Gosh, I love Virginia. :)