Politics and Pranks

No, this post is not about Politics. EVERY other blog you read today will probably be about politics, but I am going to dare to be different and FINALLY post my prank story.

It all started a few years back when a friend and I used to whistle this little Mozart song back and forth at each other at work. When my grandma died in 2002, I discovered she had a wooden jewelry box that played that song. The lid of the box was broken but the music was perfect.

I took the mechanism out of it and mounted it in a really cool wooden Cohiba cigar box. I dressed the box up with feet I made out of pairs of little wooden button thingies and painted them to match. (The box needed to be "off the ground" to let the music box unwind as it played.) I lined the inside with golden brown suede cloth. It was sweet!!!! She loved it.

When I had showed it to Marti before taking it to her, he said HE wanted to keep it! But, I made it for someone else, so she still got it. It was "her song" after all. ;)

Well, grandma also had a music box that played "If I Were A Rich Man" from Fiddler on the Roof. Marti likes that song and sings it from time to time.

So, his bday came around and I finally got around to making him HIS box that plays HIS song.

Saturday before his birthday, I shopped for the cigars to fill it with, as well as another present. I was late getting home and he looked a little cranky about it because we had somewhere to go. I told him I was getting his bday stuff so he lightened up. :)

The next day he was bugging me about where his stuff was – playing like he was going to go search it out and ruin my surprise for him. I told him he could look, but that I still had to make one of his presents.



"You're MAKING me a present?????"



At that moment, my mind clicked and I went for the prank.

I told him of course I was MAKING him a present! It was, after all, his FORTIETH BDAY!!! DUH!

He looked confused and asked what was up with that so I explained that it's a tradition that you make someone a present for their 40th. He had a BS look on his face, so I kept playing it to see where it would go. We went back and forth a little.



Marti: I've never made anything in my life.

Lisa: And I don't dance, but I danced with you at our wedding – it's a TRADITION! You just DO certain things because they mean a lot to people. (haha!)

Marti: So do I have to make you something for your bday? (Two months after his)

Lisa: That would be nice.

Marti: Like a cake?

Lisa: (shoots the "don't be lame" look)

Marti: What, like CERAMICS or something???

Lisa: That's a start. (haha!)

Marti: I've never heard of this before.

Lisa. Silly Brit. Your parents were probably really hurt that you didn't make them something for their 40th bdays…



I kind of left it alone after that so as not to over do it, then I went into covert mode.

You see, in an hour or so, he was going to be going to his fantasy football draft party and seeing all his friends, who would then tell him that it's all BS – they've never heard of such a thing! Well, that was, unless I got to them first!!! (haha!!!!!!)

I called 3 of his friends that I knew would be there. They were game! One even said he'd suggest macramé to Marti as a home-made gift for me! (You have to understand Marti is not the handy type!!!! At all.)

So, he comes home from his party and tells me what was said. (I didn't even ask because that would be obvious. It was great that he offered up the info, as I was anxious to hear how it went!!)

Here is the gist of what he said happened: (I did not talk to Keith, so this was either a funny coincidence, or Tony put him up to it. Also, Kenny and I used to be very close, so he knows me well enough to know my bday follows Marti's and I, too, would be turning 40 soon.)



Keith: What year did you graduate?

Marti: 1986.

Keith: So you're probably about 40 now, right?

Marti: Yup.

Kenny: So that means Lisa's turning 40, too, right? Wow, we're getting old!

Tony: So what are you making her for her 40th?



Bwah ha ha ha!!!!!

And it went on from there. Keith said he'd never heard of it either, so in that sense, I don't know if he was in on it or not. But, apparently they threw out some ideas for him and what he could make me. Marti, of course came up with an X-rated idea. (haha! But no thanks!) He didn't tell me what the other ideas were, but his friend let me in on it. I think they decided a bird house was doable and a "thoughtful gift" for the bird/yard lover that I am.

So, at that point he had a couple of months to make me a bird house. All I could think was, "how's he going to MAKE me a bird house?" Haha! I got tears in my eyes imagining it!! I had to hop in the shower after Tony sent me that bird house text because I was going to crack up! I needed Marti to not see my face for a few minutes while I thought that one through. Measuring, marking. Sawing, sanding. Screwing, gluing. Painting, panting. OMG!

It gets better.

Tony let a bunch of their coworkers in on it, as well as some regulars.

Marti was off Wednesday for his bday. Tony was going to get some regular to ask Marti where he was on Wednesday to get him to say it was his birthday. Then the regular would ask him what his wife made for him – just to give more random credibility to the "tradition" we were making up.

Of course, my giving him the box I made added more credibility to the story that it's traditional to give a home-made gift for a 40th bday. The worst part was, I couldn't say anything or see it come to fruition for over 2 months!

What killed me the most was imagining him actually making me something. It would have to be a true labor of love for him to want to make me something just because it's a tradition that I want him to follow. What a sport, huh?

A bird house… Ha ha ha!!!!

During the time it took to get from his bday to mine, there were a few opportunities to subtly mess with him. For example, at the dollar store I ran across some little 4" birdhouses in unfinished wood. I brought one home and made a point of painting it with Abby one morning while I let him sleep in so he could come down and discover us "making a birdhouse."

I can't even remember all the other things now since it has been so many weeks from start to finish.

So, my bday has come and gone and he did give me a birdhouse. After admiring his work, I asked him if he was going to give me my 40 swats -- because he was going to want to! He looked confused and asked me why.

It was then that I let him know the whole thing was a prank.

His response to me was, "No, it's real! I heard it from more than one person."

Pause.

Pause.

Pause.

Oh, if only it were that easy to make something true!

I could see so many thoughts running through his head as he said that. The denial was so pure! As he realized NOW I was telling the truth, it was almost as if he wanted to stop himself from saying it, but it was too late.

The next thing that happened was he started remembering who said what and who was in on it. Names would come out of the blue as he'd remember their part in the prank. "How did you get Meagan in on it?"

Seriously??? Meagan. Prank. Come.on!!!!! That was a natural! A better question might have been, "How did you get the guy from the salon a few doors down in on it?" Little did he know that guy from the salon is Meagan's stylist!

Almost everyone that heard about it wanted to take part in it once it got rolling.

In the end, it was a lot of fun, but I wish time didn't slip away from me once all the other festivities of October hit. I would have liked a bigger punchline that morning, or at least to have had the camera on his face.

No matter. As it is, I'm having fun with more little pranks around the house now that we've made it through this one. With Halloween done, there were the after Halloween sales. I've already hidden a fake doggie-doo in Abby's bed for him to find! That was funny, but he happened to find it when I was giving her a bath, so I missed seeing his face. It was fun after the bath to chase Abby around with it while she still thought it was real.

What was really funny was that when they thought it was real, they BOTH blamed it on the same dog -- Joey! Well, neither of our dogs mess on the floor or anything, but somehow they both immediately thought it was Joey!

And then there was the fake blood capsule...

Yup, I'm pretending I'm not 40 now and being about as immature as I can manage!

(I'll post a picture here of the birdhouse he made later this week. I need to get a hanger for it and hang it in the tree with the tiny one Abby and I painted.)