"Do the Girls Like Purple?" and Other Surprises That Await Me

I think there may be a tad bit of excitement from the family that awaits us at our new home.

I frequently receive phone calls with leading and strange questions these days, things like:

"Do the girls like purple- a light kind of purple?"

To which, caught off guard, I answer, "Uh, um, yeah- yes. They do." 

And the response on the other end is. "Ok. Bye."

Click.

Then, later on, the phone will ring again and I will hear, "What is the measurement for that front room?"

To which I will scramble for the paper with those numbers on it and answer only to hear-

"Thanks. Goodbye."

Uh. Okay.

Or- my favorite, "What do you think of a cow?"

To which I can only answer, "There's no barn!"

And wonder whether a large purple cow will be living in the front room. It's like Mad Libs come to life- I'm just helping my family insert words into those blank spaces.

I love good surprises- I put the "good" part in there because when I when I got the call about the basic brake service and check from my friendly reliable local mechanic, the surprise was that the rear calibers were broken, the drums needed to be replaced and there was something else wrong that I can't remember. That's not the kind of surprise that gets me all smiley like a five year old on Christmas.

So, these leading questions that hint of bigger, lovely and exciting things to come from my beloved family who I have missed so much- well, they are very welcome.

But when it come to surprises I find that there are some lovely people in my life who object. They wake up in the middle of the night worried about things hinted at. If presented with this hinting that I have received, they might be constantly needled by it. One recently said, "Oh god, I would totally stress- I would actually lose sleep about it because my mind can't let that stuff go. I'd be thinking what does that mean? Over and over and over."

Isn't it funny? There are those who love it and those who don't. The children love surprises - well, usually. The eldest is a little hesitant about most these days and he keeps hoping those surprises will be things like an Xbox (as you may recall from this post).

So, if we arrive at this big old house to find a purple cow in the front room, mooing a greeting to us when we open the door, I'm going to laugh and cry and name her "Nelly" so that I can say, "Woah there Nelly" when I milk her for our morning sherbet. (What?! What else would come from a purple cow?)--And then I will head outside to go on my morning ride with the family unicorn.