Friday, May 22, 2009

Sneaky...sneaky...sneaky

Last Friday, Josh's birthday present arrived (a month early - his birthday is June 18th); I got him a solid maple bookcase. :)

I'm still amazed that I was able to surprise him, considering what ended up happening. He had no clue that I had planned anything at all for his birthday. The day before it arrived, I said to him in the car "I don't know what to get you for your 40th birthday!", little did he know what was arriving the next morning.

About nine months ago Josh took me to Woodcraft to look at bookcases. We were in the 'just looking' mode and weren't serious at the time about actually getting one. Josh had no idea what I had up my sleeve...

I ordered the bookcase at the beginning of April and I was told that it would take about eight weeks to arrive, which was perfect (it should have arrived closer to his birthday - but that was fine). I chose the wood, the stain, the number of shelves, everything. Anyways, when they were making up the bill, I told the salesman (who I later found out was the VP of the company) that it was a surprise. He wrote on the bill "SURPRISE FOR HUSBAND!" at the top of the bill and I gave them my cell number so Josh wouldn't end up getting a call at home and the cover would be blown. It all seemed to be coming together.

About two weeks after I placed the order I received a note from the company (it had their name and address on the envelope) and wouldn't you know that Josh went to get the mail that day. He told me that I received a letter from the company and he was curious as to what it was. I took the letter from him, opened it and told him that they were having a sale and that's why they contacted me. Mmmm, sneaky.

In reality, it was a thank you note from the VP for my purchase. Granted it was a very nice gesture, but the surprise was almost blown. I ended up emailing the company and asked them not to send anything else. They apologized and as a gesture of good faith, ended up waiving the $75 delivery fee. :)

Last Thursday, I got a call on my cell phone that the bookcase was ready for delivery. They told me they could deliver it next day and I would be the first delivery of the day.

On Friday I was a little nervous and had my cell phone on (since it was their only mode of contacting me). Josh still had no clue what was going on.

The delivery truck rolled up to the house at 12:45 and I called to Josh to come up the stairs. He came and I told him to look out the window and said "Happy birthday!" At first, he thought that I was kidding and the truck was just backing into the driveway to turn around. HA!

Then the driver stopped the truck. Josh's mouth dropped open and he kept saying "No way. NO WAY! What did you do?! Oh my g-d!" over and over again. His reaction was really amusing (especially if you know him).

As soon as the delivery men left, he ran down to the basement to get books to fill the case.

11 comments:

4D said...

Veddy nice!

Keep smilin!

Michelle said...

What a beautiful bookcase!

And what a cute surprise for your hubby.

Happy Birthday Josh!

M and M said...

Very Nice!!

Happy early birthday Josh!

t~ said...

Aren't surprises fun? ;)

Cool bookshelf.

Snowflowers Mum said...

that is a sweet bookcase and an even sweeter suprise!

I hope you got some serious nooky for that book nook!

Fliss and Mike Adventures said...

That is a classic... pity I can't surprise Mike like that ;)

a Tonggu Momma said...

Happy birthday, Josh! As to the bookcase - it is gorgeous! We are suckers for nice furniture -- probably because my husband "won the Washington State Fair small furniture division" when he was only in junior high school. (Can you totally tell I've heard that story WAY TOO OFTEN???) If the husband thinks he could make it, he won't spend the money on it. He'd love this surprise, too.

Michele said...

I'm betting he knew just how to thank you properly. Glad he loves it. Happy early Birthday Josh!

Anonymous said...

Yeah, happy almost birthday Josh.

Catherine said...

Very nice! Glad to hear your cover wasn't blown.

Happy early Birthday Josh!

D & S said...

It is a lovely gift. I hope you both enjoy it.