This email from Todd-- waiting for me when I returned from today's l-o-n-g client meeting-- was just too good not to share:

"When I was in NYC, Nina made me go to the grocery store with her because I make a good Sherpa. I was carrying like 9 gallons of juice and water toward the front of the store-- while Nina carried 3 yogurts-- when suddenly we got trapped behind a 130 year-old woman with a walker moving at the speed of continental drift. Come to think of it, I think she was the last surviving witness of Pangaea. Pins and needles in my hands the stuff was so heavy. We nearly died trying not to laugh-- and I think the woman nearly died 'cause... well... 130. And yet still somehow carrying this stuff by hand seemed like a better idea than getting a cart. Hindsight-- not so bright.

How tsonneborn and kkeller is that story though? It's like I have two friends, but only one friendship."

Funny. Though I gotta say that I think he's definitely underestimating the pain of carrying yogurts. I tried to balance six of them in the Social Safeway last night-- and nearly created yogurt soup on my shoes.

I'm pretty sure-- no, make that positive-- that Nina would agree.

First it was flowers-- these flowers-- gorgeous flowers-- my favorite flowers. Flowers from completely out of the blue. Flowers for absolutely no occasional reason. Flowers accompanied by the sweetest words of an endearing "just because" sentiment.

And then today it was a note on the door from Brown telling me that he was trying desperately to reach me today because he had something to give me-- something that he would try to deliver again between 10:30 and 2:00 tomorrow. I called B when I got in to tell him that I liked Brown-- but that even more, I liked the guy behind Brown. "You know," I said, "the guy behind the guy."

He laughed sleepily. I giggled girlishly.

The gifts make me giggle-- make me smile-- make me blush-- make me rush with euphoria. But the surprise of them all captures my soul-- sending a squillion butterflies fluttering up and down my spine.

So I'd say mission definitely accomplished: <zsa><zsa><zsu>

Though games and riddles aren't usually my style, I've been spending my precious creative, coding hours on this surprise for Erika's birthday next month. Of course now that I look at it-- following the link from my site to hers-- I realize it's not particular creative coding. It seems I'm all about regurgitating overused design patterns-- but I digress.

Creating the site was fun-- and challenging-- searching for thirty photographs of the birthday surprise destination and writing thirty impossibly vague clues to match. Even Todd wasn't able to guess yet where we're going-- and I actually told him not more than a month ago. When I pointed this out to him he responded jokingly, "Senility is awesome... every day is a new surprise."

The finishing touch was the postcard that I put in the mail to Erika today, which she will receive upon her return from England, Denmark, and Sweden on Sunday (ahem-- exactly why does Erika need a surprise birthday trip-- she seems to do just fine on her own.) The postcard shows two old wooden globes of the earth circa 1920: one whole and the other in halves, opened on a hinge. On the reverse side I wrote: "Where in the world will Erika spend her 30th birthday? Tune in to find out." And then I listed her site.

I felt particularly clever. And excited. After all-- someone has to go with her to help her partake in all that birthday fun.