The story behind the box.

It could be the coolest thing anyone's asked me to do.

Some friends of mine are expecting a baby. The mommy-to-be wanted to do a gender reveal photoshoot, and she sent me an idea on what to do.

It involved me decorating a box with gender appropriate decorations. We hung the box from a tree. When they opened the box, the decorations fell out, which told them what they were having.

That sounds like fun. Sign me up!

A week ago, they handed me a sealed envelope. In it was a sonogram photo that said the sex of their baby.

I ripped open the envelope in my car, but I decided not to read the results. I wanted to read the results in my house, because I wanted to have that memory in a house I (finally) own.

I got home, sat on my kitchen table, then opened the envelope.

I screamed.

I mean, I screamed!

I had dreams it was a boy. I knew it was a boy. I knew!

Sidenote: I don't know anything. Don't ever listen to me.

Next, I went shopping. I bought all kinds of stuff, including rose petals, glittery tulle, ribbon, and streamers. This was the best part. People kept asking me if I was planning a birthday party.

I didn't know what to say. Um, I'm kind of sort of planning something, but not really.

The mommy-to-be swore me to secrecy on the project. I couldn't tell people what I was doing and break that promise!

So with my armload of pink stuff, I went home and got to work.

It's tricky, box building. The bottom was supposed to have a trap door, but I couldn't figure it out.

When I tested my trap door, everything just fell out.

Well...shoot.

And when you're working on a top secret gender reveal project, you can't exactly call someone and ask for back up, you know?

I decided the daddy-to-be was tall enough to cut the bottom of the box with a box cutter instead of having a trap door.

It wasn't perfect, but it worked.

I ran out of tape that night I was making the box, so I went to my mom and dad's house to get some. They knew what I was making.

My dad looked at me.

"It's a boy, isn't it?"

I looked away and didn't look him in the eyes.

"I knew it! You can't lie. I'm telling your mom it's a boy!"

(Well, I thought, you can tell her, but you're going to be wrong. I later got a compliment on how good my lying skills are. Um, thanks?)

The next night, I took the decorated box to a park in town. It was the same park I took their engagement photos in, which is nice.

Before they joined me, I drove around the park a few times, got out, and looked around for a good tree.

I found the perfect tree in the perfect spot. With their help, we got the box hung up and ready to go. There was beautiful light that night, and I loved all of the leaves on the ground.

It was perfect.

Testing to check the light. Beautiful!

Pink!

Well, everyone knows what the outcome was now.

I had a blast doing this.

They're going to be great parents.

Not a taco.

Last night some friends asked if I wanted to go out to eat. 

I haven't felt good recently. I've had bronchitis for about a month, which has left me a sneezy and coughy mess. 

I've felt good enough the past week to do stuff, though. I went shopping out of town (sorry, shop local people). So I decided that yes, I absolutely wanted to eat at a restaurant last night.

I've had cravings for a local Mexican place. I didn't feel like a hamburger and fries, so I pitched that idea to my friends. They were game.

The thing is, I really wanted a taco. Three tacos, to be exact. But my mind was on other things, and apparently I can't think and talk at the same time.

They say you're supposed to marry the person who gives you the same feeling you get when you see your food coming at a restaurant. Guys, I've never been so disappointed in my life last night when I saw my plate of food.

The very nice waitress sat my plate down in front of me and walked away. I looked at it for a minute, then asked my friends a question.

"Do these look like tacos to you?"

The response was something like, "Um, I heard you say enchiladas. You didn't order tacos."

But I pointed my finger at tacos on the menu! Don't get me wrong, the enchiladas are fine, but I just had my heart set on a taco.

This is one of the only times I've eaten out in the past month, because I've been coughing and hacking so much. 

I wanted tacos!

Sigh. 

Taco night will be another night, I guess. 

Update

I haven't been posting much.

Things I've been up to:

- I tore cat carpet out of my house over the weekend.

- I have bronchitis and slept about two hours last night. Boo.

...and that's about it. My life consists of coughing and house repairs at the moment.

Sigh.

September notes

Random notes:

• September is a pretty good month. It's not as great as October or April, but I think it's my third favorite month.

• I'm working on a side project that involved finding and taking photos of sunflowers. I made a road trip last night. I'm not going to say my photos are award-winning, but they're decent. I feel so Kansas right now.

• I roadtripped to Nebraska a couple of weeks ago. I'm pretty sure the entire state is under road construction.

• I joined a gym (again) yesterday. My foot issue is fixed, my hip issue seems to be better, and my mouth no longer feels like it's trying to kill me. Let's do this! The last time I lost two dress sizes after six months of working out. That's my goal this time around as well.

• My house is never clean. I clean it and it just...gets dirty again. Sigh.