A Valentine's Debacle

Have you ever said or done something and then later reflected back and thought, wow that didn't come across the way I expected!  Yesterday, Wes was describing a girl he saw that we both used to know and I said "how'd she look?" and he said, "well, she was more overweight than you are." (WHAT!!!!)  We were eating lunch with Sara and my dad and we all exploded with laughter!  Poor Wes.  Then today Preston was asking me the 1000th question regarding animals like if a honey badger and a sperm whale got in a fight, who would win? and I answered "I don't know, Preston" to which he said "wow, Mom, you don't know much, do you? (WHAT!!!!!)  Well, son, I guess not.  Thanks for pointing that out.

Not everything comes across the way we expect.  That brings us to Valentines Day 2012 at the Cook household.  The scene begins that night with Wes revealing a special Valentines game that he made for me.  It was a recreation of a game that he had made me in college.  This game was recreated after I kept complaining how he doesn't do romantic things for me anymore.  (I sure hope I'm not the only one who complains about this!)  So, Wes really came through this year with a homemade game of clues and homemade envelopes in a game that was similar to Deal or No Deal.  The rules of the game were that I would open the envelope that contained something special and I had to decide whether I wanted to keep what I had just opened or whether I wanted to keep going hoping for something better.  But you never knew whether there would be something worse!  Here's the rules for you if you want to read them.


So I began the game excited to see what he had in store for me.  As it began, the decisions were pretty easy. 

Clue #1:  Go to Costco for pizza and ice cream.  (Nice, but hey this is Valentines day!)
Clue #2:  Go out to a breakfast place of my choice.  (Naaaa.)
Clue #3:  Go to McDonald's for dinner with a playland for the kids.  (NO WAY!)
Clue #4:  Go out to Olive Garden for dinner. (Nice, but I was ready to press my luck)
Clue #5:  Kiss your husband for 30 seconds.  (This was mandatory.  I guess even game makers try to have something in it for them!)

Clue #6:  Go out to a movie of your choice and ice cream. (Tempting...)

***This is when the game took a fateful turn.  My dad called so we took a break from the game and talked to him for about 30 minutes.  When we returned to the game, Wes reminded me that there could be some bad ones so I should be careful.  He said "You could end up with a can of Coke if you're not careful."  Hmmm.....this started to get me nervous.  I opened the next clue.

Clue #7: Go to dinner of your choice ($30 max) for a date.

 I said, "well it looks good but when we usually go out on a date, we spend about $30.  He said, "No we usually spend under $20 and go somewhere like Qdoba."  I said, "so if I don't pick this one, we will end up at Qdoba for Valentines day?"  "Not necessarily."  But then he said again, "you should be careful though because you might get a can of Coke if you keep going."  Again with the warnings!!  Last thing I wanted to do on Valentines Day was end up with a can of Coke.  "Okay, I said, this seems like a good one...should I do it?"  He just smiled and said he couldn't help me make the final decision.  But then he said, "Okay, here's what I'll do.  I will let you open up the next one and if you don't like that one, you can go back to the one you have."

Sounded good to me, so I opened it up:

Clue #8:  Go to Wendy's.

Well, of course I wasn't going to go with that one so I said "I will stop at Clue #7."  At this point, there was about 3-4 more clues left.  I am not a huge risk taker, so I felt good with my choice.  That is until we opened up the remaining ones.

Clue #9:  Go on a date with up to $100 to spend the way you desire! (My mouth drops open.)

Clue #10: Go to stay at a hotel and have up to $100 to spend the way you desire.  (Eyes pop out of my head and I fall out of the bed.  Ok, figuratively I fell out of the bed.)

Clue #11:  Pick 3 of the clues of your choice!

At this point, you can imagine how I was feeling.....like a huge loser!!  I had given up way too soon and had missed out on the Valentines Day of my dreams.  As any well-mannered wife would do, I started crying and yelling "how could you let me quit?"  Poor Wes.  His Valentines Day game was so well-intentioned and all he ended up with was a big fat disaster.  By the end of the night, we were able to laugh about it and ended the night without being in a fight.  But no, we did not have a fairy-tale ending.  I still have my coupon to redeem for my $30 dinner.  I have a feeling that it's going to taste a little bitter.  Now I know I have a husband who will spend an hour making a game for me for my enjoyment and because he loves me.  But I also know that no matter what, next time he makes a game for me, I'm going all the way, baby!!! Even if the end is a can of Coke!!!!