Surprise! Not.

I love surprises! (Not the heartbreaking kind though.) There’s something about the unexpected that gets me. The annoying thing is the jury’s still out on whether I know how to execute a proper one.

I want to spend Christmas this year surrounded by family, relatives, and friends in my hometown so I asked my parents if we could all go to Cebu where everyone else is. But I wanted it to be a surprise for my sisters because they’ve been asking me to celebrate with them for the longest time. So I came up with an elaborate plan to do just that. However, my parents wanting to spend more time with their grandchildren made the planning difficult because that meant two separate flights to Cebu a month apart. 

On the day my parents were to arrive in Cebu, I asked my youngest sister if she could meet a friend of mine at the airport. She thought that was a little odd and asked me point blank if my parents or I were the ones that were arriving. I had to improvise (read: lie). She saw through the lie and ruined everything. I shouldn’t have video chatted with her because my face reveals a lot and she knows me too well. 

I thought that I still have another shot on Christmas Day when they see me on the steps of their front porch shouting, “Merry Christmas!” But, I ruined that too. 

Last night, I was thinking of asking someone in Cebu who could help me book a beach resort for New Years Eve because rates are cheaper for local residents. But that would involve asking them to use their credit card and I didn’t have the balls to ask that of anyone. So I had to admit defeat, decided that I could surprise them some other time, and asked my sister (the same one) to do the booking. She was ecstatic when she learned I will be spending the holidays with them but I was a little disappointed at myself for not being able to see my plan through. I did ask her to keep my homecoming a secret to my other sister and to my niece and nephews so I could at least label this whole endeavor a partial success. We shall see if she can contain her excitement well enough not to reveal anything. 

One of my wishes this season: to properly surprise one person. And for you, my dear readers, to have lots of pleasant ones under the tree.

Go where your heart is.