Do you like surprises?

'Cause I don't.

I don't mind things in the gifts-as-surprise genre. I don't even pick up packages and shake them at Christmastime, and I don't try to weasel hints out of the gift-giver. I can sit, smug and comfortable in the knowledge that, eventually, I will be able to open that gift, and then the mystery will be over.

But I'm realizing, of late, that I actively dislike the "get dressed and ready by 7:00 on Saturday, we're doing something" type surprise. And everyone around me seems to just loooooooove perpetrating this type of event upon me. I wasn't allowed to know where we were going for my birthday dinner, and two of my closest friends have organized "a day trip" in mid-July that I'm only allowed to know that I should block off the date on my calendar.

I can understand that it's fun to try and keep things on the down-low for a while. I've done it myself - I worked hard to keep Willem's 30th birthday plans a secret until the last possible second. But I'm realizing it makes me a tiny bit berserk when the tables are turned, so I'm thinking that will continue t be the exception rather than the rule.

It's just this: if I don't know what we're going to do and where we're going to go, then I can't get properly excited. The anticipation is so formless and blurry, and it's just hard for me to really sink my brain into it. I like counting down the days, and planning out my outfits, and watching relevant TV shows or what have you.

So, pretty please, if any of you out there feels the need to shower me with gifts, you go right ahead, and I can comfortably promise not to open them before the appropriate deadline. But if you're planning an outing, please just go ahead and let that cat out of the bag right from the start, okay? Cats don't like bags much, anyway.