Birthday Holiday WEEK long Extravaganza!!!

I am not sure where to start.... it has been a very long birthday holiday week extravaganza! It started way back OVER a week ago when my strong silent mysterious man thought we should go browsing for his birthday present.

It was supposed to just be browsing, but he tried on EVERYTHING in the store, three times each!

I don't like the idea of buying your own birthday present, but it is a good thing to know what you want, and be able to pick it out. Especially, with a big ticket item like a guitar. So reluctantly I bought the guitar (thinking I would save gas from having to drive back into the city, just so for the idea he didn't buy his own gift).

Knowing we would all be in different places on his actual birthday, the teenager and I decided to have a party for him last Saturday, so we could do the whole dinner, cake and ice cream and present blowout!

The teenager (having no idea Dad actually knew I bought the guitar), being the jokester he is decided to give Dad his "new guitar case". Keeping the guitar out and waiting until after dinner to give him the rest of the gift.

Dad had to play along, that was part of the promise I made him give me by getting his present early... 1) he couldn't look at it until it was given to him, 2) he had to pretend he didn't know about it, and 3) absolutely no sneaking it out of the closet to play it when we were gone.

The teenager gave in and gave him the guitar right after the case... he is like his Dad that way, can't keep a surprise!
So he seemed to like it...
He was giddy with excitement....
And it played beautifully...

We went to birthday dinner...

Sang the Happy Birthday song, ate cake and ice cream...

And a good time was had by all... even aside from all the joking and teasing.

Then at some point shortly after, he discovered the strings on the guitar were not centered on the neck. This was not right, so back to the city to exchange the guitar.

Since he had another one in mind, it would just be a matter of swapping it out... no money would have to exchange hands, so we justified doing it after church on Sunday.

When we arrived at the guitar shop, the second choice guitar seemed to have the same string issue, not as bad... but still the same, and I wasn't going to spend that kind of money for something that wasn't right.

So he began the trying on process again! It would turn out to be hours. So in an attempt to save my sanity, I thought I would step outside of the noisy, head banging, thumping sounds in the store for some quiet hummmmm of the traffic outside, the hesitant feeling I had about doing this on a Sunday, was beginning to catch up with me and take over.

As I stepped outside, I looked over at our car and something wasn't right... we had a flat tire... not low, completely flat!!! That did it! I was outta there, this wasn't right, and we shouldn't be there, I no longer had any warm fuzzy feelings about the birthday gift.

After more deliberation, and me almost in tears over the entire situation, and even more deliberation because the guitar he was now looking at was even more money... we finally left with the "Stevie Ray Vaugh" version. It was hard for me to be happy for him, mostly because I felt terrible about being out on Sunday shopping for guitars, but I tried to put on a good face. It was his birthday present after all, and he IS very deserving. And it was a very nice guitar, it would hold it's value blah blah blah blah.

We got the tire fixed, made it home... the ordeal seemed to be over! I thought...

Monday morning, my strong silent mysterious man informed me he couldn't sleep all night. He was tossing and turning and didn't feel good about keeping the SRV guitar he had brought home the night before. He just couldn't keep it.

So Monday after work... back to the guitar store. We would just return everything. We walked out without a guitar.

Tuesday, he went back to our local guitar shop less only a couple of miles from our house, where he frequents often and is on a first name basis with the guitar guru. He tells him about the adventure, and this guy pulls out a vintage re-make Strat.

To make a really really long story a little shorter. I was back to the guitar shop while my man was at work to pick it up.

We both felt much better about the guitar, the sale, the whole situation was much smoother. He knew the min. he touched it, that it felt right. It didn't take hours and hours of deliberation like before.... this was how it was supposed to be.

So I layed out the gifts awaiting his arrival home from work...

He played it, he loved it....

This is his "minney pearl" look...
I think it all turned out the way it was supposed to...

It is a beautiful guitar, and sounds even better than it looks...

After all the birthday trauma, there is love at home. Who wouldn't love to be serenaded by a strong silent mysterious man like this.

He is a happy birthday boy!!