Birthday Adventure

I really wish I had charged my camera for our adventure yesterday. But then, how was I supposed to know it would turn in to an adventure?

Here is the background: It was Ellis's birthday. July 23. I have been thinking for MONTHS about this awesome gift for him. And recent events solidified the idea in my mind. Ellis is totally into electronics and technology. But what most people may not know is that he is also in to fixing things, tools, and making and designing things.

(Check out his cameo on the Make Magazine Website: http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2006/05/hammock_made_with_sketchup.html)

So, when he realized that he would have his own garage and utility room in the new house, we was pretty excited. One day in early July I was unpacking some kitchen stuff and he was helping me. After a little while, he asked, "Can I go to my room?" He promptly went to the utility room and was in there for HOURS! Looking though the stuff my dad was leaving. I guess he was envisioning the wonder of his own space to fill with his tools and gadgets. Thinking of the things he would build. And wondering what the hell my dad was thinking by keeping 4 drills that didn't work, the box to a 1974 purchase of some obsolete part to his old jeep, and the Four Wheelin Magazines from 1982 - 1987.

Anyway, I decided that Ellis needed a tool box. Actually, a few years ago I bought him a Craftsman Rally Box. I don't exactly know what that is, but it was a four drawer, black tool box. And he has out grown it. He has LOTS of stuff! And it is all Craftsman. From drill bits to wrenches to tiny screw drivers to who knows what else. Then man loves Craftsman. So, I decided that he needed a tool CHEST. And I knew he would love it!

I found the chest I wanted. It was econmical but had 9 drawers! A great starter chest! But, they didn't have one in our town. As a matter of fact, the closest one was 30 miles away. I decided that since Ellis has about an hour commute home every day that if I left at 5, I could be back around the time he would get home from work. In my mind I envisioned him pulling into the driveway and opening the garage door. Then this wonderful red chest would be sitting in the garage with a huge bow on it! And there would be spotlights and music and dancers....well, maybe not dancers. It was going to be great!

So, on Wednesday morning, I e-mailed AKB to see if she wanted to ride with me to pick it up. She is always up for a reason to leave work on time (bless her! She has been working late a lot this summer!). So she said yes! I filled up my gas tank and was in her work parking lot 10 minutes before 5. It was all going so smoothly! Then, our friend Mel met us, we loaded up in the Acura and hit the road! As we were pulling out, AKB said something like, "Did you want me to drive? I have more room in my Liberty?" And Mel said, "I can take my van, too. It has lots of room!" And I was so totally on my game, I said, "Nah! We can fit it in here! There is a lot of room!"

I had called Sears earlier in the day and they said that my order was ready. I actually paid for it on line, so all we had to do was pull up in front of the door, tell them we were there, get our stuff, and head back to town. Easy enough, right?

We arrive at Sears and these two young guys (high school, maybe freshmen in college) wheel out two large boxes. I am still optimistic. We put the smaller one in the trunk. AKB made fun of me since I didn't clean out my trunk before we started the trip. There was a box of painting supplies in there. And a stereo that Ellis acquired when he installed someone's new sound system....the stereo is circa 1981. Knobs and everything! But, we did manage to get the smaller box in!

Then, it was time for the larger box. I figured, from the looks of it, it would fit in the back seat beside Mel. I did not account for the small car doors that only opened a little bit. There was no way. We tried rolling down the window, but it still wouldn't fit. We tried the front seat. We scooted the seat back, laid it down, but it still wouldn't fit. After 15 minutes of this, Mel called her husband. But some stroke of fate, he was parked at a movie theater about 15 miles away....thinking it was the one we were supposed to meet at for Ellis's birthday movie. Joel and Mel were sure that it would fit in the trunk of their Jetta. The seats laid down and everything! There was room!

Just kidding.

No room.

Well, there WAS room, but the problem is that the opening to the trunk wasn't big enough. But, as luck would have it, his back doors opened a SMIDGGEN wider than mine did. So, thank the Craftsman Gods, it finally fit!

Due to traffic, stop in Ooltewah, and ordering the iPhone from AT&T, we had to push back the movie time to 8 instead of 7...but all in all, it did come together.

Well, not the music, spotlights, and dancers part.

After the movie, Ellis asked, "When do I get my gift?" And in an anticlimatic way, we walked over to Joel's car. He opened the back door and saw the lovely red of the base of the tool chest lodged into the vehicle. I had to explain that the rest of it was in his garage (I snuck it out of the trunk before the movie) and he would have to see it all together to get the full effect. He said that he liked it. I will find out how much he likes it by how many hours he spends in his utility room this weekend, filling it up, organizing it, and getting it the way he wants it. So, we'll see.