So I’m in the shower this morning, hurrying through my daily ablutions because it was four hours and counting until Emma Grace’s birthday party began, and I hadn’t even frosted the cake yet.
Maybe it sounds like an April Fool’s joke to hold a party on April Fool’s Day for a little girl whose birthday was in February, but Believe You Me it wasn’t intentional. No, the fact is that I have had No Time to plan, organize, or hold a birthday party for my five-year-old in the last month and a half. No Time. None.
And so it was today, and I was delighted to wake up to sunshine and warm, moving air outdoors: outdoor parties are So Much Easier to clean up.
But there was much to do: though I had Some time to plan the party in the last week, it was Very Little Time, and morning arrived with a check-list yet unchecked and No Ice-Cream.
And then, before I even had a chance to rinse the conditioner from my hair, the water suddenly, gently, and absolutely Shut Off.
Oh no.
What could it be? Why would Bill have to shut the water off? What kind of disaster had happened downstairs, where cleaning-up and general party preparations were supposed to be taking place? Had the washing machine leaked Yet Again? Had the toilet over-flowed (reason failed, here)? What inconvenience was hampering our strategy?
I stepped from the bath, opened the door, and peered downstairs, the question already on my lips, braced for the answer: What happened, Bill?
But there they were, all three of my darlings, coming up the stairs together, wicked grins aglow. And Bill, at the stair’s foot, grinning over the bannister.
They launched the words up at me in glee: “April Fool!”
I laughed and told them this was the best April Fool’s joke Ever, and dripping, returned to my shower.
Bill turned the water back on.
