Secrets

The way I see it there are two kinds of secrets. The first kind of secret can be fun, exciting and adventurous. It's trying to surprise someone with something special.

Like when we bought our house. Tom kept the house a secret for a week until one day he came home from work and our home teacher was giving a lesson on keeping Christmas simple and humble. After the home teacher left Tom took me out to show me the Christmas present he had in the works. It was our house. We kept the house a secret for the next week. On Christmas morning we woke the kids up at 6 am because we couldn't wait any longer. They finally unwrapped a paper that said, "Get in the car. We are going for a drive." You've never seen kids get in the car so quickly! We drove to our house and told them that we were buying it. That was a good secret and lots of fun. It makes a great story, too.

The other kind of secret isn't so fun. It's keeping things inside because you're afraid of what might happen if they come out. It's trying to make people think things are better than what they are. It's trying to deceive someone. I was raised with too many of these kinds of secrets, and as a result I have rebelled. I have freed myself from all of this kind of secret and I don't keep them anymore. They cause too much stress.

The reason why I'm sharing this is because I had a run in with a secret this weekend. Laney's mom wanted to keep John and Laney's engagement a secret until she could have a big, formal dinner to announce the engagement to all the extended family. I thought, "Great! Have a good time, but I'll be telling our family and all my friends right now!"

Little did I know I was going to blow Karla's plans out of the water.

I told my friend Lynda about the engagement. Lynda went to work and told her kitchen manager about the engagement. I had worked with this kitchen manager while I was subbing and Lynda thought the manager would like to know. No problem so far...

Except...

The kitchen manager calls me and asks, "What is Laney's last name?" I tell her and then craziness breaks out. That kitchen manager just happens to be Laney's aunt!

Remi tells me about how John had come to her house with Laney once and she didn't know he was my son. Apparently, John had gone there around Thanksgiving time and didn't tell me who this aunt was because he didn't know I had worked with her before. No one gave me a list of who the extended family was so I'd be careful. And I'm sure Remi is not the type to keep quiet. The whole family will probably know by tonight.

All I can say is...OOOPS!

I hope Karla won't hate me. John just laughed, and I'm pretty sure Laney will, too. But it has to be a great way to make an impression on someone you just met...ha ha.