Fun times in Salem,Mo. with Operation Surprise Ken

Wow. Never a dull moment in Salem (never thought I'd say that!). Actually, it's never a dull moment with my family.
So, we started the day by Red, Jon and myself driving to Salem. I got the pleasure of riding in the backseat with Chloe The Drooling Dog. Jon and Red had warned me that it's not so much drool as it is a shower of doggie spit. I couldn't wait. Chloe surprised me though. Once we hit the highway, she slept in my lap. That is, until we hit Hwy 68 in St. James. Then she began to hyperventilate and the stream of drool began (the road is quite twisty-turny. I actually got quite car sick and had to shut my eyes until we hit Salem).

Once in the big town, we went straight to Wal-Mart to meet up with Tim. We thought all we had to do was pick up the TV for dad and head to mom and dad's house. Wrong. Turns out, Tim hadn't even paid for it yet, nothing was done ahead of time, so we had to take care of those little details. I ran into this guy Chris who I went to high school with who says "I hear you're getting married". What? I asked where he'd heard that rumor since it was news to me. Apparently so-and-so told him. I wanted to know where so-and-so got their information AND why so-and-so was talking about me, why was I the subject of rumors in a town I don't even live in anymore? These questions remain unaswered. Anyway, we rolled the TV and stand outside and realized the TV did not fit in my sister's Jeep. Plan B. Luckily, dad had left his truck parked at the bank across the street (he and mom were on a hot date in Rolla for their 33rd wedding anniversary. They were doing dinner and a movie-isn't that cute? I totally predicted where they went to dinner-St. Louis Bread Company. Dad called it "Pantera's". Tim was like "uh, dad, thats a band....did you mean "Panera's"?), so we stole the truck and put the TV in the back. I got put in charge of driving the truck (always an adventure) and off we went to mom and dad's house. Once there, the dogs greeted us and freaked out seeing Chloe in the car. It was some good times. We unloaded everything only to discover that neither one of us had a house key. Nice. On top of that, I was walking across the yard (a mistake in the dark) and nearly stepped on a dead squirrel. That was real nice. So, we had to all drive back into town, find my brother who had the sole house key, drop off dad's truck, and finally go back to my parent's house.

From here, my sister and I "supervised" while the boys put together the TV stand and moved the old TV. We were on a time crunch as we expected my parents home around 10:00. We were so excited-the new TV looked great. When mom and dad walked in, dad's first reaction was "what are you guys doing here?" Then when he saw his gift, he said (as I totally predicted) "you guys don't have any money". I think he was genuinely shocked though and pleased. He is watching his new TV as we speak. We done good. We spent the rest of the evening watching Chloe and Stubby chase each other around the house (way too funny) and we crashed out by midnight (that damn country air).

Saturday, thus far, has consisted of mom and dad getting everyone McDonald's and all of us sitting around the dining room table listening to dad tell his various stories. It has been perfect. I love my crazy little family.