I hate to admit it to the whole blogging world, but there is a small smudge on my reputation as an honest, upright individual with the utmost integrity. It's really not my fault. I'm innocent. All history and evidence to the contrary... Really, really--INNOCENT.


Some of my family members believe that I prowl around in search of birthday gifts. But, it's simply not true. Their evidence is purely circumstantial. Every time (yes, there have been several) it is truly an accident. I'll spare you the gory details of the past indictments and share only the most recent episode.


My birthday is on Sunday...this upcoming Sunday...August 19th. It's still days away and I wasn't thinking about it at all when I went to the mailbox yesterday afternoon. I was surprised to find a small box waiting in there for me. I checked out the "from" part (but I INNOCENTLY neglected the "to" part), and quickly concluded it was the t-shirt Brandi was sending me. I even told Punky, "Oh, it's my t-shirt from Brandi!" but 3 year olds make lousy eye-witnesses.



When we got into the house, I pulled the tab and the box sprung open. Inside, there was a small box surrounded by snowman poop. "That's odd...what could it be?" I wondered aloud (still no help from the 3 year old eye-witness). I grabbed the small box, flipped it so I could see what was inside, gasped, and slammed it back (face-down) on the counter. "Oh buggers! I did it again!"



I had told Aaron I wanted a watch for my birthday. He ordered one, on behalf of my in-laws and sister, from one of those "other" stores on Amazon. But last I knew, it was from Amazon itself. This was no Amazon box! How was I to know?! Really, Judge, how was I supposed to know? The address label? Oh yeah. I checked the "to" part at this point. It clearly said Aaron Wilson, but the "FROM" part, Judge--it said "BikeSomeWhere.com/SwingSomeWhere.com" and was from FL (where Brandi lives--where the t-shirt would be coming from). The obvious assumption would be...IT WAS MY T-SHIRT!!!


Absolutely overcome with guilt (even though I was totally innocent), I called Aaron immediately and confessed my mistake. He laughed and asked if I liked it. I told him I had barely seen it before slamming it face-down on the counter. "Can I look?" "Yes." "Ooooh! I do like it! Good choice!"

So, another birthday surprise INNOCENTLY spoiled. I don't know why this keeps happening to me. Really. I don't.

Disclaimer: All photos in this post have been reenacted to illustrate a true story.