Mission Accomplished

Operation: (secret) plan
Mission: Surprise my mom at the school she teaches at, where they will be awarding her this year's yearbook dedication.

20:00 Fresno Amtrak Station
My sister picks me up. We go to get my mom flowers and balloons. Then I am transported to her fiance's house where I'll be housed until 08:00 when Operation: (secret) plan is deployed.

25:00 BiL's House
We all hang out for a little bit, watching Ace of Cakes and sorting out the details of the next morning. I had a good conversation with my BiL-to-be after my sister left. He is a good guy. I hope for their bright future! I am excited to see them get married!

060409
07:10 BiL's House
I suit up for the big morning! Eat some cinnamon toast eggo waffles and we load the car and get ready to leave. My BiL thought he forgot his keys inside of his locked house then finds them in his pockets after going back into the house. We make our way off to drive to my house where my dad will drive me to my mom's school. As we're about to turn into my neighborhood, we see my dad driving out of my neighborhood enroute to the school.
A little confused, we call him and tell him to come back because he has to take me! He returns to homebase. We transfer the goods--flowers, balloons, me--and continue with the ops.

08:45 Elementary School Front Office
My dad and I walk into rendezvous with my sister and the principal. We walk in flowers and balloons in hand, smiling, and my sister says, "You're going to be mad at me." Her face looks so sad, almost in unbelief. The principal looks at me and says, "You had the wrong date. The ceremony is scheduled for Monday." My smile sinks, we all look on in these unsure glances.
There was confusion in the dates and apparently the video yearbook assembly was today. What followed was a lot of kicking ourselves and wondering what happened. The principal said she couldn't do the dedication today because they don't have the yearbooks to give to the kids and they have everything scheduled for Monday. She asks if I can come on Monday. I'm really unsure because this week was my first week of work at my internship and I asked for thursday and friday off already, but then I didn't want to go back to Berkeley and miss my mom's dedication.

09:00 Car enroute for Homebase
My dad and I discuss whether I should ask my boss for Monday off so I can stay in hiding at BiL's until Monday. We are intensely trying to weigh whether it is a good idea meanwhile my sister is honking her car horn, calling my cell phone, and trying to wave us down. We see her car pull up next to ours and her arm waving out the window. I look at my phone and see 4 missed calls from her. When I call her back she says that the principal is trying to put together something in the next 15 minutes and hopefully we can do it today.

09:15 Old Honda North Parking Lot
We waited until we heard confirmation that we could do it today. The staff is scrambling to put everything together and work out the logistics: the vice principal drove to the office of the yearbook designer to wait until they openned to get a copy of the yearbook among other things.

09:35 Elementary School
Hidden in the vice principal's office with paper taped over the window so no one can see us, my sister and dad and I are waiting to go backstage. When the time is right, staff leads us to the backstage through a back enterance. As the video yearbook plays we stand behind the curtains and screen. The video finishes and the principal announces that they are going to be doing the yearbook dedication today instead of Monday (the kids ooh and ahh).
She begins to read off a bio of my mom asking the kids if they can guess who this teacher is. As she says the last portion of the bio, the janitor flicks the switch for the projection screen to go up and we are revealed. She announces that my mom is being honored today. I see my mom tearing up and walking towards the stage. My sister and I start to tear up too. She is soo surprised! (success!) She looks at me and says, "How did you get here?" We give her hugs and flowers and balloons. My mom says a few words, thanking the school and telling them how everyday is so fun because of the kids and the great staff.

:)

10:30 Room 14
We follow my mom back to her class. She keeps repeating how she's so surprised. The principal tells her she can go to lunch early and that she has someone to cover her classroom. So we take my mom out to lunch.

11:00 Red Robin's
The best moments are the ones you want to relive and rehash over and over again. My mom, dad, and I go over and over the details of all the secret operation we pulled off. My mom keeps saying how she knows that we can lie now and she didn't know that we could pull off something like that and that she doesn't like surprises and to be the center of attention with all those eyes on her.

Well, troops, we did it.
Mission Accomplished.