Planning the wifes 40th Bday

[Monsto Brukes]

My wife's bday is in January and I'm trying to put together something different. Normally we just hang with our clan (close friends and their family) and drink and smoke and BS. But for 40 I want to do something different. Just to shake things up.

 

I want to do a Scripted Scavenger Hunt that ends at a specific bar for fried-tan-food and drinks (we're not bar hoppers at all, so that will be different enuf). So far I have some very general parameters, and a couple scenarios, but I need some ideas to fill things out.

 

The Scavenger Hunt is all about sending her on a wild goose chase for "things" from various "places" around our neighborhood and suburb. I have neighbors and family that have volunteered to show up at seemingly random times to interact in some way... things like hand her an envelope, say a weird keyphrase, send text messages, etc. What I need help with are scenarios and a way to have her land at the bar.

 

My potential scenarios:

1) I get out of bed, tell her to "chill in bed and I'll make breakfast"... A few minutes later, one of our clan will come into the room "Get up. We have things to do", I will be gone, the kids won't know where, and the day begins. Sounds like mysterious fun, and she'd roll her eyes knowing I'm up to something, but I don't want to make her run around all day. That's tedious.

 

2) My oldest sons and their friends are all big athletic boys... >6'3". When she exits a "certain establishment", I will come running across the parking lot. "you're not supposed to be here yet!" My sons and their friends drive up in a van, wearing masks, gloves, etc.(nothing identifiable showing), jump me "YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE" then throw me in the back and drive away.

 

I figure that a few scenarios to total up to ~2hrs of wandering thru the neighborhood and near city would have the 'experiential density' to make it fun and funny for her.

 

The 2nd thing I need is harder: inviting local friends without using facebook. I have access to her account (she sometimes uses my home office) but since I'm a social-network luddite, I don't have a FB acct and have no idea how it works or if I can get anyones information off of it. So ideas for how to do this would be nice as well.

 

[edit] I tried posting this on reddit. . . but those boards move SO FAST that nobody saw it.

[Monsto Brukes]

One other thing: I have to remember to close out chrome and my LL tabs before I get up from my pc. Is there a script to do something like that? Even if i go into 'incognito' mode, will that close tabs left open?

[TheSGC]

what if she like, reads this forum

[Koko.Hekmatyar]

First thing I'd recommend is taking the 40 out of the title!! Women tend to not advertise their age so you can imagine what might happen to you if she somehow saw this and realized you just told everyone here her age.

 

Does the phrase "never getting any again" mean anything to you?

[Guest airdance]

one of our clan will come into the room "Get up. We have things to do", I will be gone, the kids won't know where,

As a woman I can tell you there are a thousand ways this could blow up in your face before it gets off the ground.

  If you are not known to your wife as being spontaneous, and a bit of a practical joker, then here is how the first part of your scenario could go wrong.

Your wife will want to know "What things" and will start to ask questions about these things....then she will want to know where you are, and what happened that you had to leave so suddenly. .

 

My sons and their friends drive up in a van, wearing masks, gloves, etc.(nothing identifiable showing), jump me "YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE" then throw me in the back and drive away

As romantic as this sounds in your head, what is to stop your wife from calling the police (whom I might add have no sense of humor).

 Not to mention that witness( with 20/20 vision ), who does not know this is a joke who pulls out their phone and films the whole thing then turns it over to the police.(who have zero tolerance when it comes to this type of mischief)

 

I would tone this down a little perhaps a small box that looks like a ring box on her night stand for her to find. The note inside could tell her that this box would have contained a special gift, but to find it she has to go to a certain place at a certain time to receive her next set of instructions.

 

 

 

[sunspotz]

I did some Geocaching for my wife's birthday gift, might be something you could do by setting up a gift with some coordinates anonymously.

You then go hunting for it together, then you tell her you got it for her.

[Monsto Brukes]

one of our clan will come into the room "Get up. We have things to do", I will be gone, the kids won't know where,

As a woman I can tell you there are a thousand ways this could blow up in your face before it gets off the ground.

  If you are not known to your wife as being spontaneous, and a bit of a practical joker, then here is how the first part of your scenario could go wrong.

Your wife will want to know "What things" and will start to ask questions about these things....then she will want to know where you are, and what happened that you had to leave so suddenly. .

 

My sons and their friends drive up in a van, wearing masks, gloves, etc.(nothing identifiable showing), jump me "YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE" then throw me in the back and drive away

As romantic as this sounds in your head, what is to stop your wife from calling the police (whom I might add have no sense of humor).

 Not to mention that witness( with 20/20 vision ), who does not know this is a joke who pulls out their phone and films the whole thing then turns it over to the police.(who have zero tolerance when it comes to this type of mischief)

 

I would tone this down a little perhaps a small box that looks like a ring box on her night stand for her to find. The note inside could tell her that this box would have contained a special gift, but to find it she has to go to a certain place at a certain time to receive her next set of instructions.

 

I appreciate your sentiment of "warning". The wife, however, knows who I am. If she asked "where is he what's he doing?" and the person responds "don't you worry about it just get up and get dressed" she'd get it and would play along.

 

But . . . to soften this, it should be one of the clan-wives.

 

For the kidnapping scenario, to your question "what's to stop", the answer is "production value". Your question is legit, and to make it work and NOT turned into 'no laughing matter', then it need to be meticulously planned... starting with calling the police or city hall to see if they have a procedure for allowing such actions... like the media department of NYC, Chicago, LA, etc. I mean, they issue licenses for that kind of thing, perhaps my locality does as well. So i call and ask.

 

2nd part would be to have "crew" on location . . . family, friends, neighbors, to warn people "hey this is staged that's her husband bla bla bla", warn the local establishments, so that THEY don't call. To keep her from calling, well, the person that woke her up is going to be her guide & chauffeur for the day taking video and gently prodding. And even if she felt like calling, tell her "no don't get the police involved! that'll only make things worse! you can SAAAVVEEE him!"

 

Yeah it'll take some planning. 

 

It also means that it needs to be the 1 big scene in the entire production. Can't go doing this kinda thing all over town.

 

Good thoughts. Thanks.

[Monsto Brukes]

First thing I'd recommend is taking the 40 out of the title!! Women tend to not advertise their age so you can imagine what might happen to you if she somehow saw this and realized you just told everyone here her age.

 

Does the phrase "never getting any again" mean anything to you?

 

She totally wouldn't care. She'd be "what the hell are you planning?!" more than anything.

[Monsto Brukes]

what if she like, reads this forum

 

Not a chance.

[Guest airdance]

Monsto Brukes

If you feel that you have everything under control then God be with you on your special day.

I am perfectly sure that if your wife has a decent sense of adventure and of course a sense of humor than this could be the best birthday ever.

  Good Luck, oh, and be prepared to get "royally" laid after this event is over.

[Monsto Brukes]

Monsto Brukes

If you feel that you have everything under control then God be with you on your special day.

I am perfectly sure that if your wife has a decent sense of adventure and of course a sense of humor than this could be the best birthday ever.

  Good Luck, oh, and be prepared to get "royally" laid after this event is over.

 

 

Well, i dunno about "control"  . . . but your post at least gave me a heads up of some of the shit I need to be aware of. If i'd thought I had it under control and went out and did it, i'd have not thought about checking with the city(s) or packing the area with 'crew' . . . and it could have been a real real mess.

 

Any other ideas/thoughts?

[johneb]

Here's an idea....plan your wife's '39th' surprise birthday party!

[Guest airdance]

I have hesitated to put forth this idea as I really do not know your wife.  Contrary to the thoughts of most men women are not all the same.

 

What if you scrapped your big production in favor of a risk free evening just for two.  Take her to the finest restaurant in town and then perhaps an evening at the theatre.

or perhaps an evening of dancing, followed by a nightcap at a late evening cafe where you present her with that special gift (does that ring a bell).

 

If you wanted to make a day of it take on a day cruise, sky diving, zip lining followed by an evening of dining.

 

Better yet the hijack vacation, arrange with her job to take three or four vacation days and the morning of, then you could tell her you both have to get out of the country quick.  Have the passports ready, luggage packed and just get in the car go to the airport and hop on the plane.  She won't know the destination until you get there.

 

All of the above suggestions are well within the law and have very little chance to backfire on you.

BTW 40th birthday requires some kick ass jewellery.  She needs to know that you still love her even though she is getting older.

[Dragonjoe69]

your asking a bunch of deviant video gamers for advice ?  lol  you may find your self  in a lot of trouble. but seriously just follow you r instincts , you know her better than we do, I'm wiling to bet she'll be estatic you planned a special birthday for her.

 

[Monsto Brukes]

Here's an idea....plan your wife's '39th' surprise birthday party!

 

She's already 39 . . . but I expect you had something other than the obvious in mind... care to elaborate?

[Monsto Brukes]

Any other ideas/thoughts?

We as women are a bit whimsical at times, but we have a low BS factor, have you given any though at to what to do if she says this is enough, I want to go home in the middle of your game.

 

that's why I want to keep it short. Your question has forced me to vocalize (textualize?) the foundation of my plan.

 

In game design (specifically level design) one of the main drivers in level build and enemy placement is "experiential density". That is, how often and how difficult is the environment. The reason that bethesda areas (dungeons) seem so fucking boring relative to anyone elses areas... because their concept of experiential density is so different from anyone elses. All the skyrim areas are room, hall, room, hall, boss. period. Most games have some kinda abstract pattern that they follow... action, puzzle, action, high action, respite, that kinda thing... and then another patter for the actions and the respite times... It keeps player motivation high.

 

In this game, the experiential density needs to progress quickly as each factor will wane in energy every time it's repeated no matter how I dress it up. the factors (mystery, surprise and action) are stacked into a self imposed (albeit arbitrary) 2 hour total of 'hunt' in between respites. so the day will progress like: Fuck around some, be at spa. Fuck around some, be at lunch with say her mom. fuck around some, unknown 3rd thing (suggestions?). Oh no! kidnappers! We'd better get to HQ! (the bar)

 

And with a clan friend with her the whole time, acting as the video game equivalent of the pda with instructions or the military commander barking orders in your ear, that kinda thing, I've tried to set it up so that energy remains high. While I hadn't actually directly answered your question to myself before you asked it, i was absolutely aware that it could get tedius far quicker than anticipated. 

 

 

Also here is another thought, What if she was the one that was rescued by her knight in shining armor?

 

That could go south quickly if she were the target. I mean, as I'd described it, i truly expect her to see 5 fully covered men larger than me and be able to name each one of them as our sons and their friends. . . from across a parking lot. It's a fully different thing when you're surrounded by the same 5 huge men trying to grab you. I'm sure she'd ding 1 or 2 of them in the stones before the jig is up. Masks would come off "mom! it's ok!"  . . . Fuck.

 

But you've a good idea . . . hmmm... what could i work in where I 'save the day'? 

[Monsto Brukes]

your asking a bunch of deviant video gamers for advice ?  lol  you may find your self  in a lot of trouble. but seriously just follow you r instincts , you know her better than we do, I'm wiling to bet she'll be estatic you planned a special birthday for her.

 

Heh... thanks, but I'm truly open to anything. Any idea can be refined into some kind of reality.

 

right now I have mani/pedi and lunch with mom. I need one more "action" to round things out.

 

[Monsto Brukes]

I did some Geocaching for my wife's birthday gift, might be something you could do by setting up a gift with some coordinates anonymously.

You then go hunting for it together, then you tell her you got it for her.

 

Geocaching is an excellent idea. . . it would however require her to have a better fucking phone. her work blackberry is so old it doesn't have gps. I'll consider it an see what I can do.

 

 

I have hesitated to put forth this idea as I really do not know your wife.  Contrary to the thoughts of most men women are not all the same.

 

What if you scrapped your big production in favor of a risk free evening just for two.  Take her to the finest restaurant in town and then perhaps an evening at the theatre.

or perhaps an evening of dancing, followed by a nightcap at a late evening cafe where you present her with that special gift (does that ring a bell).

 

If you wanted to make a day of it take on a day cruise, sky diving, zip lining followed by an evening of dining.

 

Better yet the hijack vacation, arrange with her job to take three or four vacation days and the morning of, then you could tell her you both have to get out of the country quick.  Have the passports ready, luggage packed and just get in the car go to the airport and hop on the plane.  She won't know the destination until you get there.

 

All of the above suggestions are well within the law and have very little chance to backfire on you.

BTW 40th birthday requires some kick ass jewellery.  She needs to know that you still love her even though she is getting older.

 

You change it (= I responded to the earlier version. 

 

Your conceptual ideas have been helpful, forcing me to bring ideas into reality rather than letting them rattle around in my head. Conversely, none of the above works... she doesn't like jewelry except unique style earrings which is an excellent addition. I mean our wedding rings are tattoos.

 

That and we're broke. Including earrings, I can probably get by with this entire day for ~$200, including bar bill.

[hafertaler]

just a few things you also might consider / keep in mind:

 

- weather: january usually means bad weather. it's cold, maybe it rains or even snow is falling. I don't know where you live, but you should be able to make an assumption and plan accordingly. 

 

- the limitation of your budget: things that can be used to relay the messages and aren't expensive (the placement and usage is dependent on the weather though) like cardboard signs, balloons and/or if it gets dark fairly early and you find the right place in regards to wind or even rain: tea candles.

If you have a laptop and a camera (or can borrow those from friends or whatever) you can also include some video messages with riddles or locations or something like that.

Something less vague: you could include a password protection, like a password protected rar file on the laptop or something like that with the password being the name of a place that holds a special meaning to her, or a date and that file could include a short video or a picture with the next location or hint.

 

- motivation: a few snacks and something to drink can always improve the mood, so maybe basket filled with something she likes helps while she's on the hunt.

 

I don't know your wife, but you should know what she enjoys, so I decided to keep it all vague. Maybe something of it will help ; )

[Monsto Brukes]

just a few things you also might consider / keep in mind:

 

- weather: january usually means bad weather. it's cold, maybe it rains or even snow is falling. I don't know where you live, but you should be able to make an assumption and plan accordingly. 

 

- the limitation of your budget: things that can be used to relay the messages and aren't expensive (the placement and usage is dependent on the weather though) like cardboard signs, balloons and/or if it gets dark fairly early and you find the right place in regards to wind or even rain: tea candles.

If you have a laptop and a camera (or can borrow those from friends or whatever) you can also include some video messages with riddles or locations or something like that.

Something less vague: you could include a password protection, like a password protected rar file on the laptop or something like that with the password being the name of a place that holds a special meaning to her, or a date and that file could include a short video or a picture with the next location or hint.

 

- motivation: a few snacks and something to drink can always improve the mood, so maybe basket filled with something she likes helps while she's on the hunt.

 

I don't know your wife, but you should know what she enjoys, so I decided to keep it all vague. Maybe something of it will help ; )

 

That's some stellar shit right there. thanks!

 

january in the midwest. "if you don't like the weather wait an hour. it'll be just as shitty but you'll be pissed off, too."

If it's merely cold, the fallback is completely cancelling the hunt and going straight to the festivities with gift certs to the various stops.

If it's cold and shitty, well it's pretty much a given to postpone everything. That could be problematic to get everything rewired for say 2 weeks later, but you know. . . it's part of the deal.

 

signs and balloons are a great idea . . . especially if the instructions say to look out for them. even more so with a guide/driver, that probably even would have helped put them up.

 

The tablet thing (you said laptop but, you know...) . . . it could TOTALLY go mission impossible. just off the top of my head I could do TONS of shit... a text file with instructions and a key phrase*, a url that she won't have the password to until someone gives her the key phrase, several urls in succession to youtube videos set to private (where the vids don't show on the profile and you can't view them unless you have the direct url). oh man that opens up tons of possibilities that could even allow me to have a weather-follow up that just has her toodlin around the house and close neighborhood... I've got 4 neighbors that i've asked and they've volunteered to be a part of it and her mom lives 2 doors down (townhomes) so that could work even.

 

Christ. . . i'm a moron. We're both make a living in IT and it never even fucking occurred to me to use some tech. Not at all. A couple of custom webpages would be awesome.

 

[edit] You know. . . the more I think about it, the more I think using tech makes for a better opener. I can weasel some way to get her to check her email or check gtalk messages or something to that effect. Someone walkin into our cluttered bedroom would be surprising and embarrassing, but getting a text msg or voice-altered vmail from an unknown number would be uber mysterious. HA. 

 

[edit] lolol . . . how about a text message with gps coords (geocaching!) where the location has a url. Man you really opened things up specifically because I'm just a plain ole vanilla moron.

 

 

* when we went to see Constantine (where keanu played Neo again), the girly that took our tix said somethign that the wife just couldn't forget and she couldn't pay attention to the movie. Absolutely memorable phrase. If someone else says it, it'll trip her shit and be a very clear unmissable cue. Now I just have to work it in.

[Psychonaut]

My wife's bday is in January and I'm trying to put together something different. Normally we just hang with our clan (close friends and their family) and drink and smoke and BS. But for 40 I want to do something different. Just to shake things up.

 

I want to do a Scripted Scavenger Hunt that ends at a specific bar for fried-tan-food and drinks (we're not bar hoppers at all, so that will be different enuf). So far I have some very general parameters, and a couple scenarios, but I need some ideas to fill things out.

 

The Scavenger Hunt is all about sending her on a wild goose chase for "things" from various "places" around our neighborhood and suburb. I have neighbors and family that have volunteered to show up at seemingly random times to interact in some way... things like hand her an envelope, say a weird keyphrase, send text messages, etc. What I need help with are scenarios and a way to have her land at the bar.

 

My potential scenarios:

1) I get out of bed, tell her to "chill in bed and I'll make breakfast"... A few minutes later, one of our clan will come into the room "Get up. We have things to do", I will be gone, the kids won't know where, and the day begins. Sounds like mysterious fun, and she'd roll her eyes knowing I'm up to something, but I don't want to make her run around all day. That's tedious.

 

2) My oldest sons and their friends are all big athletic boys... >6'3". When she exits a "certain establishment", I will come running across the parking lot. "you're not supposed to be here yet!" My sons and their friends drive up in a van, wearing masks, gloves, etc.(nothing identifiable showing), jump me "YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE" then throw me in the back and drive away.

 

I figure that a few scenarios to total up to ~2hrs of wandering thru the neighborhood and near city would have the 'experiential density' to make it fun and funny for her.

 

The 2nd thing I need is harder: inviting local friends without using facebook. I have access to her account (she sometimes uses my home office) but since I'm a social-network luddite, I don't have a FB acct and have no idea how it works or if I can get anyones information off of it. So ideas for how to do this would be nice as well.

 

[edit] I tried posting this on reddit. . . but those boards move SO FAST that nobody saw it.

 

take some acid and all of your scenarios will gonna be a hell of a fun (provided u don't take too much or the whole thing will completely freak u out).

seriously, it will everything u plan to do transform into a totally unique special experience. if u want something really special take some acid, but be careful

 

hmmm...on closer deliberation: don't do it. there's a high probability that it goes wrong unless you don't have enough experience with acid just forget my suggestion