I like surprises.

In concept. But in actuality, my practical Virgo tendencies tend to need to know what's coming next, you know, so I can plan for it. And that sort of defeats the purpose. But this weekend, the surprises just kept coming--good, bad and ugly--and there was no where to hide.

Surprise! There's a hurricane coming, but your husband is insistent on taking you to Mosiac on Saturday night, and because folks are hunkering down, for most of the meal, you're literally the only patrons.

Surprise! Because it's almost your birthday, you get a free refill on sangria--take a lesson from that Chili's--a beautiful dessert platter, and a card signed by the entire kitchen staff.

Surprise! Your husband keeps checking the time, then after a phone call made in the men's rest room, you go on an extended tour of the city of Providence, from the West End to the East Side and back again.

Surprise! Clearly you're on some sort of stall mission, stopping for a drink at Temple, which has sadly lost its downtown cool, and is way too brightly lit for a bar.

Surprise! There's a bunch of really cool people inside your house, who have decorated, shopped, cooked and come out to help you celebrate your birthday a week early--in the hours before a hurricane--and have the advance language skills to sing to you in English and Spanish.

Surprise! The best man from your wedding, has come from NYC, and his planned overnight visit has quickly blown into an unexpected weekend getaway, for him.

Surprise! Your guests are raving about the convenience of the now empty bags filled with ice cubes inside your freezer, that are supposed to save your chicken in the event of a power outage.

Surprise! Your husband has used cash you've been saving for vacation to cover all party expenses.

Surprise! That sneaky Puerto Rican sangria snuck right up on you, again.

Surprise! It's 5:30am, and you realize that you forgot to fill the bathtub with water, and now there's two men in your house that potentially need to flush the toilet, and you only have enough stocked water and canned goods for one of them.

Surprise! It's 5:35am, and your husband is outside in his underwear during a tropical storm, filling buckets with a hose.

Surprise! Your brand new central air compressor got pushed off its platform by the wind, but luckily there's another strong man on the ready to help.

Surprise! While three out of five households in the state lose electricity, yours is not one of them.

Surprise! You mostly survived.