Operation Overwhelm

Right now as I type this my Katybug is spending an afternoon at the spa. With the help of some local nationals, as we call them, arrangements were made to execute Operation Overwhelm commencing at 0930 Central time today.

I called Katy around ten after nine and talked to her on the phone till shock and awe began. “What is that?” I hear her say with the phone close enough for me to hear. She must of been standing in the living room looking out the glass door. “Did you have a limo come to pick me up??” “Maybe”, I replied, “You’re in for a pretty special afternoon.” She was sooo excited and weeping and just plain awestruck that I had to let her go from the phone so she could just get out the door.

So I waited about five minutes for her to get her composure back and than I called again to talk to her in the limo. There was a letter waiting for her from me in the limo and it explained that the kids and the afternoon were all taken care of and all she had to do today was be a girl and relax. I’ve never darkened the doors of a spa, so I have no idea what she’s going through right now, but I could have sworn I felt the smile on her face when we talked in the limo.

She’s been working so hard to take care of the kids, keep them sane, keep herself sane, get in shape, and stay spiritually strong…all while trying to keep the romance and laughter going in our marriage. What a gal. So thanks to all those who worked behind the scenes, maintained OPSEC, and pulled this off without her ever having a clue.

Man, I’ve worked some crazy stuff before and never had a problem keeping my mouth shut. But this was really difficult to not tell her that she was getting this, especially with the news of the extension coming this week. But it all worked out and after weeks of planning and cross Atlantic coordination, the day of exectuion came at the end of what was a disheartening weak for her.

Anyway, I just wanted to share with everyone what happened. The people who helped really had fun planning it. It started with an idea that turned into a full blown military operation. I wrote up an OPORD – a five paragraph Operations Order that covered all the bases. We had codes and OPSEC plans, budgets, primary and alternate chains of command and means of communication.

I even used “Napoleon’s Corporal”. Napoleon used to proof his plans by taking a regular corporal off the line, and having him read the plans. Then Napoleon would have the young trooper repeat the plan back in his own words. If what Napoleon heard back was his plan, then he knew the plan made sense and was understood. If the young corporal couldn’t regurgitate it back, it was too complex and had to be refined, because in the end, it would be young soldiers executing it. So I passed the plan around to a couple of females here and asked them for their input. I also got some feedback from stateside and that’s where the idea for the letter came.

We also have Murphy’s Laws of Combat, one of which is “No plan survives the first enemy contact intact”. True today. The reason I called at 0910 was because the limo was supposed to arrive at 0900. Didn’t. It was broken and the company was sending in an alternate limo. I had to talk to Grace, Stephen, and Granny to create the impression that I was just going to speak to the whole house. That way I had an excuse to talk to Kay who was my alternate line to the limo service. Kay and cohorts adjusted on the fly and well… we’ll know the results later today

Can’t wait to hear how it goes. It certainly made a nice diversion from here and gave me a chance to use my skills on my wife for a change. She really deserves a break and I hope that today she is truly overwhelmed!

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