I have a secret!  That’s rare for me.  I’m not very good at lying, y’see, guilty of every tell in the book, so I avoid it as much as possible.  Secrets are a lot like lying: it’s fine until someone asks, but as soon as I’m on the spot and being asked to reveal what I know, I’m lost.

So it’s actually a pretty big thing that, for the first time in 3 years of going out with my girlfriend, I have given her absolutely NO clues about what we’re doing for her birthday.  Not one. She has no idea what we’re doing. I’m so proud of myself!

One year, an old boyfriend of my sister’s planned a surprise for her that required her to have a certain amount of special clothing - I forget what it was, perhaps waterskiing - so, to cover his plans, he had he pack for all eventualities.  She arrived with wellies, waterproofs, wooly jumpers, the whole lot. Brilliant.  I have not done such a thing, as I’m just going to tell her what we’re doing when she wakes up.  One step at a time, Mac.