Looking On The Bright Side

I aged a whole year this week, which is very hard to do. I absolutely hate that my age keeps climbing, although I understand there's only one other option for stopping that.

But if I have to deal with the agony of growing older, I still get to enjoy some privileges of age. For instance ...

1. Birthdays are rarely celebrated all in one day. I haven't actually had to cook a meal since Sunday.

2. Your friends are more concerned with wishing you a happy birthday than they are with getting a piece of cake at your party. At least, they pretend to be. : )

3. Cards and presents are received for several days before and after your birthday. (It helps to know more people than a twelve year old would know.)

4. Kids feel a let down when they get clothes as gifts. Adults actually get excited about it.

5. Kids have a party, with maybe a clown. I got a pedicure with a couple of friends and dinner at Olive Garden.

6. Kids gets Legos and Nerf guns. I got earrings and a Books-a-Million gift card.

7. Kids get a birthday dinner at McDonalds. We went to Logans.

8. Kids still have a bedtime on their birthdays. I stayed up as late as I wanted. (I regretted it in the morning, but let's ignore that part.)

9. Kids can't order things online and then call them "an early birthday present". I can. I did.

10. Kids can't motivate or guilt everyone around them into doing what they want by saying, "But it's my birthday!" Not that I would do that.

All in all, except for the age thing, it pays to get older.

Happy Birthday to Me!

I was going to write a funny post yesterday about the struggle for authority I go through with our dog. However, I was interrupted by a bout of food poisoning. Nothing horrible, but definitely not the best day of my life either.

But now it's Tuesday, and I'm not blogging about the dog because it's my birthday and I want to think happy thoughts. nostalgia. Some sad thoughts.

Happy thought:  I'm much better today than I was yesterday.

Sad thought: I am nearing my mid-forties. (I got depressed just typing that!)

HT (Happy thought, duh!): I have a great family that loves and cares about me.

ST (Sad thought, obviously!):  Not all of my family can be with me today.

HT:  I think I'm going to be getting some great gifts today!

ST:  I still have to go to work.

HT: I don't have to cook tonight!

ST: I'm not supposed to eat cake. (We'll see!)

HT: Indiana was the first one to wish me happy birthday this year--at midnight. (Good thing I was still awake.)

ST: My book isn't published yet.

HT: I just made another connection towards getting it published.

ST:  I'm still nearing my mid-forties.

HT: I know all the guys in my life will give me a good day because I have reminded them enough times that it is my birthday today. I'm not one to wait and be disappointed that no one remembered. Why set yourself up for that kind of agony?

ST: Yup. Still in the forties.

HT: Indiana is older than me. By a lot. : )

ST: Not everything in my life is what I wanted it to be by this age.

HT: If I'd already achieved everything I wanted, I'd have no reason to reach forty-five.

ST: I've already reached forty-four.

Anybody else getting dizzy yet?

HT: I have great friends all around the world. Even though I've not physically met all of you that read my blog, our cyber visiting back and forth has made you truly a part of my life. I love you all!

ST: What if no one comments on my post today?

HT: What if I have more comments than I've ever had before?

How about it? Want to give me a birthday gift? Want to make sure my age doesn't depress me too much? (No pressure here!) Leave a comment. Even if you've never left one before, isn't my birthday a good time to step out of lurkdom? Come on! Show me you're there!

It's My Party - Or Is It?

I have to confess, I don't get these parents that give their children birthday parties every year. I grew up as one of six children. We had a birthday party on our 6th birthday, and on our 16th birthday. Other birthdays were celebrated with cake and ice cream, presents and the dinner of our choice. Since I started having my own children, I'm amazed at the number of my contemporaries that plan parties for their children every. single. year. And each party has to top the last one. Plus, when we weren't homeschooling, I noticed that mothers would bring cake and little presents and party favors to class during the school day as well. They had a little mini-party in the classroom in addition to the real party.

Now I usually made cupcakes to take to class when one of my children had a birthday. But we didn't do all the party favors and extras. We have limited money. I spent that money on birthday presents for my children and on making their birthday nice. Not on throwing a big party.

The reason this is coming up now is because Luke is turning 16 on Sunday. Both of our kids that hit 16 before him, got a party for their birthday. So Luke is getting one too. We just had trouble figuring out when. And where. And how. Lots of things in everyone's schedule these days, and what good is it to have a party if no one is available to come. We discussed different weekends, but we don't have any free ones anywhere close to his birthday.

Luke was being very helpful. He suggested having a bunch guys come over around noon on a Friday, and we could take them back home again sometime Saturday evening. I told him he wasn't having a 24 or 30 hour party. Just not a good idea. Then he wanted to have the guys over all day, followed by a rally our youth group was going to that evening, followed by a lock-in that the youth group was having that night. Again we thought that was a little much for one day.

Thursday we finally realized that the only day we could possibly have a party is--today. Fortunately, most of Luke's friends are also homeschooled and they were able to rearrange their schedules. I have to work so my husband was going to supervise the party. Except he needs to be at the church today, so the guys were going to ride bikes for a while in the morning, and then hang out at the church and play xbox. Then when I got off work, I'd bring over a cake, and voila! Party!

Luke was thrilled with the idea, but we hit a little snag this morning when we woke up to a 100% chance of rain today. So the bike idea got tossed, but they're still going to hang out and play video games. Once Luke faced the reality of what was actually possible, he was happy with the idea. Turns out if you have friends, games and cake, you have a party. Who knew?

Birthday Celebrations

I was so late posting yesterday because I was busy celebrating my birthday, and today I wanted to share a few special things about my day.

First, I live in an all-male household. I don't wait to see if any of them remember my birthday because I'm afraid I would just be setting myself up for disappointment. Instead I send out little messages for a week or so before my birthday--"Anybody know what Monday is?"

The boys picked up the hint fairly quickly. And then I asked them how old I would be. The three youngest agreed that I was turning forty-one. "Good!" I enthused. "Let's use your numbers!"

"Wait," Nicky said. "I think I remember you turning forty-two last year."

"I did. Now I'm going backwards."

My boys agreed to lie about my age. Instead they spent all of Sunday walking around at church telling people, "It's my mom's birthday tomorrow. She's going to be forty-three, but we're saying she's forty-one." There are times when honesty is not necessarily the best policy.

The boys decided that they wanted to do something special for my birthday so they told me they were planning to give me breakfast in bed. When I pointed out that I usually left for work before they got up, they decided they would have breakfast in bed in honor of my day. I quickly reminded them of the no-food-outside-the-kitchen rule.

The boys asked me what I wanted for my birthday. I told them I wanted a clean house. When they didn't believe me, I went on to reassure them that's all I wanted. I even cleaned my room and bathroom on Saturday as a present to myself. My boys' response?

"You really need to get a life, Mom!"

They card the boys got me has Snoopy on the front. It talks about when you need someone that cares and believes in you and you can trust, etc... you either need a lot of people or one wonderful mom. All the boys signed the card with a little sentiment of some sort. Nicky signed it, "From the one you love the most and that got you the card." Nothing like giving credit where credit is due.

All in all I had a wonderful albeit testosterone-filled day.

By the way, I haven't forgotten the contest I posted, but I don't have the winner's name with me while I'm writing this post. I will definitely announce the winner tomorrow!