Birthdays Past

May is such a busy month for us. My birthday, Abby’s birthday, Ian’s birthday. Mother’s Day, Stepmother’s Day. My brother’s birthday, my parents’ anniversary. Our anniversary is the beginning of the cray (I’ve just learned that the last letter of the alphabet does not work on my keyboard) season for us, since it’s April 29.

My birthday was a Monday. Which kinda sucks, cause we have to get up early on Mondays. But it’s cool. We got up, Abby got dropped off, and we went for a hike with all the gadgets Ian gifted me: compass, pedometer, and hydration pack. We took the other side of the orange trail this time and found a geocache! I took a blue plastic fish, and Abby got a small rock. We left a pen and a free pass to Sci-Port–we weren’t really prepared for geocaching, but we’ll be adding some little things to my pack before our next trip.

When we left, I decided I wanted cheese fries for lunch. Not just any cheese fries, fries with nacho cheese sauce. I still don’t know where I had the fries I was craving, but we went to Trejo’s where I enjoyed nacho fries. We stopped at a plant sale on our way home for naptime. I’m not the plant person, so don’t ask me what we got. They’re green.

I went to work because I hadn’t requested the day off, because I like this job so I don’t care if I work on my birthday. Surprise! My manager and assistant manager got me a present, a gift box from Bath and Body Works.

And I had a Fiery Hawaiian for dinner, no roasted red peppers because ew. I picked it up and finally got my insurance premium refund from my previous employer whose primary product I cannot type because of that last letter of the alphabet keyboard problem.

Abby went to bed, and we watched The Crow. Good birthday.

That Thursday I received my Stepmother’s Day gifts, including an engraved bracelet that says ‘Abby Loves Mom’ and a jewelry box that says ‘Dad Loves Mom.’ Don’t worry, I didn’t have to engrave them myself.

That Friday Ian and I enjoyed our free Ruby Tuesday birthday burgers. While we were waiting for them, Ian bought me a keychain from a deaf man who was pleasantly surprised when we signed ‘thank you’ to him. I don’t think he gets that very often.

The next Monday was Abby’s birthday, and oh my, but she had a good one. Ian won a Facebook contest for a discounted bounce house, so we got it for four days for $49, including an upgrade to the next larger one since a school let a kid in cleats jump on the small one we were supposed to get.

So, bounce house, swimming pool, my parents, Ian’s parents, Ian’s brother and his girlfriend, an adored family friend, and a Barbie cake. I don’t think she’s ever had that much excitement in one day. We even had Olive Garden for dinner since that’s Abby’s favorite place to eat–although she didn’t eat her dinner, as she was falling asleep at the table from the aforementioned excitement.

We tried to go light the paper lanterns that my mom had sent to our house, but it was too windy for them.

The next day was my parents’ twenty-fifth anniversary. I’d engraved a frame for them, and my stepdad sent Ian a picture from their wedding that we printed out and put in. My mom was very happy, and surprised that my stepdad had been in on it.

The next day was my brother’s birthday. We called him and were surprised to hear that he was happy and at peace with the world. This is not a statement one hears from this brother. He had a job interview at Banana Republic the next day *cough* hipster *cough* and was pretty much okay with graduating in December instead of this month.

That night we went to a nearby sports complex and sent off some of the paper lanterns. Maybe eight of them, out of the twenty my mom ordered. They took a long time to catch fire, and then another while to fill with hot air and float off. The second to last did not fare too well. It started to float off, but tipped in a gust and crashed to the rocks. I braved their treachery in the dark, in sandals, to retrieve its remains. One side was burnt, so Ian put it out and we bagged it up to toss. We’d expected to hear about some reports of UFOs the next day, but now that I think about it, I didn’t hear of any.

Last Friday was Ian’s birthday. Traditionally a no-pants day, he donned them because my parents were still here and my sister showed up from Virginia about 930. The best part was the email about two free movie tickets from Marlboro! We’d been planning for months to go see Gojira (see how creative I can get without that letter) in IMAX 3D on his birthday, so how opportune was that! (no question mark, either. Thanks, Toshiba.) My parents left, and my sister decided to stay home and nap since she drove most of the night, so we went to the movies alone.

Ian picked Twisted Root for dinner, then TCBY afterwards since he declined a cake. We all tried the limited time flavor, Indonesian Taro, which I was apparently the first customer to love, or even like. My sister posted about it on Facebook, and I commented that it tasted like personal growth.

On to this week! Abby was super excited to see her auntie when she got here Monday morning, and the two of them were attached at the hip for the next two days until my sister left.

Now I am home alone while Ian is at work, for the first time in two weeks. And it is sweet indeed.

Sunday, we shall sleep in. Then I’ll make something from the leftover cake in the icy part of the fridge.