Tuesday 23 Sept was my birthday, and I thought I'd give you a play-by-play because it makes me laugh whenever I think of it.
We went out for dinner last Saturday in pre-celebration, knowing that Tuesday night was already taken. The fourth Tuesday of the month is cub scout pack meeting, and Blaine is presently the Pack Leader. So Saturday evening Blaine and I went out for dinner to P.F. Chang's, my favorite restaurant in the world and just about the only place I eat out anymore because once you have a favorite place and three favorite things there, seriously why spend money on anything else? And we also went shopping and I got to pick out two of my birthday presents myself. :)
So I already knew that my birthday dinner was going to be a hot dog/hamburger barbecue out in front of the church with the other cub scouts' families, and I was OK with that. Since B's in charge he bought our vegan dogs and Boca burgers so we could actually eat along with them this time.
On Tuesday Blaine woke the children up early, 6:15 a.m., so I could open my presents before he left for work. I got the X Files series (seasons 1-7, the Scully and Mulder years) on DVD and, most excited about this one, a new keyboard for my laptop. The letters had worn off my keyboard within a year of buying it and like a dolt I didn't get the keyboard replaced before the warranty was up so I've just been working with a blank keyboard for three years now. Luckily I know where everything is. It drove Blaine nuts and kept everyone else away from the computer. But now I have letters! And the keys work so smoothly. I love it. And I also unwrapped the pants and shirt I'd chosen on Saturday evening.
One of my sisters phoned me while I was working on breakfast and we chatted. She asked how old I am, and when I told her she said, "I'm quite shaken. I'm really, quite shaken. That's...that's...You're really 40?" I could hear the smile in her voice when she said it. But I could also hear the resignation underneath. "My little sister's a total geezer now. So what does that make me?" My mom had roughly the same reaction. "I guess this means I can't claim 40 years old anymore!" Guess not, Mom. Sorry 'bout that.
We did homeschool as usual (well, I might have given myself a few more recesses than a normal school day ahem), practiced the piano, tidied, and got shoes on and prepared for pack meeting. Then a friend called to say that his wife, driving home along the same route Blaine would travel, had been detoured because of a head-on collision. He was hoping I'd get to Blaine before he headed up the canyon, so he could detour earlier and not lose much time. But when I called Blaine he was already on his way up the canyon.
He got to the turn-off leading to the emerald land of Fairview, only to be halted by highway patrol as we were warned. They said it would be at least an hour. He knew he had about an hour until pack meeting. He knew our friend (the wife of the friend, who is also a friend) had gone an alternate route he wasn't familiar with, but it was a few miles ahead. He pressed onward, after asking directions from the highway patrol.
Long story short, every time he asked he got bad, bad directions. His detour, which should have been about 40 extra miles, ended up being 250. He was driving on my birthday night for four hours trying to get home to me while the kids and I faked our way through a pack meeting we hadn't planned. At the end of pack meeting Macklin's finger got closed in a heavy church door and for the next hour or so I was convinced it was broken and was only trying to get all the other children settled, pajamaed, and headed to bed before we went to the ER. But Mack finally settled down (yay Motrin!) and fell asleep and I stared and my uncut, uncandled cake (which is actually a pumpkin pie, hey, it's what I wanted) and waited for Blaine's long detour to come to a close and for him to get home. Emma still had a lot of homework to do, so even after Macklin was asleep and Blaine was home we stayed up to support her.
It was a great relief to climb into bed at last.
But it wasn't a bad day. Even at pack meeting I was surrounded by good friends, joking with me and calling Blaine on their cells to give him directions on the unfamiliar roads and wishing me happy birthday. They sort of even wiped off their spatulas before turning our vegetarian meat-replacement products on the grill. And after pack meeting while Macklin was wailing about his finger and I was trying to get everyone ready for bed, one of them dropped by with an armload of chocolate and more happy birthday wishes, "Because I know Blaine isn't home yet and I still want you to have a happy night." And all of this is why it brings a smile to my face. Not a bad birthday, really.
So here I am, forty years old, and I feel fine. Not much different than 39, truth be told. ;) We're going camping tomorrow, to Kodachrome State Park with my sister's family. The fun never ends! We'll call this part of the extended birthday celebration. How lucky can one girl get?
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Now playing: Altered Images - Happy Birthday
via FoxyTunes
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