Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Happy Birthday To Me!!!

I love my birthday.  I truly do.  I don't see it as another year of getting older (though I certainly felt like that when I awoke this morning), but instead it's a day that's all about me!  I don't call out attention to myself in the days leading up to my birthday and I don't usually announce it in restaurants.  To this day, I wake up feeling the same excitement that I felt when I was a kid.  I always feel young and wonderful and just. . . happy.  Nothing takes away that happiness on my birthday.  I wish I could say that every day of the year, but I guess that's what makes my birthday so special.

In years past, The Doctor has asked me what I've wanted and I've always answered, "I don't know."  This year, though, I knew exactly what I wanted.  My sister, Auntie, tuned me in to Alex and Ani bracelets when she told me what she wanted for her birthday a few months ago.  After I saw them, I knew that was exactly what I wanted.

I sent The Doctor an email with a link to their site and the subject "Hint, hint" and left it at that.  A few weeks ago, he said, "So, those bracelets that you want: do they have different charms that you put on them?"

"No," I answered markedly.  "I sent you a link to their website.  Did you not get it?"

"No, I got it," he replied.  "I just don't understand.  I'll have to look again."

"What's not to understand?," I thought to myself.  "The website is pretty self-explanatory."

What I said out loud, though was, "Would you like me to go pick them out?  They can still be from you."

"No, no!," he asserted.  "I'll pick them out.  Otherwise they won't be meaningful."

 Last week, he turned to me and asked, "When is your birthday again?"

"It's on Tuesday," I replied, a little surprised that he didn't know.  He's always been very good about remembering.

"Oh.  Well, I'm not sure your stuff will be in on time," he said.

"That's OK," I answered, not terribly upset.

On Saturday, I walked into the room where he was and he looked up.

"Your birthday is on Wednesday, right?," he questioned.

"Uh, no.  It's on Tuesday," I said, trying to hide my annoyance.

"Oh!," he cried, with a deer in the headlights look.  "Your things aren't going to be here for a few weeks."

"It's really Ok," I said calmly.  "I'm really OK with that."

Yesterday, he texted me on his way home from work that he was going to get a haircut.  He walked into the house 2 hours later holding a giant pink bag.

"I felt bad that you won't have anything to open, so I went shopping while I was waiting for my haircut."

"Oh," I crowed.  "That was so sweet of you!  You didn't have to do that!"

"Don't get too excited," he replied, cooly.  "It's only from Party City."

This morning, before everyone got ready for school and work, The 3 Curly Girlies piled into our bed and The Doctor handed me the bag.  I pulled off the first layer of tissue paper and saw a bag of buttercream mints (my favorite kind!)

"Oh!  I love these!," I exclaimed.

"I know," he said proudly.

I pulled off the second layer and unearthed a pair of knee high Halloween argyle socks.  They are orange with skulls and crossbones on them.

"These are nice," I said.

"I got them because they are orange and I know you like that color."

Under the next layer was a package of pink Mardi Gras style bead necklaces.  At this, all three curly girlies started clambering, "Can I have those?"

The next layer was a pink bandana, a gaudy birthday pin and a key chain with my favorite hockey team's logo.

"There's one more layer," The Doctor said.

I pulled off the last layer of tissue paper to find a pink bucket filled with Alex and Ani bracelets.

"Uh. . . Oh my. . . Oh my. . .," I stammered.  "Uh. . . Doctor!  I can't believe you got them!  You told me they weren't going to be in for a few more weeks."

"'Rule 1:  The Doctor lies'," he quoted.

I was truly gobsmacked.  He really got me.  Just yesterday, while out birthday shopping with my Mom, I said to her, "I really think The Doctor has forgotten my birthday.  He keeps asking me if it's Wednesday and then acts all surprised when I say it's not."  The sales associate overheard this and started laughing.  Really?

"No, you don't understand," I explained to her.  "My husband NEVER forgets my birthday."  (That just brought on more laughter.)

As it turns out, my Mom was part of this big secret since The Doctor had the bracelets shipped to her house.  How she kept her mouth shut while I was complaining about the fact that for the first time in 14 years my birthday had been forgotten is beyond me.

As soon as I was dressed, I attached the pin to my shirt.

"Are you going to wear that?," asked The Doctor.

"You betcha!," I replied.  I may not verbally announce to the world that today's my birthday, but nothing is wrong with a little hint.

"I knew you would, which is why I bought the gaudiest, loudest one I could find," he laughed.

It was big and loud and I turned red when perfect strangers wished me "Happy Birthday!".  I was also shocked at how many people asked, "Is today really your birthday?"  That was one question I wasn't expecting to hear today.  I guess it beats, "And how many birthdays have you celebrated thus far?"

My wonderful day also included lunch with one of my dearest friends, who gave me the most sentimental gift (she made me cry and that's not an easy feat!) and it ended at Benihana where we enjoyed a wonderful dinner and I realized that Sept. 16 isn't just CGM Day.  There were at least 4 other people celebrating their birthdays too.  

This was an awesome day.  I wish I could bottle the awesomeness of it so that on my next bad day, I could just open up the bottle a little bit and let some of it out.  As I say every year on the close of my birthday, "I hope I am still this excited next year and I really hope the excitement I feel on my birthday never goes away."


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