Birthdays

Upon turning thirty, I decided while tossing back cosmos with some friends, that this decade was going to be the best ever. On my thirty-first, I spent the weekend at Disney with my pals, drifting from a child-like state when I sang along, watched every parade, and drove Melinda crazy with the "it's a castle" refrain, to the party girl persona who never even noticed the stalker dude trying to tap my shoulder at the fourth club we visited. My thirty-fifth was by far one of my absolute favorites between dinner at Cork 'n Cleaver with Kay, Peggy, Delia, William, Mich, and hubby followed by the overnight trip to Chicago with my three best friends who stayed out all night with me before crashing in our suite at four in the morning.

This year, I planned to have a more relaxed birthday featuring dinner and a movie with the gals. The day began with hubby and I still cleaning the new house. We purchased our painting supplies with the grand idea that we would begin the edging work but before we did, ominous dark clouds began to crawl across the sky pitching the house into darkness thought it was mid-afternoon and cutting off our electricity. The wind bent the trees into several contorted positions while debris and falling branches slammed into the house. The sirens came after the worst of the storm was over, but thankfully, nothing had touched down in our area.

Due to the downed trees and power lines and utter chaos, it was decided that going out was not an option. Becky and I still opted for dinner and a movie though. KFC supplied the dinner, Dairy Queen provided the dessert, and cable kicked back on so we could order the latest Sherlock Holmes movie.

My family did their typical birthday wishes which always leaves me feeling lonely as most of them feel like afterthoughts. Dad called from Dubai which always makes me feel good. Without fail, no matter where in the world he is, dad will call. Next was John, which was once again disheartening. It was one of his apologetic regretful birthday calls, which reaffirms that he has returned to his former ways. At least I didn't cry during his call this year, but rather I felt empty and barely heard the lies. I received Jo's call around 8:30 pm, about the time Becky and I had started watching the movie followed by mom's call ten minutes later. 

The next day was another one of those shining beacons that remind me of how lucky I am. Peggy spent the day with hubby and I painting our front two rooms. Unfortunately because the atrocious red was so dark, it took multiple coats of primer + paint. Then we discovered that the lighter toned green and grey walls looked light in comparison to the red, but were actually dark colors as well, so we added more layers to cover the atrocious color scheme. When we wrapped up for the day, it was startling how much larger the rooms appeared with the cream colored walls. It is completely amazing to me that I have friends who would come and help out like this. Thanks so much, Peggy!

I may want to revert back to the party birthday next year, but no matter what, I'll take my friends and hubby along for the ride.