8 posts tagged “birthdays”
The little guy to the left there turned 5 this week. On the one hand, nothing spectacular right? Somebody turns 5 every day. On the other hand he's family. My first cousin's son. His great-grandfather was my grandfather. I keep trying to figure out if that makes him my second cousin or my fist cousin, one time removed.
Which is neither here nor there.
He has a great smile, just like Valerie, his mother. I was 16 when Valerie turned 5, being that I was 11 when she born.
Do you see where I'm going here? Someone whose diapers I used to change, whose very first steps I witnessed, who my dad slipped a little wine when she was teething (and screaming her head off) so she'd sleep... has a 5 year old. She also has a college degree and a husband and some new fangly adjunct professorship or something.
Good God I'm old. Terrifyingly old, careening in quick fashion for my inevitable date with The Reaper.
Which again, is neither here nor there, right? Every day somebody dies, somebody is born, and somebody turns 5. We try to mark the days and make the best of all of them.
So, happy birthday Jonathan. And many happy returns.
Make sure your grandmother never hears about that wine thing.
...no reason to actually, just thought it was a catchy title.
I'm 46 today. I decree that everyone take the day off and enjoy some "Me Time." Kick off your shoes. Sit by a roaring fire. I'll be over here on the Lazy Boy, sipping Starbucks (French Roast I think), watching episodes of Firefly (got the box set for Crimmuh)... maybe browse for some iTunes with my gift card.
Dinner is at 5:00 3:30 in Ann Arbor at the Real Seafood Co. Bring beer.
Sing Baby:
He's 56. This may mean nothing to most of you but to me Bootsy is second only to He That Is Most Holy. *wanders off to find a download of "I'd Rather Be With You"*
The Artist turned 9 today. I barely survived. Not because of the festivities.
Goodness no.
This year was tame compared to previous years. In previous years, we've done "The Scavenger Hunt Party", "The Garden Party", "The Olympics". Last year, "The Soccer Party". No this year we toned it way down. Just 6 of us. Close family. Some pasta. Cake and cream. A snap right?
Well... no....
Not when Dad decides to watch the James Blake 4 setter last night, getting to bed after 1:00 and then The Artist decides to starts waking up at 3:30 and only lightly dozes thereafter. Birthdays being second only to Christmas around here for destroying a good night's sleep. I've been trying to avoid crankiness all day.
I've been moderately successful.
The inside of my head feel like a hornets nest, containing drunken, surly, crack-head hornets. I should NOT have had that last piece of cake by the way. The sugar crash is proceeding nicely. Ever been too tired to sleep?
Thankfully we didn't have a yard full of squealing elementary school girls to contend with this year. Otherwise I might've made the papers.
I think The Artist is happy with her swag: pearl earrings, soccer gear, a Webkinz (dear God finally), DVD's of "High School Musical 1 and "Jumpin In" ("squeal, Corbin Bleu!"), and sundry other frilly girly stuff.
Fortunately tomorrow is a holiday and I'm taking Tuesday as a vacation day. So I should be able to catch up.
There, I've jinxed it.
That:
- "For Better Or Worse" doesn't mean it has to balance out between those two theoretical poles.
- She was not always right, but she was never wrong.
- Theater is better than the movies.
- Living a Christian example carries over a lot better than browbeating.
- This too shall pass.
- Getting your bluff in works.
- Not all winos are in the alley.
- You can learn a lot from winos (wherever they reside).
- If you make a dollar, save a dime.
- Love is something you do.
- Love is not something you expect.
- Don't expect people to be kind just because you are, but be kind anyway.
- Don't let people mistake your kindness for weakness, or stupidity.
- You never lose out when you give.
- You have to give for the right reasons.
- You can't expect anything in return.
- Anything of any real value you carry around in your head.
- Go for quality.
- Hard work is really a good thing.
- But you need to rest sometimes.
- Family is everywhere.
- There's nothing like a good laugh.
- B.B. King is the greatest entertainer that ever lived.
- Al Green is a close second.
- Lou Rawls is in a class by himself.
I may add to these as the day wears on, but I wanted to get them in before too much more of the day passed.
Today is my mother's 74th Birthday. I used to think that everyone had a good mother. I realize now how fortunate I am.
So if you can sometime today, raise your glass in honor of my gray haired old wino. She'd get a good laugh out of it.
Today we celebrated Significant Other's my wife's Birthday. Low key compared to the Traveling and Conspicuous Consumption Extravaganzas of our Youth. We take birthdays off these days and spend a little time together (mine gets overshadowed by the whole Christmas/New Years thing but that's another story). So we opened gifts at breakfast and got the Rugrat to school. S.O. went spinning (Lord only knows why) and after we had lunch with Rugrat and the third grade posse.
A little alone time at the local coffee house with stimulating conversation and eye gazing thrown in. Spent a couple of hours cruising the new mall, picked up the rugrat and then dinner.
Highlights?: (1) One of the posse eagerly asking "are you coming back soon?" after we'd organized an impromptu "hide and go seek" match on the playground after lunch period. Evidently (as I'd feared) Playstation rules the burbs... I had to explain the rules to more than 5 of them. (2) The big grin on S.O.'s face after the "eleventy-gazillion" text messages she received from friends and family - after I'd clandestinley set 'em up.
Wish we'd figured this birthday thing out sooner. We could have saved a ton o' cash.
Four and a half years and more than half my daughter's life ago I made a promise.
Nail polish when she turned eight. Really I'm no prude but she's got most of her life to be grown. Besides, as her mom pointed out, the remover is pretty strong and Mom would be stuck with the upkeep.
I made this Faustian Bargain assuming rugrat would forget. It kept the peace and that's all Fathers really want having given up any other aspirations at about the time children start talking.
My daughter turned eight today
Beauty is expensive. I almost wished she'd picked something other than clear polish so I'd see more bang for my buck. But it was her choice. The toes were done up in something goofy like "Amber Luminescence" or some such nonsense but they look "clear" to me.
In more traditional birthday fair the Loving Family's home was overdue for a makeover.
So Mama got a new vanity.
And the kids got new furniture.
And since her parents are book freaks there was plenty to read.
Dinner was at Lashish where they sang "Happy Birthday" in (I think) Lebanese.
I never believed it when people said the time would fly. But the cliche is bearing itself out. I just hope she picks a nice retirement home.
I'm traveling this weekend and I don't know what kind of connectivity I'll have so I'll say it now. Tomorrow is George Clinton's Birthday.
Celebrate Appropriately.
