So yesterday was my 33rd birthday.
Wait, let me back up. I know it has been awhile since I wrote here but I have been supremely busy trying not to lose my sanity amidst the craziness that has become our lives in trying to short-sell our house. We have made a bit of progress but I'll save that for another post. Also work has been increasingly stupid. And I mean that in the most real way possible. But again, another post.
However, Charming and I did go away on a short but good trip to Massachusetts. Originally we were going to visit Maine but plans changed at the last minute and we spent the whole four and a half days with my parents. Since no one knew we were coming we didn't see too many people but those we did see made our trip memorable.
We managed to find really reasonable flights, however the catch was an overnight flight with a 3 hour 4AM layover in Milwaukee on our way out and a 6AM flight with a layover in Chicago on our way back to Vegas. These flights proved that we are no longer as young and resilient as we used to be. Three days later and we are still trying to recover.
So it was bad timing that our tiring return occurred the day before my birthday. Lost in the fog of exhaustion of being up for over 24 hours straight two days out of five and dealing with jet-lag on top of having to work right before and right after both flights, October 29th was a tiny bit forgotten about. It did not even feel like it was my birthday. Sure I had a bunch of people send me birthday wishes on Facebook and through text messages, my brother and mother-in-law called me and I even got two surprise gifts from people I wasn't expecting anything from. But since I have never worked on my birthday EVER, having to go in on my day made it a non-birthday in my mind. Charming, all screwed up from our quick trip, didn't even get me a card. He figured since we were doing things for my birthday on days we could actually enjoy them (i.e. next Wednesday) he was off the hook for the actual day. But no recognition from him, no calls from my parents whom we had just seen the day before so maybe they figured they wished me happy birthday enough, and no card from my grandparents who ALWAYS remembers to send me one really brought me down. I don't look forward to my birthday as it is so this made the day even more depressing. But again, the fact that it didn't feel like my birthday made me highly more functional than my usual reaction of curling into a ball and not coming out until Halloween.
(Retraction: The card from my grandparents was in our mailbox today, not delivered on Friday due to no mail service on Nevada Day. And my parents did call, my stupid phone just didn't register the voicemails until now so they were lost in cyberspace. This is why I don't like computer based phones. Charming also mentioned he was planning on getting me a card all along on Friday since he was so tired on Thursday so me saying something to him didn't change that fact. Thus I apologize to everyone I upset by saying no one remembered my birthday.)Going to work sucked since no one there recognized my birthday either. I felt like I was walking around in that horrible nightmare when you are treated like you don't exist. Admittedly, it was Nevada Day, two days before Halloween and four days before a very big election. So everyone was busy with everything else. Still I would have liked at least a happy birthday from someone. Then, in between news shows, I happened t look up and spy Charming's cousins coming into my control room bearing balloons, a birthday head band that said "Birthday Princess" and huge smiles, proud of themselves for pulling off surprising me. It was a birthday miracle, they saved the day! And all at once I felt special. And with the headband and balloons other people noticed and soon I was getting birthday well wishes. I began to feel a little better. Once I got home I found a card from Charming and Drumsticks in the freezer, a small attempt at winning me back and righting his earlier birthday wrong.
So while it wasn't an incredible birthday to make me feel better it was uneventful enough to make me not care about aging which I guess is all I can ask for as I get a year older every year.
Stay tuned for a report about my birthday wish to ride the zipline under the Fremont canopy. Might as well be stupid while I am still young enough to enjoy it.
