Motherhood and Birthdays
My mother never got that excited about her birthday.....maybe because no one in the family could ever remember it. Dad's was easy---it was Pearl Harbor Day. Mom's....well it was late September....the 27th or 28th or the 29th....(I finally know it....it's on the 28th). And she always seemed to know what she was going to get. I don't think she ever really enjoyed her birthday all that much....
Now that I'm a mother....I understand all that.
I got up this morning and Ernie gave me the Ian Hunter cd---which I was thrilled with but he neglected to tell me that it was from the boys and that I shouldn' t have opened it until they were AWAKE. You can imagine Owen's misery when he got up. I tried to cheer him up and ask him if he would help me take the plastic off but then I got irritated that it was my birthday and I was trying to make other people happy so I just got in the shower. Owen came around of course and Leo couldn't have cared less.
Oh, and it turns out that the Lego barbecue set was on back order so I didn't get that but I already knew that because my dear Luddite of a husband forgot he had his own email address so all the emails from Lego went to our joint email.
Anyway......we took off for the Cancer Center which, as lovely as most people are there....isn't really anyone's idea of a party. We had a great nurse though....our appointments were all screwed up but she straightened it out so Ernie got his shot as well and I didn't even yell at anybody! So next week we see both his oncologists and find out how he's doing. The whole thing took much longer than I thought of course----partially because we sat there 40 minutes before they got his stuff up there from the pharmacy. So of course as we're waiting for Ernie's poor stomach to numb so they can inject this huge fucking needle with a depot of zoladex in it....I find myself on the phone saying, "Owen, you HAVE to give your brother a turn" and "Leo, we'll talk about the charger when we get home, I have to go now." I gotta say....at least they amuse us....
Didn't get to work until almost noon....ate lunch....had a weird afternoon...picked up Owen from a playdate and came home. I called my mother because I hadn't heard from her. We chatted for awhile and finally I reminded her that it was my birthday. She'd forgotten----she thought it was Saturday. Is that one of those turnabout is fair play kind of things? Now the boys are off playing and Ernie is smoking ribs for me because the last time he made ribs they were so amazing that I requested them for dinner tonight. He's also making me blueberry apple bars as my birthday treat and he met me at the door with a glass of wine. He really is the best. Just the best.
So I think my birthday will be salvaged....and hell, I've got David Olney on Saturday night. One of the brightest spots in the day however was all the kind messages from everybody....thanks. You guys are a wonderful birthday present.....
Now....once the blueberry bars are in the oven, Ernie and I are going to head out to the front yard with the bottle of wine and tapenade that my dear friend Nancy gave me....and when the boys come ask for food or drink (how dare they?) I'll say, "ask your father because it's my birthday."