My birthday was two weeks ago. I turned 38- which is so odd because I feel 18. Fine, let's not go crazy- I don't feel 18. But definitely under 30. Anyway, as far as birthdays go, it was great. But before I go on, I'm going to let you know that I just had to stop typing and stare off into the distance for about 10 minutes while I tried to remember ONE detail about a day that was literally two weeks ago. Aging is fun!
So it was a Tuesday, I got to sleep in (7:30am- such a luxury!) while my husband made me breakfast and got the kids all ready for school. And the rest of the day was just how I prefer it to be- typical. School drop offs, an incredible workout at CFNE (which is always my happy place, but when you add in lots of hugs and presents and treats, it's even better), coming home to cook my lunch and get stuff done around the house, and then school pick ups. The kids made me beautiful cards at school, my husband gave me really thoughtful gifts (some that I'd requested and some that he knew I'd love), and I finished the day eating tacos and drinking Margaritas at a local restaurant with my husband, kids and two of my favorite people. I was even able to be done eating before the clock struck 8:00 (another New Years Resolution).
Over the years I've had some pretty spectacular birthdays. My parents always let me have big birthday parties when I was little, and sleepovers in the living room with all my friends as I got into my teenage years, and of course there was my Sweet Sixteen where I got to invite all my friends to a hotel for the night. I've been lucky enough to spend every birthday since the age of 24 with Irv, and he's a really good birthday planner. He's planned trips and surprises and always tries to make it special. But I think my most memorable birthday might be my 18th. I was a freshman in college, and there was a monthly mandatory dorm meeting that happened to fall on the night of my birthday. There had been signs posted all over the hallways and boards for weeks about it. I was in my room with my roommate, listening to music and thinking about what we'd do after the meeting. Right before we were about to head down the hall to the common room, one of my closest friends walked in crying. She was having a complete meltdown over some guy that was apparently being a jerk to her, which at age 18 is pretty much a daily occurrence. But she seemed really upset and begged me to skip the meeting and go for a walk with her to get her mind off him. I feel like for most 18 year old girls, this would be an easy decision- do you go take care of your friend who is clearly not doing okay and explain after to your RA that you had an emergency you had to deal with, or do you let your friend suffer so you can go sit at a stupid floor meeting to talk about how gross the co-ed bathrooms are and get lectured about not letting people into the dorm at all hours of the night. But for me, an easy decision this was not. I've always been incapable of breaking rules. I just can't do it. In my mind, the second I break one rule I might as well just give up everything and go live a life of crime. I had many friends in high school who would walk into Claire's, casually put a pair of $3 earrings in their pocket and walk out of the store- nonchalantly, acting like they didn't just commit a real crime and like I wasn't an accomplice to this crime and like we weren't about to end up in jail for the rest of our lives and never live to see another beautiful sunset on a glorious summer day.
But, my friend was literally begging me and saying crazy things like she wouldn't survive if I didn't go take a walk with her, so out we went. I threw on a sweatshirt and put the hood up tight around my head and face, hoping my RA wouldn't notice us leaving and send us to immediately to College jail. We make it outside, start walking, and she's just really upset about this guy who I didn't even know she gave a damn about. After a few minutes she must have noticed that I was sweating profusely through my sweatshirt and kept looking behind us (I just knew our RA was following us to put us in handcuffs). She asked me what the hell was wrong with me and why I was breaking out in hives and that's when I asked if we could please just forget about this stupid guy for a second and go to the meeting so we wouldn't get in trouble. She rolled her eyes, obliged, and as soon as we entered the common room our entire dorm floor jumped up and yelled "Surprise!"
Did I feel stupid for thinking I was going to get in trouble for missing what ended up being a really fun and memorable surprise party for me? Yes. Did that stop me from constantly worrying that I would get in trouble for breaking a rule? No, no it did not.
