Short and Sweet

As I said yesterday, 365 days of build up makes your birthday pretty hard to beat. Today's mine, so I speak with some authority on the subject.

Anticipation, as noted yesterday, is part of the fun. Birthdays are more fun than Friday's because birthdays only come every 52 weeks. Fridays on the other hand roll around every seven days.

If sheer anticipation of a holiday makes it more exciting, then imagine the feeling you conjure up by creating anticipation for someone ON the holiday!

The Hidden Birthday Cupcake is a simple but perfect example.

I'd love to stay and chat about all the bazillion trinkets and treats you could place inside the Hidden Cupcake, but I gotta go. Richard has assured me mine is hidden somewhere in the house and I can't wait to find it.

Wanna stick around and party? Take a stab at guessing what Richard managed to fit inside my Hidden cupcake.

Signing off until tomorrow when I've officially logged my first 24 hours of being 44.

Whack on the Side of the Head Wednesday: Birthday Edition

Happy Birthday, Uncle Sam 

(that's mine, not yours)

Today my dad's brother celebrates his 80th birthday

80

on

10-08-08

By the way 10+8+8 = 26

And, 2+6 = 8

Last night we had corn beef and cabbage with cooked carrots and potatoes for dinner.  Why?  Because when my thoughtful, thoughtful, husband and I were dating, I told him of a Kamhi (my maiden name) family tradition.  Each year on our birthdays we got to chose the dinner menu of our choice, regardless of how simple (mom = bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken, Ellen = Bacon lettuce, and tomato sandwiches) or how elaborate (me = corn beef and cabbage with Grey Poupon mustard) the choice may  have appeared.  Or, no matter how little anyone else in the house liked it (dad = blue fish) or how... wacky (Ann = pancakes and eggs) the request might have seemed.  On your birthday, you and your taste buds ruled the roost.  And so it goes, even 40 years later.

That's not the only family tradition I remember.  The other thing I remember is how you hoped your birthday landed on a school day.  Yes, if you were lucky enough to have your birthday land on a school day, you were lucky enough to score a serving of junk food.

I should stop here to tell you my parents are kind of health food fanatics.  Wheat germ, shredded wheat, nuts, whole grains, lots of fish, broccoli, plain yogurt, apple sauce, and for dessert... fruit cocktail, with an occasional shortbread cookie.  School lunches were precisely this:  One sandwich  - either turkey, ham, or roast beef on wheat bread, cut in half, and neatly placed in wax paper bags; 1 small container of Mott's Apple Juice rolled in tin foil and packed neatly next to the sandwiches; 1 piece of fruit, usually an apple or banana; and a small box of Sun Maid Raisins on top.  All of this was carefully placed in a doubled brown paper bag, with crisp edges, neatly folded over, and our names written in black marker.

Oh, but on your birthday!!!!!  On your birthday it was a whole new ball game.  The sandwich and the fruit remained, but... the apple juice was replaced with a CAN OF COKE and the raisins were replaced with either a Ring Ding or a Twinkie!  All topped off with a small wrapped treat and a happy birthday message.  Yes, life was especially good on your birthday.  

This stroll down memory lane does two things...  One, it reinforces the importance of little things, over and above elaborate gestures, when it comes to being memorable in the lives of someone else.  Two, it makes me wonder what new birthday tradition we can dream up right here at highlowaha.  Today we will be Imagineers.  We will put on our creative thinking caps and develop a brand new birthday tradition so irresistible all will want to adopt it.

We'll use this whack to get us started.  

Find A Pattern.  Poet Alexander Pope: "Order is heav'n's first law.  Much of what is called "intelligence" is our ability to recognize this order in the form of patterns.  We recognize cycles (plankton yields conform to a strict four year boom-and-bust cycle), sequences (the order in which you put on your clothes), processes (how to convert flour, eggs, and milk into waffles), tendencies (cracks in dried mud usually form 120 degree angles), shapes (the stars that make up the constellation Leo), similarities (stellar galaxies and water emptying in a tub spiral in the same way), behaviors (etiquette on a crowded bus), and probabilities (the likelihood of throwing a "seven" at a crap table).  What patterns do you detect?  How can you use them to better understand your idea?

So let's have fun with this.  What fun birthday tradition (kid's or adult) can we create right here on Highlowaha?

Announcements:

• Halloween Activity:  Today's Beeny Family Halloween Activity is... Today we will wrap ourselves like mummies in toilet paper.  And since I've forgotten to post for the past few days... yesterday... play a round of "killer" at the dinner table, and Monday... enjoy a candy apple for dessert.
  
• What Happens in Vegas...  Thanks again for playing along yesterday.  The winners of yesterday's gambling were AZLori (who won a favorite candy bar from each player) and Julie who won a pot of $18.90.  Below are the addresses you need to make good on your antes.  AZLori - 645 S. Doege Street, Gilbert, AZ 85233; and Julie S. - 24 Orchard Place, Apt. 205, Bradford, PA 16701.
  
• Trick or Treat:  Remember, Friday I am hoping we are all going to share a favorite Halloween trick or treat that you've seen in a store.  Maybe a decoration,  a new baking or cooking tool, or a new holiday craft item.  Ideally you will be able to share the item and the price.
  
• Blog-a-thon: Still kickin'
  

Signing off until tomorrow...

Two Thought Thursday

Two things consumed my day yesterday, both of which I will touch on today and then it's off for a nap.  Forty three posts yesterday wore me out!  Phew.  I love it and clearly I need more stamina if I am going to keep up with the likes of this readership.

A final update: 

• Good news and bad news.  No, we did not reach our goal of 5,000.  The good news is that we did hit the grand total of 3,682.  It makes us only 1,318 short of our new goal 5,000 by May 1. While failure on the first goal was acceptable, failure on this newly revised goal is not an option.  My good friend sent an encouraging email after reading today's blog and signed it simply... "Reaching for 5000!"  I love it as a slogan, so from now until the glorious day we reach our number, that is how I will sign off.  Thanks for your help in assuring my success.
  
• Cheryl....  Congratulations!  You are the winner with a total of 7 referrals to my site.  So, from where do you want your gift card issued?  Respond ASAP and I'll have it for you tomorrow night.

Thought #1:

Back and forth, back and forth... and finally I decided to stick with my original plan.  The thing I will keep at stake is my pride.  That means avoiding, at all costs, the idea of having to post a picture of me in a bathing suit.  I've got no strategies up my sleeve right now except a loyal group of friends who will not let this happen.

Thought #2:  

Birthdays, birthdays, birthdays galore.  April 10 was my mother in-law's; April 13 was my sister's; and yesterday - of course - was Matthew's.  I have so many fond memories of birthdays as a kid, I thought it would be worth spending time talking about all the creative ways to make birthdays magical.  Some of the things I remember are:

• My mother would always hide a small birthday treat in our cereal bowl, starting our morning off just right.
  
• We always set the menu for our birthday dinners.  What's really funny... mine was corn beef and cabbage (!); my mom's was Kentucky Fried Chicken; one of my sisters requested BLT sandwiches; and I don't remember what my dad and other sister requested.
• While our school lunches were usually an apple juice, a sandwich, a piece of fruit, and a shortbread cookie, on our birthdays the apple juice was replaced with a can of fruit and the shortbread cookie was replaced with a hostess cake of some sort.  Also hidden in the lunch bag was a new pen, a fun eraser head, or some other fun school supply.
  
• Mrs. Kellerman, the woman who lived across the street, always secretly invited us to her house to bake my mother a birthday cake.  I always considered that especially thoughtful. I want to be able to do the same thing for the children of a neighbor on my street.
• Finally... a sweet memory, though not really a creative idea... When I was a kid the accepted way to dress for birthday parties... dress, lace tights, and patent leather Mary Jane shoes.  For boys it was slacks and ties.

Two fun things happened to Matthew today...  

• First, Ricky his older brother, slipped a birthday note in each of Matthew's shoes.  I considered that a really thoughtful and inexpensive way to say...you're special.
  
• This evening our neighbors knocked on the door and did "Birthday Caroling" for Matthew.  I loved it.  Again, another completely free and thoughtful way to make someone feel special.  
  

How about you?  What were your favorite birthday traditions as a kid?  And, what other ideas do you have about making birthdays magical? 

 

Reaching for 5000!