It never fails! When ever I write a post in the morning, I’m always in a mad rush to get out the door as quick as possible in an attempt to make it to work on time. This morning was no exception. I somehow managed to find time after my shower and before eating to sit down at my computer and write. Somehow it all came out coherent but as I rushed out the door, I forgot to hit the submit button! So when I logged in to mark a ton of comments as spam, I noticed my newest entry was never posted…so here it is:
Birthdays are odd things… When you’re very little, they mean a whole lot. Turning ten is a huge deal! So is sixteen and eighteen. I don’t even need to mention the big two-one. However, the older you get, the less they mean.
Why is that? Do we realized that after our twenty-first we enter a mad race to the finish line? Or do we mature and come to a realization that birthdays don’t really mean a thing other than one more year in this place…?
I can still remember thinking on my eleventh birthday that I was getting old. The same was true for this birthday when the clock struck midnight and I turned twenty-three. It wasn’t like it was a big deal. After all, nothing happens on your twenty-third. But for some reason, I felt positively ancient.
If it had been up to me, I would have stayed home and drank myself silly. My friends and family had different plans for me. I had missed work on Friday (and for some strange reason actually missed it) and was feeling completely like $hit, but my mother and father guilted me into going over to my grandma’s house for a birthday dinner. All in all, it wasn’t half bad (especially without my siblings there to cause a disaster). I ate way too much and fell asleep on the couch.
I missed my alarm the next day, causing a late departure for The Gardens. My Grandma wasn’t too happy with me being late (like she should talk), but once we got there and managed to find a parking spot, we ended up having a good time. The place was positively flooded with people of all sorts and most of them (but not us) were there for the Chinese festival. Sadly, we had absolutely no idea what we were getting into (my Grandma hadn’t checked her book).
So, in an attempt to stay away from the crowds, we stuck to the hidden paths and back-walkways. After wandering around in the rose and English Woodland gardens, we eventually made our way to the Chinese garden. During a quick sit-down-stop, we had the fortune of hearing a performer play the koto. After that (and taking way too many pictures, we called it a day.
After dropping off my Grandma, shopping for the party (snacks and vodka), taking a quick nap, and cleaning up, my friends and I went to Buffalo Wild Wings. Its sort of our thing to go there for birthdays (during college, when some of us were under 21, we’d go there so the old people could drink) and this one proved to be no exception. After way too much food (are you starting to see a pattern here) and too many drinks (two long islands (on an empty stomach) and a Cosmo) we left and headed back to my Aunt’s place (you know, one of these days I’ll explain all the long stories), taking the back road and scaring the hell out of everyone.
For some god-forsaken reason, my friends decided to let the drunk make the drinks… What where they thinking?! After the first batch of peartinis (thanks Shannon!) it was clear that the drinks were far too strong, but did they stop me? No! They let me go on and on and on, making far too many drinks. Of course, when people didn’t finish their drinks, I had to do the polite thing and finish them! After my fourth drink, I lost track…
Oh yea, during the drinking we watched season one of Sex In The City and ate way too many snacks…
If my birthday festivities had stopped with getting up in the morning, taking a shower, and going back to bed, I would have been satisfied. My friends had a better idea: Six Flags! We got up after only a few hours of sleep, took showers, and were on the road by 9:30ish. Word to the wise: after drinking heavily the night before, roller coasters are a very bad idea! Of course, that didn’t stop me one bit! So I had an insanely upset stomach the whole day…big deal! What was important (other than the sun burn I got or the massive lunch we had) is that my friends made this the best birthday I’ve ever had!
Thanks ladies for a wicked good time!