I thought turning 31 would be as little fun as turning 30. For the sake of my very good and caring friends I'll say that the highlight of turning 30 was when they surprised me with a high fiber cheesecake for me to have all to myself because not one of them actually liked the high fiber cheesecake.. well, accept for me, of course. So yes, I appreciated the cheesecake :)
Yesterday night as I was feeling sorry for myself and thinking about the countless ambitions and dreams that I thought I'd lived through at the coming of age 31 (un-materialised dreams of course), the sweet man that I married came to sit with me even though he had lectures to give early in the morning. When he asked me what was bothering me most, and I said that I have so little to show for right now, he'd proceeded to list all the things that I've
got to show for. Things that I thought he didn't even notice and things that I didn't even notice or think about. He sat with me well through the night as I cleaned, swept, mopped and folded laundry. And I thought.. yes, this'll be a bearable birthday after all.
Then the three women in my family (Mom, Sister and Aunty) took me out for lunch at TGIF and we had a ball. We shopped well into late evening, acting for once as if we were reallyy ladies of leisure. No chores, no errands, no worries. Just chatting and of course chasing after Gibran who got high on too much ice-cream.
The late evening tested me with Gibran who got cranky from tiredness and a nasty sugar crash. For the first time in a longg time I very nearly lose my temper (on a full-blown level!) and threatened him with a clothes hanger. So I thought.. phew. What a birthday this is. Birthdays are just simply crappy as you get older.
Then the girls (my girl pals, that is!) took me out for dinner and my parents volunteered to babysit Gibran. So for the first time in a longgg time since I became a "lady of leisure" (anyone want a severe beating if they dare say this to me again??), I had a girls' night out.
As the day was approaching its end, my long lost estranged best friend (who was my best friend for 24 years) called to with happy birthday and to tell me that she missed me and that there is still hope for our friendship.
And when I got home with a chatty but sleepy Gibran by my side, and H (who had to attend his company's annual dinner tonight) met us with big hugs and smooches to tell us he'd missed us at the dinner and he'd won a water heater in the lucky draw.. I started to wonder if birthdays aren't overrated after all.
Some birthdays can be good. Mine was today :) Thank you, God.
That's the great thing about having a birthday with no expectations whatsoever.
