I had a birthday last Saturday and it was a lot better than I planned. Mostly because I had initially planned to do nothing. I was going to let 33 just slide by with maybe the normal joint birthday celebration with my brother whose birthday is the day after mine (but 12 years earlier than my birth). My brother surprised me with a special phone call a few weeks before the big birthday weekend to make some plans. We didn’t do the big celebration together last year since I spent the weekend with my girlfriends at JBP’s former Cape Cod pad instead. I figured he could have the family birthday fun night to himself for that year. Good thing, though, because my brother’s son (my nephew) initiated a strong upheaval amongst the Hull locals that resulted in a parking lot brawl… and my mother trying to defend him with her words. ::Sigh:: Anyway, I was pretty touched that it was important to my brother that I was able to attend the joint celebration this year, but a little nervous that similar shenanigans would resurface. Regardless, it was decided that the family would meet at the local Chinese restaurant/bar for some karaoke, drinks and cupcakes the Friday before our birthdays. I invited NF, AMR, Bykfam and Bykfam’s sister to join me in case I needed to pretend to not know my relations. Thankfully, everyone behaved themselves and such measures were not taken.
Also around that time, I was emailing with HEKD about not wanting to do anything for my birthday. She offered to bring back the “girl dinner” so all the usual attendees could bring a dish to her home and maybe there will be some cake and candles for me. How could I refuse? I do so love a girl dinner. Since I currently do not have a home of my own, the girl dinner has definitely become few and far between. A low-key night with 5 of my closest girlfriends (and HEKD’s coworker who I never met before) was just perfect. I received many thoughtful birthday cards and presents. RB drove all the way east and forced HEKD to purchase basic baking supplies to make my fabulous smiley face cake. So I had family fun karoake night on the 29th (with no parking lot fights) and girl dinner fun night (also no parking lot fights) on the 30th. All in all, it was a nice birthday weekend (with absolutely no parking lot fights to speak of – phew!).
HEKD is making fun of me because I was making fun of her choice of framed photos in her new house… every one of them a pic of her and her husband. I told her, “We get it – you’re in looooove!” What’s funny is that we then suddenly realized I have not appeared in any framed photos of hers during the entire decade of our friendship. Then we thought back to the condo she lived in for about 6 years and confirmed that there were no framed photos of me on display at that place either. I noted that she did have a framed photo of her friend LC and her husband MC on their wedding day… she used to have a framed photo of her and the tall one… and she has a framed photo of her with another girl she’s friends with (but she says it was a gift from that girl so I can’t be mad at that). The point is, all these people aren’t as important as me and yet I have no presence in her house! HEKD says she is working on a shrine in my honor if it will keep me happy. Well, it’s a start. Next, she will need to be sincere about worshiping it.
Then I was thinking about it some more and I don’t think any of my friends have framed photos of me in their living quarters… unless you count a photo of KDM, AMR and I on prom night in 1995 that is on display at AMR and Bykfam’s house. If I am wrong, please let me know to help ease my mind. But even though my living space has decreased from a 2 BR apt. to just a single room within my parents’ house… I have pics of my friends all over! In fact, you would think I was in love with HEKD with amount of photos I have framed of her… at Vegas, at her wedding, at the cheesecake factory, etc. AMR, RB, Bykfam, JBP, Xtina… they all are there on display so I can look at them lovingly and look forward to the next time I see them. The realization that no one does this for me is frankly devastating. Xtina doesn’t even have my 4th grade picture on display at her desk anymore. :( I’m feelin’ the non-love today. I see how it is.
On a related note… I have two very talented friends. One is a fiend at knitting and the other is a creative artist. Do you think either of them has ever made anything for me? Hellz no! I’ve been very good friends with them for years and watched with sadness as they’ve made project after project for every one else they know and nothing ever for me. What’s up that? Is it crass to complain about not receiving homemade gifts produced from their talents? Probably. Are we close enough friends that they’ll think it’s funny? Likely. Have I been such a good friend that I deserve a homemade gift? You know it’s true. If I dote on my framed photos of my friends as much as I do, just think how much I’d adore your homemade gift! But don’t drop everything and make me something just because I’m sobbing every night at my multiple unrequited loves. I’ll survive. Don’t worry about me. But HEKD, I’m following up with you this weekend to see how the shrine is coming.
I’ve been a bad friend lately. I’ve been spending so much time with my new “interest” that I really haven’t seen much of my girls these past couple of weeks. Yikes, I’m THAT girl. Ugh. Well, that all changes as of tomorrow. After work, I’ll be traveling up to the Watch City to see Xtina and have some Thursday night drinkies and eats at our favorite restaurant. Then on Friday after work, I’ll be traveling up to N. Andover to hang with AMR and HEKD at HEKD and Double D’s new house. I was there a couple of weeks ago to help on move-in day and it’s really a nice place. I love those 100-year old houses and the old fashioned wide wood floor boards. But my favorite thing in the whole house is the doorknob on the front door (see below). It’s so antique looking with its filigree stylings. I bonded with my Godson while everyone else carried H and D’s belongings from the storage unit into the house. Then I unpacked and organized the kitchen. I love organizing kitchens – it’s the most fun room in the house to work on. HEKD disagrees and says the baby’s room is the most fun. All I say to that is: bah! So I guess I’ll get to see the full setup on Friday. I’m looking forward to it!
Ten years from now, we’re all going to look at each other and say, “Remember when we used to put ‘LOL’ on everything?” And then we’ll all laugh and say, “Yeah, HEKD would start and end every email, facebook comment and blog comment with ‘LOL’ back then.” Then I will recall the time when AMR, Bykfam and myself were returning from our MD vacation and Ozzy’s “Iron Man” was on the radio and Bykfam sang “L-O-LOL-LOLOLOLO-L-O-L” to the tune of the popular guitar riff. That story will get a big response for sure.
Then someone will say, “And remember how we used to ‘put on our lollerskates‘ all the time?!” Oh, the roars of laughter will be immense in the future. The conversation will inevitably start turning down the road of other “text speak” like OMG, FML, IMHO and whatever else we can remember. And then we’ll all sit back and reflect at how silly we were with dreamy smiles on our faces.
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