The 27th

Tomorrow is my birthday. I will be 27. I typically get very, very excited about my birthday. If you don't believe me...

• Exhibit A: Last week I sent a note to my co-workers detailing how I would be out of the office tomorrow due to the fact that my birthday is a holiday.
• Exhibit B: Last year Lucy asked me if I could remember all of my birthdays. I could remember something about most of them. I have attempted to recreate that here:

1st Birthday, 1980 -
I don’t remember it at all but, I have an invitation to the party that my parents had for me.

2nd Birthday, 1981 -
I don’t remember this one either.

3rd Birthday, 1982 -
I don’t remember it but, I have pictures of the party that was held in my parents’ home. There was a clown that everyone except me seemed to be afraid of.

4th Birthday, 1983 -
I don’t remember this one either but, I have pictures of me and my pre-school friends at McDonald’s.

5th Birthday, 1984 -
I don’t remember this one either.

6th Birthday, 1985 -
It was a Saturday. I got up that morning and was standing in the kitchen. My dad then walked up from the basement with a 14 inch television with a remote control! I laid in bed the rest of the day, watching cartoons. I kept that television until I moved out of my parents’ house. I have no idea where it is now.

7th – 9th Birthdays, 1986-1988 -
No recollection. But, I’m sure they all involved going to Chi-Chi’s in Fayetteville. “Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday to our guest, ole’! Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday, Chi-chi’s wishes you the best, ole’!”

10th Birthday, 1989 -
It was a Thursday. This was a big deal. I got to have a sleepover and invite 10 girls. The sleepover was almost cancelled because a huge ice storm came through. We were out of school the day of the sleepover (24th) but, my mom decided not to cancel it. Everyone still showed up and it was a blast. I have silly videotape from this one. We spent a lot of time playing with the video camera that night.

11th Birthday, 1990 -
It was a Friday. All I remember about this one is that I was in the 5th grade and my class was being housed at a middle school (which I started attending the next year) because the elementary school was getting air conditioning installed. I was so scared of the big 6th-8th graders. I was also disappointed that I didn’t get a birthday announcement over the intercom like they did at my elementary school.

12th Birthday, 1991 -
It was a Saturday. This was a good one. My family and I spent the weekend at Myrtle Beach. We did a lot of shopping and ate a lot of good Calabash Seafood.

13th Birthday, 1992 -
It was a Sunday. We went to church that morning and they sang happy birthday to me during the service. After church, we went to Chi-Chi’s and the mall. I got a pair of sneakers.

14th Birthday, 1993 -
It was a Tuesday. This year my mom gave me a balloon tree (yes, a tree made out of helium balloons). It also had 50 dollars stuck in it. The tree sat on my dresser for like 5 more years – the balloons never deflated. I guess my parents threw it out when they packed up my NC bedroom to move to MS.

15th Birthday, 1994 -
It was a Wednesday. It rained that day. I, of course, managed to leave my keys at home so had to sit outside after I got home from school. I had a surprise dinner at Fong’s – the Chinese restaurants that my family went to every Thursday night. My friends, family, and boyfriend were all there. I ate a pound of Skittles that night. It was a BLAST.

16th Birthday, 1995 -
It was a Thursday. My dad picked me up from school early to go get my driver’s license. (I think that was a valid reason to get signed out of school early – everyone did it!). I had a birthday party that night. It was a beautiful, warm day so the party was in my backyard. There were lots of friends there. We cooked out around the pool and video taped a lot of the party. My boyfriend had to work (although his best friend who worked with him had asked for the night off to come to my party – but, that’s a different story) and didn’t show up until much later.

17th Birthday, 1996 -
It was a Friday. I was away at school (about 2 hours from home). My new friends at school gave me cards but, it wasn’t the same as being with my “home friends”. So my dad came and picked me up that afternoon. Once I got home, my mom had arranged for a few of my friends to be there while I opened gifts. Then, we went to a basketball game at my high school at home. A bunch of us came back to my house and hung out after the game. It just felt good to be around my friends from home.

18th Birthday, 1997 -
It was a Sunday. I was at home that weekend. So, I had to be driven back to school that day. That caused me to be somewhat depressed for a big part of that day. I hated going back to school! On the way back, my family and I stopped at a Japanese Steak House and had dinner. Once I got back, my school friends had gifts and balloons waiting on me so, it made me feel a lot better about having to be back at school again.

19th Birthday, 1998 -
It was a Monday. I had a Cal 3 test. My car had broken down so, my parents had come to see me at school (college this time) the day before. I had dance practice that night.

20th Birthday, 1999 -
It was a Tuesday. I had a Physics test. That night, my friend and I went to Chapel Hill to BW3’s (as we usually did on Tuesday nights). We met up there with a few other friends. We ended up spending the night in Durham with some other friends. We had to get up early the next morning to get back to Raleigh for class. It was a long, fun night.

21st Birthday, 2000 -
It was a Wednesday. My sorority had a program to host that night and then we all went out to Applebee’s together. My husband (fiancé at the time) sent me a stereo system that it took about 4 guys to carry up to my dorm room. That weekend my husband and I went to Atlanta. We stayed with my cousin and spent the whole weekend watching movies, bowling, and going out to eat.

22nd Birthday, 2001 -
It was a Thursday. I drove down to Greenville after class to spend the weekend with my husband (still fiancé for just a few more months). He had made me dinner for the first – and only – time ever. It was some type of lemon-something crusted chicken and baked potatoes. He was so proud of the fact that he had made the bread crumbs for the chicken. The next day we went down to Atlanta again and did some touristy stuff. I remember going to some museum and seeing an IMAX movie.

23rd Birthday, 2002 -
It was a Saturday. Friday night had been a blast. Some friends (another husband/wife couple) had come into town because her birthday was on the 22nd. So, we all went to the Houston Rodeo on Friday night to see Mary J. Blige and Brian McKnight. We ended up staying out all night – including a 4am meal at Denny’s. On Saturday, the four of us did a little shopping and then went down to Kemah Boardwalk. We ate and rode around on the silly little train. I got a yummy cake that year.

24th Birthday, 2003 -
It was a Sunday. We had been in Austin the entire weekend for my sister-in-law’s martial arts competition. That Saturday night, I brought my birthday in on 6th Street. On Sunday we headed back to Houston and hung out in the museum district. That evening we ate at a Mexican restaurant near the house.

25th Birthday, 2004 -
It was a Monday. The first time I had ever had to be at work on my birthday. Also my first birthday at my current place of employment. The night before, we had gone to a Houston Rockets game that went into triple overtime. We left the game during the first overtime since the game hadn’t started until 8pm as it was. We had time to grab some Sonic and get home to watch the conclusion of the game. On Monday at work, my new co-workers took me out to lunch. After work, a friend surprised me by bringing over a cake that she had made for my birthday. Then my husband and I went down to Kemah for dinner. Then he surprised me with a nice spa gift certificate. He actually blindfolded me and drove me to the spa to give me the gift.

26th Birthday, 2005 -
It was a Wednesday. I had a prenatal doctor’s appointment. I was about 11 weeks pregnant and it was the first time that I got to hear Jayla’s heartbeat. My husband and I then had lunch together at Schlotzsky*s. Then I had to hurry back to work for a presentation that I was scheduled to give. That evening we had dinner at Outback and went to see Hitch at the movies. On Friday night, I got a surprise birthday party.

27th Birthday, 2006 -
It is tomorrow. We are taking off work. We are dropping Jayla off in the morning. Beyond that, I have no idea what our day will bring.