Face it, once we become mothers, no one else is going to make sure we have a great birthday. We have to make it happen ourselves.
And let me add the disclaimer that my husband is generally very good about making holidays special, from Mother's Day to Valentine's Day to birthdays.
This year, his thoughtfulness caused me to lose sleep.
I woke up at 4:30 and he wasn't in bed. I lay there for a few minutes wondering where he could be. I strained my ears to hear if the television was on, thinking he might have fallen asleep on the couch. I sniffed the air to determine whether he'd stayed up all night baking me a birthday cake like he did two years ago. Nothing.
I could go back to sleep, but what if something happened to him. I'd better get up and search for him. The cats accompanied me, trotting along. Not in the living room, dining room, kitchen. I headed down to the basement. Not in the main room or the laundry room. I could hear Spencer gently snoring.
Where could Earl be? I decided to call his cell phone, but first I stepped into Tucker's bedroom. Tucker was gone already to the state swim meet and staying at a hotel. There was Earl asleep.
I shook him awake and said, "Why are you sleeping in here?"
"I didn't want to wake you," he said. He had stayed up late watching All the President's Men on TV and was afraid he'd wake me up when he came to bed.
I turned around and went back to my bed, laying there til nearly 6 before I fell asleep then woke to my alarm at 6:30. A tired start to my birthday.
I made breakfast for Spencer and me, knowing that I wouldn't see him again. He ran out the door 5 minutes before he needed to be at school then called me a few minutes later. His car had stopped at a traffic light.
"Turn on the hazard lights," I told him as I pulled on some pants and woke Earl. I figured one of us could drop Spencer at school while the other dealt with the broken down car.
Instead, within a minute of pulling up at the busy intersection, Earl had squealed off in the other car to go get gas in the gas can. Spencer and I stood in the intersection waving cars around us.
"We could push it into the parking lot,"I suggested. Spencer looked doubtful that we could move the big Ford Explorer.
As we stood there in the early morning chill, I looked at Spencer and said, "Is this a birthday surprise that you and Dad planned? Are people getting ready to jump out singing?"
He laughed, and it wasn't a birthday surprise.
Earl returned about 15 minutes later with gas and we got the car going. Earl said he would take Spencer's car to get gas and that I should drop Spencer at school. Then he pulled off in the big Explorer while Spencer and I climbed into the other car, where we sat, because Earl still had the keys.
"Just walk to school," I said to Spencer.
"Happy Birthday," he said as he unfolded himself from the car and loped off.
I called Earl and sat in the parking lot until he returned with the keys.
Earl was so discombobulated by the start to his day, that he forgot about my birthday until mid-morning.
The rest of the day was spent working then driving to the State Swim Meet, cheering for Tucker, and driving home in the rain.
Today is my birthday do over.
So I started with a run while the birds serenaded me, and I got warm enough to take off my jacket.
Then I went to Starbucks for my free birthday coffee and sat across from Spencer for breakfast enjoying the tulips and card that were waiting for me when I got home at 11 last night.
Tulips are my favorite flower, maybe because I'm so desperate for them by the time it's spring.
I've got some papers to grade, and I might call the Aveda salon to see if they have any spa treatments available today. I'm just going to take it easy -- cause it's my birthday do over.
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