Cheers to Birth-Week

It’s Handsome Husband’s birth week!

That’s right, I said week.

I heart birthdays, big time. Naturally, they last longer than just one day in our house, BUT if you do happen to see him on Friday be sure to wish him a happy Might-As-Well-Be-Fortieth.

The first of his birthdays that we spent together I wasn’t even aware of it until days later when a mutual friend informed me. Husband was unfazed, but this lousy start was surely the catalyst for my over-the-top efforts ever since.

Today’s Timehop was good to remind me of the festivities I planned for Husband three years ago — a complete flop— which got me reminiscing about other birthday hits and misses over the years…

Chartering a deep-sea fishing expedition was a fine plan. Were it not for the exceptionally rough conditions we encountered on the ocean that morning, it would have been perfect. We now fondly refer to that one as his Boating Barfday. Despite loathing every second on board, we still made quite the haul in salmon and crab.

There was also the one, ten years ago, that I was due to give birth to our first child. Convinced a miniature human would be the ultimate gift, I didn’t plan anything else at all. When [his birthday/her due date] came and went with no baby, I felt foolish. I hastily purchased a cake, a day late, and Precious Firstborn joined us five days later.

I struck out another year when I purchased a “wine country limo tour” on Groupon… which turned out to be a crusty old bus, not limo, that we shared with strangers. We still had fun, but it was not at all what we had planned.

Some of the hits include reserving a private suite for him and all his buddies at a Blazer game, renting a houseboat at Lake Shasta for a long weekend of fishing with buddies, and recent Mancations with buddies to DC and Vegas.

I’m noticing a trend here: The best birthday gifts I’ve given him have been ones where I have taken myself out of the equation.

This year, Husband is getting landscaping for his birthday. Kidding, not kidding. We do have something more fun than sprinklers and sod planned, but I have to wait a week or so to share with y’all…

In the meantime, thank you to my mother-in-law for birthing my favorite human, thirty-some years ago.  Thank you, Husband, for being born.