BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS 2012

Considering the cruel and unfaithful God almost had me six feet under before I made it to my twentieth birthday, I reckon I’ve done pretty darned well myself to reach my twenty-fifth! XD

I know last year, I asked my parents to please let me chuck a birthday party because I was rejoining the ‘th’ family with my 24^th (21^ST, 22^ND, 23^RD but 24^TH rejoins you for the next seven years to the ‘th’ family, get it? XD) but I decided that this year was also worth celebrating coz it was my quarter-century milestone!

Them EM (English ministry) from our church has been awfully nice, creating some roster in which at least two people come visit me every Sunday afternoon for at least two hours, and one of the people that comes to visit me was Dr. Lee. Anyways, the last time he came, he somehow got thrown the responsibility of throwing me my 25^th birthday bash. XD

After asking me for several details, he suddenly said over Facebook one night, “Yup, it’s all planned.” I asked him to please e-mail me the details, but the sneaky man decided to keep everything a secret!

So I threatened him with the line “You either tell me what’s happening, else I’m hacking into mother’s e-mail and finding out for myself. I know her password, I can and I WILL do it!” XD

Luckily, in the end, this wasn’t necessary. See, after reading Lilian’s blog post about how she went to La Cucina of Italy for dinner once, I’ve wanted to try there myself. I’m a bona fide ‘flour head’ (say that in Canto) XD Anyways, one night after dinner, I simply ask mother, “hey, are we going to La Cucina of Italy for my birthday?” and she just looks at me, grins and says “Yup.” Easy. Problem solved. XD

Of course, my life being physio now, of course, I would have a session of physio on my birthday. But thankfully, not Vincent the bloody physio physio, just UQ physio, which is much easier to handle. XD

Even better, my physio student baked brownies and the facilitator, Karen, bought a cake! They all sang happy birthday for me (Karen did the hiphips) then we all munched away happily. Yum~

Originally, Erika (the book club lady from Germany) had said we’d have lunch together at some Rochedale Café (the same place we went last year) but that morning, she’d rung and told mother in some awfully croaky voice, “I’m sick. Better not see you guys for lunch today, lest I infect Em.” So instead, mother took me to see Naz for a kebab! She’d originally promised that she’d take me before we decided to have lunch with Erika instead, so it all worked out in the end. Turns out Naz’s aunty was working that day, and after Naz guessed that I was only fifteen (I’m ten years older than that, remember. XD) and shouted me the corn chips that usually comes with a burrito, she shouted me an iced lemon tea!

The afternoon brought more surprises: Carol, my carer/life coach/support worker/whatever they’re called now :P for the afternoon, rang mother for permission first, then bought a vanilla slice for us to share! Meaning I was already on a sugar-high and ready to bounce off the ceiling by the time 5pm came around. XD not only that, Carol also write me a birthday card (complete with incorrect grammar – hope your having a great day XD) – and a scratchie! As I scratched away with a spoon, I laughed to Carol, “If I win a huge sum of money, you get half.” XD Unsurprisingly, I didn’t become the newest millionaire on earth, but I did manage to win three bucks! “You can go trade that in for another scratchie from the Newsagents,” Carol told me, “or you can just go and get the three bucks.” Wisely, I decided that I was more than satisfied with three bucks; that’s the extent of my gambling career. XD

But the fun wasn’t over yet, coz that night, I had dinner at the Hog’s Breath Café in the Hyperdome for the first time! I’d heard about the place the year before, when my Australian godmother had spoken about it, and had wanted to have a meal there ever since, but Mrs. Dent had told me that the meals there were too huge for lunch and ‘twas only suitable for dinner. So I waited until my birthday came around this year before asking if we could go there to celebrate.

I’d invited Aunty A along also, and had some fun introducing her to Mr. and mrs. Dent: “Aunty A, Pam and Rob Dent are my Australian godparents; Mr. and Mrs. Dent, Aunty A’s been my church Sunday school teacher for the last, oh, say, twenty years.” XD

I’d had Toscani’s with Mel and Kylie (classmates from high school) about four days ago, and when they heard I’d be having Hog’s Breath café for dinner, said I HAD to have curly fries. I’d never tried curly fries before, but hey, they sounded interesting, so I asked the waitress who was taking our orders that I’d like to order some. “No problem, she laughed, “all our meals come with curly fries!” Awesome. I also tried a mocktail (sp? Those alcohol-free cocktails) called a Choc Berry Hog, which was delicious. For dinner, I’d ordered some chicken chop with some pork ribs; unsurprisingly, mother carved away some to give to dad, but hey, no biggie, I understand how mother simply HATES the thought of me getting lots to eat. XD

Afterwards, dad and I even shared a dessert! Wisely, I’d picked the cheapest one, a sticky date pudding, but ‘twas still scrumptious! O/T: I received sixty-seven birthday wishes on Facebook, BTW. XD

Oh, and I mustn’t forget to tell about the dinner I had with the church people on Sunday night! Sure enough, ‘twas at La Cucina of Italy, and the restaurant got bonus points coz we all sat in armchairs! Complete, blessed safety, sweet~

When I arrived, Kwany was already there, soon followed by Bernard, Janice, Wilfreddy, Pole, Joey, Christy jie, Jacinta, Wells, Josh Cham (Josh Meggs was away with his grandparents @ Burleigh), Dr. Lee and Lee.

Kwany kindly ordered me a Lipton’s Lemon Iced Tea, then we all browsed the menu. Kwany and I shared a patatine fritte (chunky chips with tomato sauce and aioli), then for mains, I chose a   chose a Spaghetti al Pesto con Pollo, which tasted delicious (especially with half a teaspoonful of grated parmesan cheese, thanks Julz XD), but only after I finished did I see the entire SEA of oil that floated in the bottom! XD Surprisingly, my entire face didn’t break out into pimples, phew. XD

After dinner, thanks to Pole who walked behind me once to the loo and back.

Then, all too soon, ‘twas time for cake! Trust Dr. Lee to find a chocolate mud cake from somewhere, but hey, I’m fairly certain Vincent’s middle name is actually ‘chocolate’. XD

The lights were dimmed, and the happy birthday song started playing over the sound system! I had a good laugh, coz while the first verse was the traditional ‘happy birthday to you’, the second verse was ‘how old are you now?’! XD

Meaning I ended the night on a chocolate high. Pole the physio walked with me out back down to dr. lee’s car, and he tootled me home. One quick loo trip, then I settled down to watch the newest episode of House M.D!

Lee and Dr. lee had a cuppa with the parents, and once the episode was over, I bid them both good night and thank-you, coz mother was gleefully forcing me off to bed immediately.

Only, I didn’t sleep right away! No, there were still presents left that needed unwrapping!

But they were all opened and cooed over, lights were flicked out and I headed off into the land of nod on my first night as a twenty-five year old.

Don’t think I qualify for a birthday party next year; I mean, there’s nothing special about being twenty-six. XD

Next post here … I wanna tell everyone about my favourite teddy bear, who’s going into retirement soon. So cya when I cya!

Cheers,

Em. ^^