Birthday Celebrations 2017

Well, I made it. I’m now THIRTY. Cripes, I sound ancient, don’t I? XD

I’ll be honest here: I was terrified I wouldn’t be around for my 30^th birthday, just like how I wasn’t around for my 20^th. You see, almost eleven years ago, I’d spent my 20^th birthday lying half-dead in the ICU, having already been smote down by the cruel and unfaithful God with my disabling brain injury the month before and gone through the first of several botched surgeries. So obviously I was around, but I wasn’t present, do you get what I’m saying?

I kinda had this unfounded fear that I’d walk out into the open air and suddenly a HIPPO would randomly fall outta the sky, land on my head and knock me unconscious, thus making me miss my 30^th birthday, too! ><

However, I was reassured by many people that I should be safe because it’s not often that hippos randomly fall from the sky and knock people out. ‘Should’ being the operative word. XD

This year, my birthday landed on a Monday. Usually, I see the ‘bad’ physio for what I call a ‘torture session’ every Monday and I asked him could I please skip one session with him that week because birthdays are meant to be happy occasions and gosh, I didn’t wanna haveta endure the extreme stress of a physio session with him on my BIRTHDAY! So I asked him could I please skip one week of physio with him just that day, to which he replied, “You’ll haveta ask your mum.” Okay, will do. So I tried asking mother and she said, “Fair enough. I’ll postpone your physio session one day.”

“But mum, I already haveta see the ‘good’ physio (UQ NAB clinic) the next day!”

“So? Your choice: see Vincent Monday then see the NAB Tuesday, or see them both on Tuesday.”

“Both on Tuesday.” That decision didn’t require any deliberation!

I did contact one primary school friend and ask her was she free to celebrate my momentous birthday with me over a meal, but didn’t bother asking any high school friends. Not sure why the parents are so hell-bent on keeping me isolated; sometimes I can’t help but wonder if they do that on purpose just so mother can cruelly jeer at me that I’ve got no social interaction with my peers. *sigh*

What I did want, however, was a birthday party! When I mentioned that to Pastor Grace, she agreed that I needed a birthday party and furthermore said she’d help organise one for me! I prolly exploded with excitement on the spot. XD I wanted a party with minions (surely everyone who knows me is well aware of the obsession I have with those adorable, jelly-bean shaped creatures!) and my newest like, PIRATE COCONUTS. Sounds absurd, I know, but when mother and I went to see the cartoon movie Moana back during the hottest of Summer last year/the year before, I saw these pirate coconuts and thought they were awesome!

My birthday celebrations actually began back on the second Thursday of
March, when I attended my monthly book club at the Logan North library. Usually, I’m one of the first to arrive (because dad has this strange notion how he must get me to every appointment at least ten minutes early. I’ve told him before, dad, if you get me to physio ten minutes early, I’m not gonna get ten more minutes of physio; I’ll just be sitting on my butt and waiting until my allocated time arrives but he just doesn’t seem to get that XD), so when I looked through the glass window at the top of the door and saw only an empty table, I didn’t think anything of it. Only when I push open the door, the first thing I see is Katie, DRESSED as a MINION! The next second, the word “SURPRISE!” assaults my ears; someone counts down (or up, I can’t remember! XD) from three/one and everyone bursts into a lusty rendition of the Happy Birthday song for me! Both my arms wave in the air, conducting along; after the singing has finished and I’ve excitedly squealed thankyous to everyone, I’m pointed to my usual seat. Erica and Barb immediately stick a stack of presents in front of me, while Amanda the librarian points to the table, which is fully loaded with goodies and tells everyone to tuck in! Second mum (Jen; she told me to call her second mum, while I’m her only daughter coz she’s got two sons but no girls) reassures me that everything is without nuts then gets me a plate with one of everything. My favourite is the mini quiche, but there was also a mini sausage roll, a mini meat pie, something chocolatey and crackers with dip! While everyone’s lining up for their food I’m told to open my presents. Just to show that I’m civilised, I carefully take the sticky tape off one then am too excited and just tear the rest. XD I get ALL the minion movies, three cards (one big group one with an Oh No, 30! Badge on it, which I immediately request someone pin onto me); my favourite comment was from Phil, who reassured me that I didn’t look a day over twenty-seven XD) and this sizeable horse figurine! Originally, I was planning to wear this badge ALL YEAR because I’m thirty until March 20, 2018, but for some reason, mother immediately made me remove the badge when I got home and then somehow, she even managed to LOSE it! >< At first, on NYE last year I was planning to make my annual hike upstairs to my old bedroom then refuse to come back downstairs until mother found my badge for me, but she was like, “Then you can just starve upstairs, I dunno where it’s gone” but she finally FOUND IT, Saturday night! Meaning I proudly wore it to church Sunday morning and told each member of my Bible study class as well as several members from the English ministry congregation how I got it! Then I wore the badge to the UQ NAB clinic (where my ‘good’ physio takes place) today and happily showed it to the two teachers there, Sonia and Ethan. XD Hopefully mother won’t misplace it again; fingers crossed! XD Aunty Deana found the badge lying in my room and left it on the bench top for me, but before I had the chance to wear it again awful mother chucked it somewhere and can’t find it! >< Finally, finally, she found it Friday night! See, she decided she’d need to bring a jacket with her to work on Saturday and headed upstairs to find her one; seeing my jacket she picked it up and my badge was just hanging there!! :D But back to the presents I received from the awesome ladies at book club: I later find out that Barb bought the beautiful horse figurine for me from the Hyperdome. Book club starts about twenty-five/thirty-five minutes late, because we’re all eating and chatting; that just meant we finished properly on time because usually we’re all done by 7:10pm at the latest! The card was funny: the cover said, “A little birdie told me you were turning thirty today…’ then the inside read “So I went and SHOT the little bugger before it could go tell anyone else!” XD  With my thirty dollar gift card from everyone, mother took me to the Big W at Garbo and I bought myself two/three books and this really cute plush snail, who I named Stanley (coz I have alliteration skills. XD) There’s cake also; when I’m handed the knife and told to make the first cut, I ask Amanda, “I should be safe to cut this right down to the bottom, right? It’s just us girls in here, yeah?” My cheeky librarian jokes, “You just wait right here and I’ll go fetch Phil (the librarian that alternates with Amanda to chair our monthly book club meetings) inside for you, okay?” (Australians have this custom that for the first cut made into a birthday cake, if the knife touches the base, you haveta kiss the closest person of the opposite sex.)

I mock-frown, before raising the tip of the cake knife I’m holding. “Do you see this nice sharp pointy knife you’ve just handed me to cut the cake with, Amanda? Might you want to rephrase your question, huh?” Amanda very wisely retracts her question. XD

That was Thursday; however, I still had my birthday party on Sunday after English service to look forward to! I made sure I was wearing my badge, of course~

My birthday party was held downstairs in A7/8; someone ordered pizza and everyone got three slices~ Thanks to Peter Pie who got me one cup of cordial and refilled it for me when I finished it.

The best thing about my birthday party was that there were games! Charades was fun (if admittedly difficult for me coz I’ve only got one functioning hand), but the next game, Honey I Love You, Can You Give Me A Smile? was awesome! Everyone was seated in a circle and the ‘it’ person had to approach someone and say, “Honey, I love you, can you give me a smile?” The person spoken to was supposed to answer, “Honey, I love you too, but I just can’t smile.” Some people were useless (sorry, Clara/Aggie! XD) cracking up with laughter even before the question had finished being asked; me, I was a tougher nut to crack!

“Honey, I love you; can you give me a smile?”

“Nup, don’t wanna smile. Next.”

“Honey, I love you; can you give me a smile?”

“Honey I love you too, but I don’t feel like smiling. Sorry.”

This continued on for several attempts until the games master (games mistress?) Joey, decided EVERYBODY had to take turns @ coaxing a smile from me!

In the end, ‘twas Meow Meow who succeeded! She was incredibly smart; when she approached me, in her hand she held one of the toy minions brought along for my party!

“Honey, both the minion and I love you; will you give us a smile?”

Lol, everyone knows I’m infatuated with those little yellow jelly-bean shaped creatures; I responded (well, I probably squealed at her XD), “For the minion, yes!” And then I BEAMED at her! XD

Cake cutting followed; I believe Pastor Grace did the hip hips after the birthday song for me. Usually, that’s my job!

I stood and everyone gathered around the table for happy snaps. The photos are on Facebook; thanks to Charlsy who snapped all my birthday’s happy memories. My favourite photo is the one where someone left the KNIFE sticking out from the poor minion cake’s EYE. XD Apparently, Kwany and Mel Mel got the cake from somewhere like Woolies? Someone also made those cupcakes with the edible minion sticker on top, and awesome Aunty Winnie also made some kinda ‘gol’ (say that in Canto)!

And that was my birthday party! Huge, huge thanks to everyone who attended and made the day memorable for me~

My birthday, however, was the next day! When I awoke, Daddy Bear was already lying in his preferred position over my tummy; he immediately squealed “Happy Birthday!” to me! That woke Stanley and Juice up too and they both rushed over to pass on their birthday greetings. But remember, Stanley’s a snail and they’re definitely not known for their speed! Juice had already bounded up on top of Daddy Bear’s bum to add his birthday congratulations but Stanley was still crawling towards us, wailing, “Wait for me!”

Poor Stanley. My right hand picked him up and set him besides Daddy Bear and Juice, and he immediately added his birthday congratulations to me. XD

Several hours later, my dearest dad comes to kiss me goodbye before leaving for work. After he kisses me awake, he whispers to me, “Do you know what day it is today?”

I whisper back, “It’s my birthday; I’m turning THIRTY!”

Dad gives me a big kiss and says, “You’re a big girl now; be good.”

After he’s gone, the teddies and I snuggle and snore; when mother comes to hit me with the eye goo (how I describe her giving my eye some eye gel every morning XD) she adds her birthday greetings also, and I feel loved~

For my birthday morning, mother takes me to Garbo, where I pick up my new specs! I wear the birthday badge that states I’m thirty; when Rico the optometrist appears and greets mother and me, I point to the badge and he gets it immediately. XD I think the new specs look okay, but mother just giggles at me that I’m so SHINY! XD

My birthday lunch is spent at the Coffee Hut; I think that was the closest eatery outside the glasses place. Mother sees a lunch special and immediately chooses that coz it’s the cheapest; me, I browse the menu, suggest a few yummy options, get denied by mother who snaps it’s too expensive and finally decide on some panini.

My birthday fell on a Monday this year, meaning Kim was the carer/life coach/support worker/whatever they’re called now XD who came to mind me from 4pm till 6pm. After she leaves, there’s only twenty-two minutes till my birthday, coz I was born @ 6:22pm!

I’m super-relieved and happy that my dearest dad arrives home to pass my big birthday with me; that morning, when he’d come and kissed me bye before leaving for work, I’d reminded him that I’d officially turn one whole year older at 6:22pm and could he please arrive home in time to pass my big birthday with me? Dad had said he’d try his best, but no promises. When he gets home, I blow him lotsa kisses and thank him sincerely for making it back home in time; dad smiles and replies, “I’ll call you over soon.”

Sure enough, with two minutes remaining, mother tells me to make my way over to the dining table. She wouldn’t lemme have a birthday cake this year, snapping that she didn’t get a birthday cake for her birthday last year so why should I be allowed one? But I’d wibbled at her that surely she wasn’t expecting me to pass a birthday and not just any birthday, but a BIG birthday, without any BIRTHDAY CAKE, and finally she relented, allowing me to buy a slice of cake from Bread Top~ So not quite a cake but hey, beggars can’t be choosers. XD

Anyways, with two minutes remaining until my big birthday, dearest dad summons me over to the dining table, where mother’s waiting with my slice of birthday cake.

Instead of a candle, dad lights a sparkler! I presume I reach the ripe old age of thirty somewhere in the midst of them singing the birthday song to me~ Me, I’m honestly stunned: I’ve made it to thirty! Mother used to sneer at me that were it not for her being so SAINTLY and choosing to bring me home, I’d be dead before I turned thirty. XD Luckily she didn’t cruelly abandon me, and here I am, a full three decades old!

Then we tuck in to the lil slice of green tea cake! I’ll admit I’m not a fan of red bean; the cake consisted of several layers of green tea cake, red bean and cream, and so I donated all the red bean to dad, who actually likes the stuff.

After we shared the cake, ‘twas time to head out for my birthday dinner! Lol, I thought seeing that it was my birthday and all; surely I’d get to choose place of dinner and who to have dinner with? Apparently not; dad chose Yum Cha Cuisine (which thankfully didn’t serve yum cha at night because I’m seriously not a fan of yum cha XD) at Garbo and invited the Slams and Uncle Tyrone along. I’d tried asking Aunty A, but she was otherwise engaged. BSF, I think.

For dinner, I had 1.5 bowls of rice, some fish, lotsa vegetables and a bit of delicious sweet and sour pork. Huge thanks to the Slams who gave me for my birthday present some Dorameon curtains! Back home, my dearest dad immediately hangs them up for me; they frame my door entrance so now every time I enter/exit my bedroom, I use both hands to push the curtains aside, coz that’s the ‘proper’ way to part curtains (so says I. XD)

So that was me reaching the ripe old age of thirty and actually being around to celebrate it but no, don’t think my birthday celebrations ended that day because I still had two more celebrations left!

The first one was with my Saturday carer Besta; remember her? She’s the one who lemme have breakfast in bed as her birthday present to me! Well, several weeks ago, she was sick one morning and couldn’t come mind me on a particular Saturday; Kyabra (the organisation she works for) said she’d make the time up to me, and so, one Saturday shortly before my big birthday, Besta minded me all the way from 10am till 4pm; she’d said she’d shout me out for lunch as my birthday present! The morning progressed as usual, but dad had advised us to leave for lunch earlier than 1pm so we could take our time over having lunch and not be too rushed. Fair point, so at midday we headed off to the Hyperdome. When we arrive and near the car park, I groan when I see all the disabled parking spots are taken and there’s no other available car park in sight. Only just as Besta pulls up to the first disabled car park spot, the car using the last disabled car park spot pulls out! “Yay!” Besta and I both cheer. “It’s ours!”

Besta walks behind me inside to order; thankfully it’s a quiet day and I don’t haveta stand and wait at all. Having checked the menu online beforehand, I already know what I want: Swiss grilled chicken, but with tomato sauce instead of salsa coz I can’t stand salsa! I’d originally wanted the honey BBQ pork ribs but when I saw they cost $26.95 knew mother wouldn’t have given me enough cash to order them. I was correct, but luckily the Swiss grilled chicken was only $14.95 meaning I could afford them with five cents to spare. From memory, Besta just had the salad bar. I was rather annoyed that dad had said I was only allowed half a plate of pasta and one plate of salad (he demanded photo proof) but at least Besta said I could have a ‘big’ half. Then I just held the camera far away from my plate to make it look like a really small half. XD Perhaps Besta felt sorry for me that I was being restricted so, coz she gave me her slice of cheese toast? She said she didn’t like it coz it wasn’t fresh or sth.

After lunch, we’re still a bit too early to go back home and Besta asks me would I like to walk around the Hyperdome? Actually, I wouldn’t, but how about we go back to Sakuraya for drinks instead? “Good idea!” Replied Besta. “I didn’t bring you a birthday present, so I’ll buy you a drink instead!”

At Sakuraya, I stick with my favourite Okinawa chocolate milk tea with pearl. We grab a seat inside and just chat.

My final birthday celebration didn’t happen all the way until May! See, after high school, I stayed in touch mainly with two teachers. One’s Mr. Hall; I vaguely remember writing a special blog post about him once? Usually, he’s too busy around my birthday with school exams for a celebration with me, but he always makes a point of contacting me after term break arrives and we’ll go for a meal together then.

Anyways, on my birthday, he suddenly rings me! Mother’s just about to gleefully force my demented left hand to hold the toothbrush before my right hand squirts me some toothpaste; suddenly the phone rings, she goes to answer it then returns, holding the phone out to me! “It’s Mr. Hall,” she informs me.

Into the phone, I cheerily call, “Good morning, sir!”

“I hear it’s someone special’s birthday today,” was his reply.

Feigning dumb, I chuckle back, “Oh, really? Wonder who’s birthday’s today?”

“Well, definitely not that NOBODY I’m speaking to on the phone right now,” comes his sarcastic retort.

I let out an indignant squawk. “What?! You’re being unbelievably rude sir, so I’m just gonna hang up on you now. Have a nice day.”

Instantly contrite, he goes, “No, wait, I’m sorry!”

“Yes?” I snap, keeping it cool.

“It’s YOUR birthday, of course! I’m ringing you from my school office this morning to bid you a very happy thirtieth birthday~”

Aww, how sweet of him! I decide he’s instantly forgiven, and we chat awhile, him explaining to me that around this time he’s really busy with exams, marking and the such, but once term break arrives he’ll contact me and we can have dinner @ The Glen Hotel for my belated birthday celebration.

Sure enough, one night in May, he rings mother and they decide dinner that Tuesday night at the Glen Hotel!

Dad drops off mother and me at the entrance and we walk all the way into the restaurant. When the waitress sees that I’m disabled, she immediately offers to set up the ramp for me so I can hike up the step up to the main eating area, but I wave her away and say thanks but I’ll manage coz it’s only one small step up.

After parking the car, dad rejoins mother and I. Mr. Hall’s not far behind; phew, I’d originally feared he’d set his dinner clothes out, sit and take a nap then oversleep and forget to come, like he did last year! XD Hence why I sent him a ‘Cya Toms Night!’ e-mail the night before. XD

Handing me an envelope (which I correctly presume contains my birthday card), he shakes hands with dad and takes a seat beside him.

The waitress comes and asks us would we like to start off with any drinks? When Mr. Hall says he’ll have an orange juice, I raise two fingers @ the waitress and say, “Make that two, please.” I’m not sure if he’s actually uncomprehending or was he just pulling my leg and being deliberately obtuse, but Mr. Hall immediately retorts, “No, you can’t have TWO drinks! One’s enough!” I laugh and explain that no, I don’t want two drinks; I just want an orange juice like he did, hence my instruction to the waitress to ‘make that two’. “See, she got it!” I point at the waitress, who laughs. XD

The only thing was, apart from what’s offered on the menu, there’s a nightly special! Can’t remember how mother found out about it, but she, Mr. Hall and I all order it! Yummy barramundi with chips (Mr. Hall and I) or salad (mother). Dad ended up ordering this pasta dish.

When our meals come, thanks to mother who cuts up mine for me. Lol, I’ve always been a terribly slow eater (only you eat slower than I do, Fiona So XD) and like most Westerners, Mr. Hall gobbles up his really fast. I don’t really care how fast/slow someone eats, but I started caring when he suddenly leaned forward and pinched one of my chips! Since he didn’t say anything, just leaned forward and pilfered one, I didn’t say anything either; I just moved my plate closer to mother, outta his reach. For some reason, both the parents and him found that act terribly funny? “I’m not gonna take anymore of your chips anyway,” states Mr. Hall. “They’re COLD, yuck.” Great, my chips are mine. XD Dad nabbed several chips too, but at least mother passed me several strands of his fettucine in return.

Then after dinner comes dessert! Mr. Hall and I both chose one while the parents decided to share another. However, when the desserts came and mother divvied them up, I ended up only getting like half a dessert because in my family, whenever we share two things, dad gets one while mother and I share half each. But oh well~

After dessert, Mr. Hall leans back and gives a contented sigh. “Well, just one more scoop of vanilla ice cream and I’ll be all done for the night.”

“Ooh, me too, please!” I agree with him.

“No.” Grumpy mother immediately snaps at me.”

I wibble at her, “But this is my final birthday celebration; surely you can’t deny me one final ice cream?? Besides, I’ve never had two desserts before!”

Mother looks like she’s about to flatly deny me again, when Mr. Hall comes to my aid. “Oh, let her,” he tells mother. “It’s her birthday.”

So ha, for the first time ever, I get second dessert! :D Perhaps I was a Hobbit in a past life. XD Although to be honest, the ice cream came in a very small scoop … still, second dessert! Winner winner chicken dinner (winner winner chicken dessert just doesn’t rhyme). XD

 Anyhow, that was the night. Mr. Hall paid, we all walked out to the car park, hugs for us ladies and a handshake for dad.

Thus ends the long saga of my 30^th birthday! ‘Twas definitely infinitely better than my 20^th birthday, mainly because I was around to see it arrive!

So yup, in my ‘dirty thirties’ now. XD No idea who first coined that phrase; anyone??

Apologies that I didn’t manage to post this up before I turned  a year older (yup, I’m turning thirty-one next month); I’d been hoping to, but unfortunately mother was too hell-bent on gleefully  forcing me on hours of all these stupid mat floor exercises for her just around the time when I turned 30.5. Oh well, better late than never! Next I aimed to have this posted before I turned 30.75, but that’s when NBN (No Bloody Network, not National Broadband Network XD) arrived meaning there’s now less than one month till my 31^st birthday!

Next post here … hmm, I’ll confess to not updating this ‘special events’ blog of mine, mainly because my life nowadays is awfully structured and things are mostly the same week in, week out. It’ll prolly be my Birthday Wishlist for 2018 coz like I said earlier, it’s my birthday next month! Anyhow, until then~

Cheers,

Em. ^^