Birthday Celebrations 2021

 Cripes, I can see a bad habit forming … I’m turning another half-year older today and I’ve not started blogging about how I celebrated my birthday MONTH this year yet!

… Yes, I fully agree with my Facebook friend who said that you’re allowed to celebrate your birthday for the entire MONTH and not just the day it falls on. XD

This year was special because I officially rejoined the ‘th’ family. Like, turning thirty-one was my 31^ST birthday, turning thirty-two was my 32^ND birthday and turning thirty-three was my 33^RD birthday, but turning thirty-four meant that I’d officially returned to the TH family. XD

 

Sometimes I honestly wonder why mother tries so DESPERATELY to keep me socially isolated; I can’t help but suspect she deliberately denies me opportunities to connect with my peers (she likes jeering at me that I don’t have any friends anymore because post brain injury I’ve somehow developed all these ‘unacceptable social behaviours’ hence why I don’t try calling anyone my friends – unless you count Facebook friends coz I’m pretty sure I’ve got several hundred more than she has! XD – but I’m pretty sure she can’t refute me calling them my peers) just so she can mock me and say I don’t have any social interaction anymore. *sigh*

This year, my birthday fell on a Saturday. Yay for that, because over the weekend I’m free from enduring any blasted therapies! Monday till Friday I’m enduring multiple therapies for mother, but come Saturday it’s her turn to work for half a day and I get a sleep-in till 10am, when I have a carer to come help me up.

Like years passed, mother had already banned me from contacting anyone and asking them were they free to take me out for a meal to celebrate my upcoming birthday. I’m unsure why she’s like that; since we’re not Jehovah’s witnesses we (well, I at least XD) celebrate birthdays, but my way around that not-very-nice rule was to suggest to people how about you contact me first should you be free for a birthday celebration? That way, mother couldn’t get up me for asking people to take me out for meals since I hadn’t been the one to initiate contact! XD

One friend to take me up on that offer was Annie. She’s like five years my junior, from somewhere like Taiwan and a nurse, just like mother!

She took me for dinner at Momo’s, because seriously, what beats fried chicken?? XD

We ordered one fried chicken to share; after mother saw the photo she immediately bit my head off, saying we’d ordered ‘too much’ but I’d calmed her by telling her that instead of eating half I’d eaten one-third and Annie had eaten two-thirds because I’m a very slow eater. Which is true, but never doubt my ability to tuck it in! XD

Dessert after that was at Sweet Treats; I like that place because on their blackboard sitting against the back wall someone’s drawn a MINION there and presumably everyone’s aware of the complete obsession I’ve got with those adorable, yellow, jellybean-shaped incompetent little beings! <3

I also enjoyed lunch out with my Australian godmother Mrs. Dent (she was actually my primary school librarian teacher but we grew close and have stayed in touch ever since; I’ve got an official godmother but dad has always called Mrs. Dent my Australian godmother) and my Year Ten maths teacher Mr. Hall. Mrs. Dent we met for lunch @ the Coffee Club in Underwood (yay for eggs Benedict and a chocolate milkshake) and Mr. Hall we met for lunch at the Glen Hotel. Mother wasn’t impressed with the pizza I’d ordered: when I lifted the first slice from the round pizza the whole piece just flopped down ‘twas so limp! Tasted great, though, and that’s really all that matters, right?? XD Actually I was rather grumpy with mother, because she’d said ‘yes’ when I’d asked could I please have a chocolate thickshake with my lunch but when it arrived I took one little sip and immediately knew it was only a milkshake! I’d tried to tell the waitress right away but mother had immediately shooed her away. *sigh* She’s mean like that … >< Still, I had an awesome time catching up with my Australian godmother. In the past, she’d contact mother and I for lunch together almost once each month, butt now she’s got three grandkids to run around, is obviously way too busy to catchup as often, and that’s maybe why I’ve not seen her since my birthday half a year ago!

As for March the 20^th (my actual birthday) itself … what better way than to start the day off then with an awesome night’s sleep? I’m not sure why back in 2012 I randomly started recording down when I could achieve a night when I’d bid my teddy sweet dreams, fall asleep and not wake again to relieve myself until the Sun had risen sufficiently enough for me to read the time on the clock stuck to the wall, but my birthday this year began with one of those days and so I took it as a auspicious start to my special day! Not that I’ve ever been superstitious in the slightest. XD

Saturday mornings mother goes to work for half a day, meaning I have a carer who helps me up at 10am. You can see why Saturdays are usually my favourite days: my teddy and I get to sleep-in till 10:15, because I always need ‘fifteen more minutes’ before I get up!

Usually, when Hannah arrives, she knocks on the door, bids me good morning and says fifteen more minutes? This year, however, I feel loved, because after Hannah knocks, enters and says good morning, she adds HAPPY BIRTHDAY before offering me fifteen more minutes!

For lunch that day, I have a small birthday party with several church friends down at The Glen Hotel! I live literally just down the road from it, see.

Earlier this year, I’d met a new church sister, Ingrid. She’s slightly older than me; I first met her when I originally joined Izzy and Ric’s small group before Pastor Grace invited me to join her own one. Ingrid had asked me did I have a birthday party planned and I’d joked no but you can organise one for me if you’d like – and she really did!

Hannah had dropped me off at the front of the Glen Hotel and gone to find parking; while I was sitting on the bench waiting for her to come back, Ingrid appeared! She sat with me waiting for Hannah to come back; when she did, I said bye and cya @ 1pm coz I still need a shower before you leave @ 2pm!

Our reserved table’s outside and the weather’s lovely~ Dr. Lee’s already arrived; after I take my preferred seat on the most left he announces that he’ll shout me lunch today because he forgot to buy me a birthday present. I double check with him to make sure he’s serious and then promise I’ll not choose anything *too* expensive. XD Pole arrives too!

For lunch, I choose the fried chicken burger with chips because seriously, again, what beats fried chicken? XD

Over lunch, everyone chats happily~

We even tuck into some cake before Dr. Lee and someone else excuses themselves to leave early because there’s some meeting happening @ church.

Everyone else slowly and happily munches lunch, just chatting away.

When it’s time to leave, Pole walks with me and Ingrid back to Ingrid’s car; I know I’m safe with Pole coz she’s a physio. Actually I think she’s got her own physio business called Quality Physio but I’ve always called it Pole’s Physio Plus; the second PPP after BCAC’s own original PPP – Pilgrim’s Progress Production! XD

After Ingrid drops me back home to Hannah, I take a shower before signing her off with my thanks and byes at 2pm.

Since mother works Saturday mornings, she usually takes a long arvo nap that stretches well until after the night has fallen, sometimes even until past 8pm!

Since I was born @ 6:22pm, though, I did try asking mother could she please wake earlier and come downstairs to pass my birthday with me? Dad’s usually not home until after 6:30pm, see, coz he goes to play badminton and then have arvo tea with his mates.

Sometimes I get to enjoy a meal out for my birthday but not this year. Can’t remember why, but oh well. Rice leftovers will do me~

Also still no luck with getting a cheesecake from The Cheesecake Shop for my birthday. Apparently it’s too expensive? Aww, but I last had a cheesecake from the Cheesecake Shop for my birthday when I was turning twenty-four, one full DECADE ago! Well, mother screeches that they’re too expensive, apparently. *sigh* Actually, here’s an idea: how about you save some money from the disability pension I now subsist on and use that to buying me a cheesecake for my next birthday instead of making me attend some blasted therapy? XD Actually, apparently there’s a cheesecake shop somewhere near Rochedale … worth some research for next year, maybe?

Nope, this year mother made me a cheesecake for my birthday. ‘Twas a vast improvement on the one she made for me some previous year in that it wasn’t SALTY. Yeah, I’m prolly never gonna let her forget that one year, after refusing to buy me a cheesecake for my birthday, she made me one herself but where the recipe said use UNSALTED butter, she used SALTED butter instead. Usually, I have inferior tastebuds and can’t taste the difference between anything but that night I was like uh, mother, the cheesecake tastes great but just one question: how come it’s SALTY? Mother looks caught out for one second before doubling over and howling her laughter, saying she was tired by the time she started making my cake for me last night, misread the ingredients and used salted butter instead of unsalted butter. She’d hoped my inferior tastebuds wouldn’t spot the difference but nope, I’d caught her out … XD

The best thing about being allowed to celebrate your birthday for the entire MONTH’s that even my official birthday passed, I still got to celebrate it for another eleven days before March officially ended!

But yeah: whaddya know, I’m one whole year older now. Isn’t wisdom supposed to come with age? Then how come I’m not wise whatsoever? Ohh, that’s right, I had all my wisdom teeth taken out over three years ago. XD

You may not here from me again via this blog until December the 1^st for my Xmas Wishlist! See, around last year I started randomly blogging about different topics using an old blogging platform I used to use before I suffered my brain injury. I aimed for one post per month on that; check me out at embluekirby.livejournal.com!

Cheers~