For the past two years, my birthday wasn’t the best.
Two years ago, I spent my birthday alone in Miami, which was suppose to be my first business conference I’ve ever attended. Then a little thing called COVID stopped that in its tracks while I was literally on the tracks (in a train) halfway between Chicago and Washington, D.C.
Needless to say, last year, didn’t get to do anything last year. Who would have guessed a pandemic would be still ongoing?
So what about this year? Would the world still be at a halt causing me to go 3 years without my friends or would I finally be able to do something? (The title probably gives it away.)
My birthday was on the weekend this year. Perfect! So I had scheduled to take both Friday and Monday off to enjoy a nice long weekend.
My mom calls me a couple weeks before my birthday. Nothing unusual. Probably something broken with the computer again. Instead, she tells me her and Dad are coming up to visit. When? That Friday I took off. What timing!
My brother and his best friend were meant to come down back in January to drop some things off and visit. Something came up and he had to postpone. No big deal. Well, guess who just so happens to be ready to visit again?
My parents original plan was to visit me Friday and then my brother the next day. Since my brother and his friend still wanted to visit anyway (for Austin noms), he suggested killing two birds with one stone and decided to come down as well! Fun!
I put in a request to work to extend my vacation (cus I need to clean my place and have some “me” time afterwards), it was time to get ready for visitors!
First thing’s first: decorations! You can’t just have people over for a birthday and not decorate? But with my parents showing up a day before, I couldn’t just put them up immediately.
So the next morning, while my parents were still asleep, I took out my decorations from a hidden spot, quietly pulled out the ladder from the hallway, and started putting up some fun! Banners! Party hats! Piñata!
When my mom came into the living room, I played dumb and acted like the decorations were there the day before and she just didn’t notice.
My brother and his friend showed up later in the morning. We sat around with the parents, caught up, and ordered some food. But the celebration must begin!
And how can it be a birthday party without fun? So time to bust out the kazoos, silly glasses, and birthday ribbons! Just look how excited my brother is!
With a full belly, it was time to past the time with some games. Since I knew my parents weren’t adapt at games, I decided to pull out Clubhouse Games and play some Ludo (since it’s only one of two games that supports 4 players). I regretted that decision.
They kicked my ass. Handily. It took us a few turns to remember the rules of the game, but once it was in full swing, it was understandable why it’s called “Sorry” in the US. Or, for me, called “FUCK YOU GUYS THIS GAME IS RIGGED I HATE YOU ALL”.
We then played a few rounds of Guesspionage and the Wheel of Enormous Proportions as part of the Jackbox Party Pack. (We tried Poll Mine too but it crashed as soon as the game started.) We had fun and it past enough time for the main event!
It being a birthday, my mom wanted to be sure it was complete. And it can’t be a birthday without a cake! So we picked up a cake the day before and made sure it was as festive as possible.
My mom handed the knife to my brother to cut the cake. He refused. He assumed I did something to it. Fair assumption, but not this time! Regardless, I cut up the cake for a lovely surprise in the center.
Of course there’s a surprise inside. But damn, I’m definitely too damn old for the sugar levels in frosting. Oof. Sugar shouldn’t hurt like that!
The evening finished off with some pizza (because birthday party, duh), more full bellies, and some very tired people.
It was a good time and glad I could spend it with people this year. Hopefully I’ll be able to see my friends again soon because I do miss seeing people. But damn, fun is tiring! I’m exhausted and need to relax.