day 175: birthday wishes

Whew.

My 32nd birthday (today) came awfully close to a tie with my 22nd birthday.

A tie for the worst birthday ever.

Luckily, though, today's bday went from a plummeting rating to quite possibly one of the best. Ever.

Here's why....

On that September 6th in 2001, I was bound and determined to have a great day. I was headed for classes at IUPUI, downtown. Aaron and I had been married just a year. Dead set on having a good day, I made sure to dress the part. A cute outfit, skirt and all, just for my two classes for the day. A bright, sunny day. Birds chirping. Blue skies. Not a thing could go wrong....or so I thought.

Walking through the parking lot towards my car, I saw the campus cop. "Well, someone's about to have a bad day," I thought, as I noticed him off in the distance, appearing to be writing a ticket. As I got closer, he seemed to be fairly close to my car. Then, even closer, it hit me. He was at my car. But it was no ticket he was writing; it was a police report. For the broken, smashed in rear window. On my car.

There were questions to answer ("No, this wasn't like this when I parked the car this morning." Really? Why would a cop ask such a question?) and info to give. Nothing was missing.....except for my complete, unscathed window.

With bits of glass everywhere, me sweating like a pig in my cute, dressy clothes, I stuck the key in the ignition. Tears were on the verge of spilling out. And the radio, right then and there, instantly broke into the Daniel Powter song "Bad Day." Those tears? Yeah, they came tumbling out as the chunks of glass flew throughout my car. Worst. Birthday. Ever.

Then today.

7:00 came a phone call from many, many miles away. (and, mind you, it was the 6th day in a row to get a phone from that very same caller. except he told me not to expect a repeat tomorrow.) But from there on, the day went down hill. Quickly. Quite rapidly, actually.

And I'm not the type of girl who's easily shaken. But I was shook today, to the point of tears. And all before the clock hit 3:20.

Whew.

Then the day frantically went from chaotic to....well....whatever it is that comes after chaos.

There was the haircut I inadvertently scheduled for 4:30 but oh so desperately needed.

And then supper at my fav Mexican place, followed by my fav frozen yogurt place.

Followed by another car issue. (why do those things seems to seek me out on birthdays??)

The van, its brakes, and the sound of metal on metal. Not good.

And then some confusion on who could pick me up from the car place, because of course they closed at 6:00, and it was 6:30.

One friend came to my rescue, bearing a gift AND a car ride home.

Then other friends showed up, bearing a bouquet of flowers, just in time to see me scolding my littlest little who crossed the street at her own free will to get the mail.

Oh.

My.

Once the friends were hugged and thanked and on their own ways home, I was quickly ushered upstairs to my littlest little's bed while the other two littles told me to not come out until I had permission.

"Mom, I'm part of the distraction. Read this book to me," and she handed me the old, falling apart book, a favorite from my childhood, The Clown Arounds Have A Party. Who knew to pick my favorite book?

Close to the end, the other two appeared, looking so excited, they could hardly contain themselves. Book finished, they led me, eyes closed, downstairs.

The command of "Open your eyes!" revealed their very own birthday party, planned just for me. There was a Happy Birthday, Mom! We Love You! sign taped to the tv. Four balloons, blown up, two in green and two in red, scattered around the living room floor. A handmade birthday card. Brownies from the batch I'd made last night scooped into four dishes, four of my best china dishes. Water poured into my china tea cups. And the present: a coupon booklet to be redeemed for back rubs and free days of helping with cleaning. Oh, they were so excited. They even planned a game with the balloons and had taken coloring pages from their classrooms at school with birthday cakes printed on them.

But the best part was this: they had planned this entire thing just this morning, before they even knew what kind of a day I was going to have. They wanted to give their momma a good birthday. And boy, did they.

If I had my way, my own selfish way, it would've been a birthday party for five, not four. But, all things considered, it's enough of a gift to know that wish will soon be granted.