Saturday, October 18, 2008

The Jack Benny Birthday


1. Never let your children know *what* birthday you're celebrating. They will gladly share it with their schoolmates, their schoolmates' parents, the principal of the school, and the wait staff at Red Robin.

2. When you turn 39, people jokingly ask "which 39th birthday is it?"

3. The free birthday sundae at Red Robin is almost worth the embarrassment of having your waiter announce to everyone that you're celebrating your 39th birthday today. Five minutes later, they make the same announcement about a four year old.

4. In all, it was a lovely birthday. I got some fabulous gifts -- including some camping cookware that my parents evidently smuggled into the house and hid in the dress-up box over a week ago, with the collusion of the kids, who managed to keep it totally quiet until the actual birthday. If you knew my kids, you'd be very impressed. Keeping secrets is not a strong suit.

5. I also got a sleeping bag, a new watch, a Barnes and Noble gift card (squeeeee!), and a plane ticket to California, so I can attend a very good friend's wedding. Yay!
What's the best present you ever got?

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds like you had a great birthday Kate. I really don't have any favorite presents that i remember. People who know me give me books and such and I love those kind of presents. My boyfriend bought me a nice pair of earrings for my birthday now, and as I love jewelry and of course specially when given from him, I come to think of them as my favorite present.

Cathy said...

Sounds like you had a fun day, Kate. I am way past wanting my birtday announced in restaurants, lol, but luckily my kids hate the attention too, so we've got a pact.

The best birthday present I ever got was learning I was having twins.

Jane said...

One of the best presents I got was a plane ticket to Amsterdam.

anne said...

What a great birthday and nice gifts. My best ever birthday present was seeing Andre Rieu performance in town. Last year was my milestone year and it was amzing.

petite said...

Impressive gifts and lovely birthday.
My best ever birthday present was having my first child, my son born on my birthday.

Stephanie said...

Last year my best friend had her baby girl on my birthday and I consider them both one of my best presents ever.

Kate you ever get the feeling that only the day of your birth should be the only part celebrated and not the point of how many have been celebrated? I know a few people who would appreciate the sentiment much more!

Laurie D. said...

Your birthday sounds wonderful, Kate! I can't say that I have a favorite gift - my husband is very generous with my gifts and always comes up with something very special - but we typically go wherever I want for my birthday dinner, usually a little hole in the wall pizza place that we all love!

Kate Davies said...

Ooh, those are some great gifts. I love hearing about presents that are special because the giver really listened to what was important to the recipient. Like the sleeping bag. Doesn't sound exciting, but I was the only person in the family who didn't have one. Now, if we want to go camping, we're all set.

I do have to say, though, that my nephew was my best b-day present ever. I just wish I'd picked my b-day in the family betting pool! ;)

Unknown said...

My fave present was a pair of earrings that my mom got me.

Cherie J said...

Sounds like your birthday was great! MY favorite gift was what my husband got me for my 40th. We had some old movie reels of me that had survived a house fire of my twin sister and I as babies. He secretly borrowed them from my mother and had them restored and put on DVD so that I could have those memories restored. I was so touched by his thoughtfulness it still brings tears to my eyes thinking of it.

robynl said...

my favorite b'day gift was a long-stemmed red rose on my 16th birthday from my family.