this one is easy ... we will split them in half - so really, two top fives, i guess!!
WORST B-DAYS:1981 - my dog bit my dad at my party ... shag
was my first family pet (the pic is of benji, but shag looked just like this ... with a little extra hair). truth be told, he came along before i did and was not thrilled to have to share mom and dad's attention with me. when mom and dad split up, shag stayed with my dad, but still went crazy when my mom came over. for my ninth birthday party - held at my dad's place - my mom baked the cake and brought it over. the dog went NUTS, dad tried to hold him back and got bit for his troubles. i started crying, dad was yelling, everyone was freaking out. in the end, wounds were bound, tears were dried, cake was eaten, presents were opened, and shag was allowed to live. he was even allowed to live the next year after biting me! sure do miss that soccer playing mutt.
1997 - not getting a single call from a family member ... the official excuse was, "it was sunday! i thought you would be with your friends or at church." uh yah. like answering machines couldn't record your felicitations?? they still often forget, but since then at least one person has remembered to contact me on the actual day. this is a hard one for me, since i am practically fanatical about remembering other people's b-days - hey, it is a good reason to send a card!
1998 - turning 26 two days after breaking my left ankle ... 'nough said.
1999 - the surprise party that never happened - this was MUCH worse for carrie, who tried to plan the party. it was at deirdre's house (a mutual friend of carrie's and mine) and no one showed up. NOT. ONE. PERSON. yup. i am a loser with no friends. i was just thrilled that carrie was in town for my birthday and it wasn't until i noticed how many bags of chips and other treats were out that i realized more people were supposed to be there, too. the people who were invited didn't even call to say happy b-day. again, the excuse i heard the most was, "i thought there would be so many people there you wouldn't notice i wasn't there." uh yah. cue the crickets of the barren wasteland of emptiness.
2008 - turning 36 one day after breaking my right leg ... do we see a pattern here
BEST B-DAYS:1978 - the hollie hobbie sleep over extravaganza!! i love hollie hobbie. love her. and that year, i received a sleeping bag and all sorts of awesome HH merchandise! plus 6 friends slept over ... i seem to recall my room being re-done and since it was empty it was a good time to throw six 6 year olds in there for a few hours. details are fuzzy, just like the sleeping bag ...
???? - the one with the panda cake ... i can't remember what age it was for, but my mom - who ALWAYS provided amazing cakes for my bdays - had this adorable panda cake made! it was a 3D, sitting up panda and i had never seen anything so cute in my life. i was pretty spoiled in the presents department throughout my childhood and received pretty much anything i asked for, so surprises like this were the best gifts!
1988 - sweet sixteen ... it wasn't a real surprise that my awesome friends put on a party for me - but it was great to see so many people there, and to eat the step-monster's ice cream pie!! that was a surprise that was sneaked to the party without my knowledge - those pies rocked!
1995 - anne's 9th b-day ... okay, it isn't MY birthday, but it has to rank up there with the best b-days ever! i was living in vancouver, b.c. and i get a call from my dad on sunday, february 11th. "wanna go to disneyland next weekend?" he asks. turns out there was a great deal for my family to travel to LA and back, plus five days at disneyland. i managed to get two days off work at the bank (during RRSP season, no less!) and spent the next sat-tues with the fam at the happiest place on earth!! on anne's actual b-day (the 19th), dad and marta went on a beach hopping trip up the coast while anne, meg and i played all day at the magic kingdom! it was unbelievably hot that day, but we ate lots of mickey mouse shaped fruit and ice bars and had a blast.
2002 - 30 rocks!!! ... poor carrie was on her mission when this one went down, but deb and tonia came from alberta to help me celebrate in style (they turned 30 the same year). a surprise party at meliss' parent's cabin had a great turn out (and the BIGGEST chocolate cake i have ever seen), followed by 4 days in vegas with deb & tonia eating chocolate, dancing, and just walking the strip made it the best of birthdays. later that summer, i collected on the last of my b-day present from meliss - a trip to the cedar city shakespeare festival and a production of "man of la mancha" ... it was so beautiful and touching that i cried for at least an hour after it was over. and then again the next day when the toilet in the condo we were staying at broke.
great memories can be made anytime, anywhere, but birthday's sure do lend themselves to vivid recollection. and now i am counting the days to my birthday in 2012 - i just know 40 will be fabulous!
