35th Birthday

Well, today is my birthday. I'm 35. A good friend reminded me that I am now halfway to 40, but, being somewhat familiar with math, I corrected him in that I am now halfway to 70. While pithy, I can't claim credit for it, as this was my clever wife's observation.

As it is, I woke up this morning at the usually insane time of 5 am and got in the shower. Afterwards, I went downstairs to have breakfast and was met with our family's traditional birthday decorations (streamers dangling from the hall to the kitchen, balloons scattered on the floor, banners with wishes of a good birthday stretched across the room). I smiled a bit and proceeded to walk towards the kitchen, only to have my two older children pop out and yell, "Boo!" I was surprised, to be sure, but more that they were awake at that early hour than by genuine surprise. My wife was next to them and chided them quickly with, "You were supposed to say 'Happy Birthday!', not 'Boo!'". I giggled, as this is just the way my kids are.

As it was, my wife had actually prepared breakfast for me yesterday in the form of French toast. She had labored during the day to bake the bread from scratch, and after seasoning and cooking it, she placed it on a tray in the freezer for the night. This morning, all she had to do was pop it in the toaster, and it was good to go! It was great.

She sent the kids off to bed again (as far as I can tell, they never fell asleep, but rather just laid in bed staring at the wall ...), then sat with me while I ate my French toast. I eventually sent her, too, bleary-eyed and exhausted, back to bed while I made myself an egg, prepared "over easy." It was a great morning.

Now, I'm at work, with plans to be stuck in meetings most of the day, but I do intend to cut out as early as I can. This evening, we'll go out to eat (I wanted Thai food, but we don't have a current coupon, so I will "settle" for Mexican food), then have cake and ice cream and open gifts. It's a simple day, but I'm delighted. I don't need a big party or celebrations; for me, the best birthday is a simple one spent with my family. And when I do hit 70 (since I'm halfway there), I hope that I can spend it exactly the same way (well, minus the going to work part ...).