Question of the day: Saturday October 12

Hello everyone...

My Saturday is nearly over. 

I had a wonderful day treating a friend who just turned 70 years old..  I really made a fuss of her and I know she loved it. 

And so it made me start thinking about birthdays I'd had.

  What was your best birthday ever ?

                      

                                    

 Happy 70th to your friend! I know she had a great time! 

My 40th birthday was the best. Rick and Graham (DS) planned a big surprise birthday party....and they actually managed to pull it off without me suspecting a thing! (That doesn't happen very often.) The party was on a Sunday night, the night of my birthday, and they told me right out that they were taking me out to dinner, which was fine; that's usually what we do. It was at the local union hall in town; they had rented the building for the night. Decorated everything....I was working first shift that day, so they had the whole afternoon to decorate and take care of things. And I didn't know a thing.

My family was all there and they had cooked their hearts out. They didn't want it catered; Rick was willing to pay for a dinner, but everybody said they wanted to cook something. For me. And the food was wonderful. A large birthday cake. All my family, my friends, many of my closest co-workers were there.....and they even managed to keep it from me! I had even asked the guy I was working with that day what his plans were that night and he said he and wife were going out to dinner, too. Didn't think a thing of it. Some of my co-workers were supposed to be working second shift that night; they either called off work or took vacation or personal days....still didn't think anything. (I was really touched when I realized that some of them had called off work, just to come to a party for me; that meant a lot because it meant that they didn't get paid for that night. But they did it anyway. I am blessed with some truly wonderful friends.)

I got home from work that afternoon and hit the shower bc we were going "out to dinner". Got dressed and we headed for town. When we pulled up to the union hall, I finally figured it out. And started crying. Walked in and well, I was completely overwhelmed. I just couldn't believe it. Everything was just beautiful.

There's a picture somewhere of me when I first walked into the building. You can see everything on my face. I didn't know what to think first. I always find stuff out. Always. ALWAYS!   And they managed to get one by me. They were all very proud.

Mani? What was YOUR best birthday??

Winchester said:

 
Mani? What was YOUR best birthday??

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I think probably when I turned 50.  I was a full time carer for my mother and we organised care and Mum paid for a week in a fabulous apartment on the Sunshine Coast, overlooking the ocean.  It was big enough for three of my closest friends, and on my birthday more arrived, just for the day.  A good friend of mine is a spice blender and excellent cook, and she produced a fabulous birthday lunch by the pool.

I remember that, over the week, we did a huge jigsaw puzzle of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel...  I don't know whether you've ever got really up close and personal with that ceiling, but Michelangelo liberally dotted it with a LOT of naked men. Finding certain pieces was very interesting...   We have Michelangelo jokes to this day...

Winchester, your day sounded absolutely wonderful.. 

Winchester - that's wonderful that you were so surprised!  The one time I was given a surprise party of course someone spilled the beans and I knew in advance 

And Mani - a couple of my good trips were done with a close girlfriend of mine and were very memorable as well. - one was to New Orleans which was really fun.  There is nothing like hanging out with your best friends and sometimes, we lose sight of this.

I  think my favorite one may have been  when I turned 50 also, a few years back.  My BF and I went on a cruise to Bermuda - it was our first big vacation together and well, we weren't sure how that was going to go, sharing such a small space for a week.  If anyone has cruised you know cabins are not exactly known for their lavish spaces, although we did have a balcony.

When we got to our cabin, I discovered my siblings had contacted the ship beforehand, and the room was decorated with streamers, balloons, and stuff like that.  There was also a gorgeous cake brought to us, which we had to have them then clear out the mini-fridge and give us saran wrap so we could store it lol. Later on, my BF presented me with a bouquet of red roses (which unfortunately, were NOT allowed off the boat when we departed).  

To say we had a great time is an understatement.  I had been to Bermuda before with my ex, but coming back with my present hunny put that all out of my mind.  What I found out was my present partner and I traveled SO much better than I thought we would, and even more so, we had similar ideas of how the day should be spent, and were both easy going about plan changes if necessary.  The trip struck just the right note between being active and lazy, romantic and silly. 

So, while it wasn't the most interesting birthday, it was the most memorable as it marked a milestone and marked a turn-around in my life relationship-wise as well.  We've been on a few more vacations together since then (even going back to Bermuda) and all have been equally as pleasant, but that one really stands out.

Mine was probably my 21st, a group of my closest friends and family went out for a chinese and then hit the town! was such a laugh and seems so long ago! but I want to start thinking of something to do for my 30th, I have 3 years to come up with something

I never had a best birthday ever in my grown up life. Birthdays come & go. Just another day I guess. 

Winchester, that's a great story, how wonderful for you!!!  

Hubby and I went to Aruba for my 50th birthday.  Aruba's a little too commercialized for me but still--it was a great island get-away and wonderful for just the two of us to spend time together.  Sort of a second honeymoon as well as a birthday celebration.  

My 19th birthday!!  By far!  i had a huge crush on my husband at the time and worked up the nerve to invite him.  He came and I followed him around all night trying to get him to talk.  It worked. 

But also a friend of mine had just started DJing and brought his equipment. I had a good group of friends there too.  It was lots of fun!  But DH was definitely the highlight of the party.    But then he didn't ask me out for another long 2 months...    

dejolane said:

 
I never had a best birthday ever in my grown up life. Birthdays come & go. Just another day I guess. 

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    Dejolene. Yours may still be to come. 

Mani.  I think I might have that jig saw !  

I like birthdays.  Even if I'm just on my own with my cat it's my special day and I feel it's a license to treat myself a bit. I always try to take the day off work.   I've had a few good ones and a couple of horrors but this year stands out in a good way.  I wasn't able to be with my closest and oldest friends which would have made this even more special, but in another way that they were not involved made it even more precious.  

I'd had a rubbish birthday last year even though other people put tonnes of effort in, I wasn't well and it was really hard going.  This year I'd been out for lunch with family the day before and was invited for tea round at a friend's house on the birthday itself.  This friend is one of a small group of (5) friends and we've been meeting up over the past couple of years and see each other maybe every couple of months . Some of us have known each other for many years, and some less than a year but the mix works really well.  The person I was going round to see has only known me for about 18 months.  They had all gone behind my back and arranged to come together for my birthday.  Fabulous meal beautifully home cooked by our host, flowers, presents, 2 friends travelling from other cities to get there.  It was so sweet.  I'd never had a surprise party in my whole 50+ life  (I'm not in to big social events), and this was so perfect.    I had to get up at 6 am the following day and had anticipated an early night but I enjoyed my self so much I didn't get home till about 1-30 am !  Not a lot of sleep....   We all agreed we hadn't laughed so much in years and I swear my face ached for about 2 days afterwards.   No crying other than from too much laughter!

Some how I seem to have acquired amazing friends, old and new.  Not huge in number but very special and very kind.

I've never had good luck with birthdays lol. Having said that, my birthday is in 4 days so I'll update this if it goes well lol.

sugarsandz said:

 
I've never had good luck with birthdays lol. Having said that, my birthday is in 4 days so I'll update this if it goes well lol.

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

                       in four days time.....  

My favorite was this year. Every year I say I want cookies for my birthday. I don't know why. I said it once to my kids and stuck with it every year. This year my daughter decided her and my DH were going to make me cookies. From the noises I heard I was scared to go in the kitchen.

She brought me cookies and milk in bed. They were so mushy, and the rest of them hardened into one big chunk, but seeing how proud she was made them the best tasting cookies ever.

This year was probably my favorite.. or best lol. But I have loved each of my birthdays.. except two when my mom was in the hospital and my brother was to get his gallbladdar out.  I just turned 28 last month. I went swimming with my parents but it was the day before since my dad was off and we had such a relaxing time! And then NCIS: Los Angeles & Chicago Fire both came back on my birthday so that was awesome!

My girlfriends took me out to dinner on my 37th birthday, and margaritas were involved. I had been recuperating for several weeks from emergency exploratory surgery for an ectopic pregnancy. There's nothing like a brush with death - from pregnancy - to get all your women friends rallied by your side, celebrating that you are still alive. I guess that's the birthday I most appreciated having. 
 

Miagi's_Mommy said:

 
This year was probably my favorite.. or best lol. But I have loved each of my birthdays.. except two when my mom was in the hospital and my brother was to get his gallbladdar out.  I just turned 28 last month. I went swimming with my parents but it was the day before since my dad was off and we had such a relaxing time! And then NCIS: Los Angeles & Chicago Fire both came back on my birthday so that was awesome!

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I love the fact that you got shows on the tele for your birthday! 

SwampWitch said:

 
My girlfriends took me out to dinner on my 37th birthday, and margaritas were involved. I had been recuperating for several weeks from emergency exploratory surgery for an ectopic pregnancy. There's nothing like a brush with death - from pregnancy - to get all your women friends rallied by your side, celebrating that you are still alive. I guess that's the birthday I most appreciated having. 

 

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I really understand this.  I actually had a similar thing happen, but the 'ralliers' were my family and it was my 35th birthday.

Hmmmm. I really don't have any that stand out. There was never a big deal made of birthdays when we were kids. Probably my 30th. My husband's birthday is the day before mine so now we go away on vacation for our birthdays. For our 30th birthdays we were still in town though and a bunch of our friends took us out for the night.

My most memorable one was the year I came home from work. My husband and my son had baked me a pineapple cake. Every bowl and pan in the kitchen needed washing, but the cake was good.:lol3:

I would have to say my 50th!

My Brother had a party for me at his house.  Family, good friend, good food, and cake!  Tons of fun playing games around the table.  It was a blast!

My 18th was pretty fun too, if you don't count the trip to the ER in the afternoon prior to going out.  My brother in his warped humour decided to whack at my butt with a yard stick!  It hurt so I put my hands behind me and ended up getting a huge sliver under my nail. It went down about 3/4 the way into my nail bed.  Spent 5 hours in the ER, ended up with a Tetanus shot and pain medication.  I wasn't supposed to have alcohol, but I was 18 and it was my birthday, so I did anyway.  I don't remember much of the celebration, but I do remember 2 members of the band that played, helping me to the car at the end of the evening!  LOL  No, I didn't drive; my friend did!