Birthday Week has begun

So, it's Birthday Week.

I'll admit, I'm one of those people who loves her birthday. And hates it. It's a big deal to me, I want it to be a big deal to others, but then I get embarrassed/slightly angry whenever anyone makes a big deal about it.  And even angrier if they don't.

I'm well aware that it's annoying.

But, I've decided to embrace my birthday. If I want to make a big deal about it, I will. And my friends and family can either play along or not.

So, my sister and I have implemented Birthday Week. Because is a day really enough? Mostly, it gives me a (better) excuse to do fun things for myself (rather than the usual pure selfishness)... oh fine, it doesn't. If the "entire week devoted to me" doesn't scream selfishness, I'm not sure what does.

Today, I started off the day by getting a skin biopsy. Happy birthday to me! It kind of sucked, actually. Now that the day is ending, my arm is starting to hurt.

Sigh. If it's not my head, it's my arm. Where's that Vicodin?

But, the day improved. My mom and I took the boys to the nature center. It's essentially one big room with some fish, snakes and other reptiles. And outside, there are birds. It takes about 10 minutes to get through the whole place, but it really makes the boys happy, so we go. Fairly often.

After that, we had to get ice cream. Of course. We've gone for ice cream every day twice in the last week. I blame it on PMS the nicer weather. It made sense that we went every single day when I was pregnant, because it wasn't for me, it was for the baby. Plus, we walked (once) to get it. But now? I have no excuse. We have to drive and, you know, put on shoes and stuff. And, it's getting bad now that the boys think getting ice cream is part of dinner. We have to stop.

And THEN, the boys and I had a play date with a friend. So, we dropped off my mom and met my friend and her 3 children. I'm not very experienced with play dates. Are you supposed to organize activities for the children to do? Are you supposed to let the children run amok while you and the other mother drink margaritas? I'll tell ya, that second option seems like much more fun.

But, sadly, that's not what we did. And, gratefully, we didn't do the first option, either. The children ran amok while my friend and I gossiped. Gossiping is almost as good as drinking margaritas, so I was just as entertained as the children. It was hard to get the boys to leave, especially when I told them we had to run to the grocery store.

Was I smoking crack? We were running on no naps and the sugar high from the ice cream was wearing off. There was no way we were going to get through the grocery store alive. So, I decided, in the spirit of Birthday Week (and because I want my children to live), we were having chicken nuggets for dinner and came home instead. Look up Mother of the Year, people, and you'll find my picture.

It was a long day. And, aside from the beginning, a nice way to start Birthday Week. Coming up this week: some shopping, a pedicure with a friend and a happy hour with work people.

Yay Birthday Week!