Tag Archives: birthday

HOA Bash

I’ve been meaning to write this post for awhile, but you know how good I am about blogging lately.  Sorry for sucking.  Please enjoy the dysfunction below.

Labor Day weekend marked my brother-in-law’s 40th birthday.  Well, September 1, which happened to be Labor Day weekend marked his birthday, but whatever.  You know what I mean.  And listen, 40 is a big deal.  I mean that’s what I hear anyway.  It’s definitely reason for celebration, and even though Heath doesn’t necessarily like people or celebrations, we said screw you we’re doing it anyway.  What, we’ll find any excuse for having a party.  That and to eat way too much food.

I’ve mentioned the HOA before.  Here and here.  You’ve probably noticed that the HOA usually means the dysfunction gets amped up and weird shit happens.  This HOA trip was no different.  Things got started early, and when I say early I mean lunch time.  And when I say “things,” I mean shots.  While we enjoyed the carcass Armando (yell this name when you say it – Arrrrrrmaaaaaandooooo! – that’s how Rob would like you to do it) had grilled up (at least 5 carcasses, I’m sure), shots started being poured.  Now some people are used to downing the shots, but some of us are lightweights.  Like me.  Listen, I drink a glass of wine once or twice a week at the most.  Occasionally I have a couple of glasses of wine, but any more than that and I am like Ms. Chatty Cathy and things start to get a wee bit blurry.  Sometimes, I have shots.  Usually with my family, which is weird, but whatever.

Anyway, Heath was peer-pressuring all of us into drinking shot after shot, and hello, it was his birthday, so what choice did we have?  None.  After about the fourth or fifth one I told him we needed to pace ourselves.  Heath agreed and said we should do a shot every hour.  However, after 15 minutes had passed he asked if it was time yet.  Obviously it wasn’t, but he decided it had been long enough.  Naturally things took a turn.

The music started playing, people started dancing.  No harm here, right?  Wrong.  Some people’s dance moves would be considered borderline dirty dancing.  Again, maybe fine.  However, when your children and nieces and nephews are witness to your dirty dancing moves, not so good.  Wait, let me back up though.  Before the music started the large group tried engaging in conversation.  Engaging in conversation with most of these people even without alcohol is bound to be less than clean.  Engage in conversation with alcohol and things like this get said.

Sherri:  “Janis was the only responsible one last night.  Her husband almost got laid by Becky.”

Becky:  “What?  Oh no, what did I do?”

Janis:  “It’s OK.  He’s a good lay.”

What?!  Sorry Janis, I know I said I would make you look good, but you can’t expect me to leave quotes like this out.

Sadly the night ended with an accident on a four wheeler (no one was seriously injured) and everyone sobered up real quick.  As bad as this all sounds though, I’ve never seen Heath have a bigger grin on his face.  That, to me, is a successful 40th birthday bash.

Mike, Heath's dad thoroughly enjoying the dysfunction.

Mike, Heath’s dad thoroughly enjoying the dysfunction.

Uncontrollable laughter.

Uncontrollable laughter.

Debbie pre-wreck on the ATV.

Debbie pre-wreck on the ATV.

Janis grinning up a storm.

Janis grinning up a storm.

My sister, Jess, mortified at the things being said.

My sister, Jess, mortified at the things being said.

Look at that grin on Heath!

Look at that grin on Heath!

Heath, Dyl and Rob.

Heath, Dyl and Rob.

The one and only Stevie Ann.

The one and only Stevie Ann.

Birthdays are Cool

So, I mentioned in my last blog that I had a birthday coming up.  It was yesterday. Don’t feel bad if you forgot to send me some birthday love.  I felt like a rockstar most of the day.  If I ever consider getting rid of my Facebook account, I’ll remind myself of how good I feel about the site when my big day rolls around.  The love was pouring in all day!

My birthday is always extra cool because I share the day with my older sister.  Yes, we have the same birthday but we’re three years apart.  When we were kids this wasn’t necessarily the coolest thing to share a birthday, but now?  Now, it’s the shit. It helps that she’s one of my favorite people.  And, it’s just fun.  The last couple of years we’ve gone for lunch and then hit the spa.  I love the spa.  Honestly, if I had loads of extra cash, I’m pretty sure I’d spend it being pampered.

Yesterday we both opted for a spa treatment we’d never tried (we’re getting adventurous now that we’re in our mid and late 30’s).  It’s called a Native American Body Balancer.  I thought for sure we’d leave covered in body paint and feathers, but sadly, we did not.  Calm down, it’s a joke.  The treatment is a skin exfoliation/detox that involves a scrub, steam, shower and body butter application.  The scrub?  A little scratchy, but it was fine and the local herb mixture smelled amazing.  The steam?  Holy hot!  Thank God the lady told me how to turn it off, because there is no way in hell I would have lasted in that room for 20 minutes.  I’m pretty sure I turned it off after like seven minutes.  I think I’m still sweating.  My skin is happy today though, and I do feel slightly detoxed, which may or may not be a placebo thing.

I ended the day with a Gmail chat interview (more on that when I know where it’s all going) and a wonderful dinner with my little family.  Rob, Em and I have such a great time together, and I am reminded of that so often.  I feel like a very lucky woman to have such an incredible husband and stepdaughter.  Jack and Kitty never actually wished me a ‘Happy Birthday,’ but I could feel their love.  Damn, life is good.

Finding My Way

I’m about to turn another year older (March 26th if you’re interested in sending a birthday shout out my way – no pressure).  I’m totally fine turning another year older.  Yes, because I’m young but also because it feels like this is a time in my life when I’m really starting to figure a lot of shit out.  I’ve always been that person that feels and acts older than their biological age.  Part of this is my nature and part of it is a result of my environment.  The challenges I was faced with when I was younger helped me mature and grow in ways I’m sure I wouldn’t have otherwise (that was a positive, Mom).  And although there are times when I wish I would have been more of a carefree kid, I am who I am because of my experiences.  Despite those experiences though, I’m still finding my way; figuring out where to focus my energy.

Life is hard.  Whether we’re consumed everyday with caring for a sick child or just trying to stay afloat and relevant in our job/industry, it can feel hopeless at times.  I fight with my anxiety and the negative thoughts in my head every single day.  But I’m learning.  I’m learning to focus on the positive and surround myself with people that do the same.  I’m learning to shake off the mean, unnecessary comments (after I vent to my sister about them first, of course) that can get stuck in my head and make me worry WAY too much.  I’m letting go of expectations that are only going to bring disappointment and accept what people are capable of giving.

I don’t expect this to be the year that I figure it all out (do we ever?), but I feel like it will be a year of renewed hope.  A year to worry less and enjoy more.  I’m not planning to jump out of any airplanes (I will never do this) or summit any peaks, but I am planning to be present in my life.  That, my friends, is living.

Happy Birthday Stevie!

Remember my really adorable (sometimes rotten) niece?  Well, last Saturday she turned another year older.  And you know what, when a kid with so many health issues hits another milestone like the ripe ol’ age of 7, we have to celebrate.  Here’s a picture of her at her party.  I know she might not look 7 (teeny tiny), but isn’t she freaking cute?!

Stevie turns 7!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After cupcakes and presents we headed for a haunted house.  I know you might be thinking, Isn’t this kid too little for a haunted  house?  And the answer is no.  She is really into (obsessed, perhaps)  being scared.  Most of the time it’s nearly impossible to actually scare her, but we know she enjoys all things spooky.  So, off to Nightmare on 13th Street we went.  Listen, I was pretty nervous.  I’m the person in the haunted house crouched down in a corner hoping the dude with the chainsaw will give up at some point.  I’ll do just about anything for Stevie though, so I sucked it up.  And holy shit, what a blast!  It was so fun going with such a big group.  I almost didn’t mind the weird smells throughout (cat pee?!) and wet “body bags” that you couldn’t avoid.

Thanks to my sister for treating us all to such a fun night!

Surprise!

Ok, I’m WAY late in blogging about this, but I’m taking care of it now so it’s all good. Rob had a big birthday on May 6th (he doesn’t like me saying how big, so I’ll let you figure that out), so I threw him a killer surprise party at Squatter’s a couple of days before.  Let me just say that I am amazing.  The dude seriously had NO CLUE!  I mean yes, it helps that he’s oblivious and unaware of his surroundings, but still.  I’m taking some of the credit here.  He kept his sunglasses on as we walked through the restaurant (classic Rob), so you can’t see the surprise in his eyes, but it was obvious he was blown away.  It actually took him about 30 seconds to realize the party was for him.

Here he is in total shock.


My sister Jessica and her husband, Heath. Jess was a huge help in pulling off the surprise. Heath did nothing except drink my glass of wine at the party.

Our little fam (minus Jack and Kitty, of course).

Rob was very surprised to see his good friend (my friend too!) Kathy who traveled from Arizona. Love Kathy!

Can you even believe this cake?! It’s a crashed mountain biking Rob! My wonderful nieces Nina and Carrie made it. I love them.

Oh and I made a toast. Not sure how good it was but I did work in this line, which I think is quite funny: “I could tell Rob was maybe a little older than me when I met him, so I asked my sister how old he was. She didn’t know, so I said, ‘well, if it turns out he’s too old for me, we should definitely set him up with Mom.'” I’m not sure how Rob felt about it.