Birthday requirements

Given that my immediate family were out of town on my birthday weekend, and that 45 is neither here nor there anyway, I had lowered expectations for my birthday, based mainly on eating my way through the (very good, not very healthy) canteen options at work, followed by more eating and drinking with my partner over the weekend. So I kicked off well with a bacon sandwich, followed by fish and chips for lunch, and shopping for supper – M&S had laid on a special meal deal for me, which was also available for people celebrating Valentine’s Day a couple of days later. If you’d have asked at that stage did I want anything else I would have said I wasn’t bothered.

So when I finally got home and saw stuff I was a bit overwhelmed. It’s taken me a couple of days to appreciate how nice and thoughtful it all was. I got:

• cards
• chocolates and good wishes from my colleagues
• flowers, books, and much attentiveness from the boy, who also sang Happy Birthday to me in the manner of Johnny Cash
• a lovely bottle of wine from his dad
• a full on birthday cake with icing and candles from his mum, and another cake, and a scarf, and jewellery – all tasteful and beautifully wrapped
• a voucher to spend on goodies from his sister and brother in law, with separate cards from them and the niece and nephew.

It was all lovely and on time and very touching. So thank you everyone, and I will be making extra efforts on other people’s birthdays as it was all so nice.

I also got to carry on the eating and drinking project, make my thank you calls, and catch up with people over the weekend – so all in all one of the best birthdays!

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