Is it pretentious to plan your own birthday party?

Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me!
Happy Birthday to me-eeee,
Happy Birthday to me.

Is it a bad thing to plan your own birthday party? I’ve had several people question why I’m planning my own birthday party, and really the reason is… because I want it to get done, and I can’t really just ask someone to plan it for me, now can I? My husband is a dear soul, and I love him very much, but when it comes to birthdays (mine, in particular), he’s hit and miss. Some years he really surprises me (like a couple of years ago when he got me a new fridge), but some years he completely drops the ball. Yes, I realize it’s hard to remember to buy a birthday present AND a Christmas present, and I do understand that having a birthday just four days after Christmas is quite inconvenient, so that’s why I didn’t want to burden him (or anyone else) and ask them to plan my party. And really, there wasn’t all that much planning involved. Since the nice couple in our neighborhood who has a wonderful cabin agreed to let me have my party there (provided there were no kids), I didn’t even have to clean my house! I just made up some invitations, sent them out with the Christmas cards and gifts, ordered some balloons and way too much food, and that was about it.

And it turned out wonderfully! It was the most perfect birthday I remember in quite some time.
In the morning, John came into our room like he usually does. He even told me happy birthday, with a little coaching from Dad. “Where are the presents?” John asked. I told him there were probably some presents down under the tree, and if he wanted to, he could go and get them. “No,” he said, “I want to give you a present from me!” I told him to talk to Dad about that, since I didn’t buy myself my own presents this year. Dad didn’t have any for him, and he was disappointed. Since I had recently stopped by the clearance sale at Bath and Body Works, I told him to pick any item out of the bag on the floor, and he could wrap it up for a present to mommy. He picked something, and was happy to wrap it up. Someone must have helped with with the wrapping, because it wasn’t bad!

Friends call on your birthday! I got phone calls, emails, and cards from friends! It was so much fun! We then had a family Christmas party with Ryan’s family. Robin and family came, too, and we had a fun time, although we ate way too much food. Cinnamon rolls the size of my face, people. And I ate the whole thing. Crazy.

After that party, Robin took the kids sledding again! Bless you, my friend! They had such a fun time sledding, and I didn’t have to go out in the cold and take them (I’m such a whimp, I know!). While they were gone, I got things ready, cooked up some meatballs, wrapped a few presents for door prizes, and got changed and made up. Since it was my party, I had to at least looked like I tried, right?

At about 6:00 we started to take things over to the cabin. Of course we forgot some things, but Ryan and Robin got those while I set things up for the party. It’s a beautiful place, with lots of room for guests to eat and mingle. But while I was setting things up, I got a phone call from a distressed child, telling me that her bird was acting sick, and she didn’t know what to do. I told her to hold the poor little parakeet and just pet it and comfort it and that was about all she could do. I got another call in a few more minutes asking if they could call Cole’s friend’s mom, who used to be a vet. Well, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to call her, but I didn’t know what she would be able to do. This sweet friend came over, put the bird under the heat lamp, even gave him a shot of something (but she admits that she thinks he might have been dead by the time she gave him the shot), but he didn’t pull through. Another death of a pet, and mom and dad weren’t even there to comfort them. Kind of a sad thing to happen on a birthday, don’t you think?

But we had a party to attend to, so attend we did. It was a wonderful time with friends and family! I had people sign my little birthday book, and they also entered their names for the door prizes when they came in. I had friends from high school, friends from college, friends from my old ward in Lehi, even my old boss from when I worked at BYU stopped by. My parents and my sister came, along with a few aunts and uncles. Ryan’s parents and sisters came, and it was really so much fun! Some people brought food, some brought gifts, my good friend Melinda even gave me a beautiful plant! It was such a wonderful birthday! It’s worth it to turn 40 if you can have so much fun doing it!

Like I said before, there was way too much food. My friend Serena brought a huge Costco cake, and we barely even cut into it! I had to bring it all home. The kids happily ate some cake today, but it will take a while before that cake is gone. And crackers, and cheese ball, and meatballs, and mozzerella sticks, and…. let’s just say no one was very hungry for more sweet food, after the Christmas holiday. But even with NO Food, it would have been a fun party–for me, at least. I got to talk to friend after friend after friend. It was a lovely day, and I will not soon forget it. Well, who knows, I am 40 now, I may forget really soon, I guess. But when I do, I guess you can all just direct me bag to this blog post and I’ll be reminded of what a wonderful and fun birthday it really was.