Sometimes I Can Be Really Thick

On Saturday I opened the door to a sweet note and gift.  I didn't think anything of it because it came from the RS President and that's the kind of thing she does.  When I checked my email a few minutes later there was the nicest email from some friends.  I did wonder what made them send such a note, but again, it wasn't out of character for them.  Then another friend shows up with flowers.  She said she brought them early so I could enjoy them before we leave town.  Again, a very plausible story, don't you think?  I still wasn't clued in that a conspiracy was in the works.

When the third person shows up at my door bearing birthday greetings I FINALLY catch on.  I decide that my decision to not take a shower that day would need to be rethought.  (I was recovering from a migraine from the day before and had planned on doing nothing but sitting and moaning).  I manage to shower and clean the front room before the next set of friends arrive.

Well, Dear Friends, you made turning fmghth not so bad.  Let's just say that my third decade of life didn't have the most stellar celebrations and I had declared, to a certain someone, that I was hoping to just let the next decade slide by.  Well, she didn't listen and I'm glad she didn't.  It was fun to be on the receiving end of a fun conspiracy and try to wiggle hints out of people as to who pulled it off.  (Here's a helpful hint, if you make people believe that you're in the know they reveal a lot).  :-)

Here is a sample of the birthdays I had in the past decade:
*Telling friends that I thought it would be fun to bike Solitude only to find out too late that the trail doesn't follow the nice meandering cat track.  I walked my bike the whole way down.  Can you say embarrassing?  Just what I wanted to do.  Go for a walk with my bike. On my birthday.
*Arriving in Ithaca for grad school 2 days before my birthday with no one knowing me or I them.  Yay, fun day!
*Spending the next birthday in Ithaca while Roland was doing his internship in Oregon.  Once again no one seemed to know and I'm not the kind to tell. 
*Being somewhere in Canada during our 6 week Canadian Odyssey.  This trip is where I camped myself out.  I honestly don't even know where we where.  Maybe, Prince Edward Island?
*Moving to the DC area then needing to spend 2 months in Utah to help settle Pappy's estate and get things in order.  The first holidays without a loved one just aren't fun.  By the time I got back to DC I didn't know many people.  Although, Roland had been set up with a nice lady for the ward's small dinner group.  I'm sure she would have helped celebrate if we'd asked her.

There were a some good birthday's mixed in, so it wasn't a total wash.  There have been a few years that we've been in one place long enough to have friends to help celebrate.  And, Roland did arrange a surprise party for me in 2005.  He would have pulled it off too if the restuarant I wanted to go to would have taken reservations.  Since it didn't he made plans for the place the "Bush family frequents".  I figured out he had something planned when I asked for the third time to go where I wanted and he said no.  Dead give away.  Not giving the birthday girl what she askes for.

So, wonderful people who helped to celebrate me, THANK YOU!  I think this decade is off to a great start!