My brother Ronald called with a very lovely "Happy Birthday" song that made me a little weepy and longing for the time, when all my brothers and sister were around the kitchen table singing the song in person. As is the normal normal for my family, he then said... "So I"m thinking you are 42...43... no wait, You're 44 years old!" As if gravity hadn't already made me aware I was well into my 40's. It's comforting to know that some things....like my family's sense of humor, never changes. I've definitely entered the stage of life where we only celebrate the "big ones", which at this point are the increments of five, so I wasn't prepared to have such a fun birthday.
Anyone who really knows me, knows that food is my favorite form of fun, making it or eating, I just love food. I ate all day, no seriously ....... all day and it was all wonderful food and lots of fun with family. We started the day with Sunday Brunch at the Queen Mary in Long Beach. If you've never gone....go, it's totally worth the price. Given that I still only eat very small meals, it did take me over two hours to get a taste of 95% of the offerings. I'm a team player and so were Oscar, Justin, Suzanne, Winter and Elise, they sat patiently while I ate and then rested before the next round!
Otto and Mimi & Papi had decided to forego the Queen Mary brunch with us and so we headed over to their place to visit for a bit. Upon arrival it quickly became apparent that some where along the line there was a mis-communication, my mother-in-law had made a very lovely (and very large) lunch for us! She made my favorite Arroz con Camarones (Shrimp & Rice) and a salad that she had obviously put a lot of time into, the problem was that I was full! Not a little full but the kind of full that happens after a Thanksgiving meal, the kind that requires you to lay down on the couch for a nap! I stalled the serving of the meal for about 30 minutes because she really is a good cook, she does Arroz con "anything" better than some great chefs I had the opportunity to sample. Then I ate.... again... it was just to yummy to pass up! And there was a birthday cake... I cheated on this one, I asked Winter to "share" my piece... I had a bite and then Winter ate the rest. Made me kind of sad because it was good but I was max out on tummy space.
I finally got that badly needed nap while Oscar was driving us home from Long Beach and continued the nap on the couch for an hour. Then it was time for one last celebration. Earlier in the week, having no idea that I was going to have a full brunch AND a yummy lunch, my family made plans to come over for a pizza dinner. Richard, Flora, Sam and Papa Bob came by for Pizza and salad. Part of Richards gift this year was one of those DVD that give you all the cultural and news worthy happens during the year of your birth, which we watched while we ate dinner. At first I was excited.... then realized all the newsreel footage was in black & white! I'm that old! Apollo One was on the launch pad that year.... Insane. I'm actually that old, I"m actually 44 years old.... it's a whole generation. Sigh.
The house was empty of guests by 7:30, Oscar & I cleaned up the last of the dinner mess and figured we would relax and watch a movie together. The best gift of the day walked in my door around 8pm, Becca had driven 8 hours (8 hours from sac to LA? That's a whole different adventure that needs a post of it's own) to celebrate my birthday in person! Yes of course we had a little something to eat!?! She just spent hours in a car, gotta do the food thing, poor starving kid! The three of us ended up watching a funny movie, going to bed late but it was the perfect ending to a fantastic birthday celebration!
The only thing better than describing all this food fun would be pictures! Alas I was to busy eating all day to take any, so let your imagination run wild and I'll get some next year.... I'll be 45 and that's one of the "Big Ones", so the food should be awesome!
