September 12, 2000

One year ago: I bitch about the Emmys, People's Best and Worst Dressed, and Talk. Boy, there's just no pleasing me, is there?

Sunday was an eventful day. Jim and I drove to Rochester for his niece's birthday party. She's five years old. Have you been to a birthday party for a five-year-old? Recently? Like, not when you were five years old yourself? They're a lot louder than I remembered. But, as usual, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Jim's brother and sister-in-law, and his parents, were all attending this party. They had told Jim that they were planning on getting there early, I guess to get more time with the birthday girl before all the guests arrived. So we planned on getting there around noon. And we did. And we were the only ones there. So we sat around feeling useless for a few minutes, because the birthday girl's parents were trying to prepare for the onslaught. I suggested that we go grab some coffee or something, just to get out of their hair, and Jim agreed. So we went to Starbucks. Mmm, caramel frappucino. That ate up about 45 minutes, but when we returned, we were still the only ones there. We helped entertain the two kids so that Jim's sister could get ready, so I guess that was probably helpful. Part of this preparation included me pretending I know how to make balloon animals, which is what you see in the picture. I just started twisting and turning and that's what happened. It's a mask. I'm not letting you see the other picture where I pretend it's a hat, because it's just too goofy.

Did I mention it was hot? And humid? I had checked the forecast before I left, and it was only supposed to be in the low 70's, so I wore my capri jeans and a 3/4-sleeved top. By the time we arrived in Rochester, it was 86. So that kind of sucked. Totally my own fault, but it sucked. I hate being hot. I would so much rather be too cold, than too hot. Anyway, the rest of Jim's family arrived, and then guests started to spill in. There were a lot of little kids. The thing that's different about kids' parties these days is that the parents stay. I remember when I was little, our moms would just drop us off at the party and leave, probably cackling madly all the while and yelling, "Free at last! Free at last! Great God Almighty, I am free at last!" But nowadays, the parents stick around. It certainly makes sense, and I don't know how the parents of my peers handled ten screaming, sugared-up, overstimulated five-year-olds for a few hours. The activities at this party started with face painting. I didn't get any done, but all the kids did. Then, they played "Pin the Tail on Blue" -- you know, of Blue's Clues fame. I didn't really see much of that, because I was on the porch playing cards with Jim, Jim's brother, and Jim's sister-in-law.

Then, it was time to bust open the pinata (I'm sorry, but I don't know how to make the little squiggle over the "n". You know what I mean, though). They also had a pinata at last year's birthday party, and it went like this. First, the kids tried to break it while blindfolded. That didn't work out so well, so then the kids tried sans blindfold. But none of them could hit it hard enough, so then some adults tried. Still no breakage. Finally, someone cut the thing open and then someone else "hit" it to make it look good. All in all, it took about twenty minutes. So this year, the birthday girl's dad prepared the pinata ahead of time, by cutting it almost entirely open before hanging. Then the birthday girl broke it open on her third swing, as pictured here. Chaos! Little kids ran to pick up the candy. Littler kids cried because they didn't get any. Luckily, the parents made sure the candy was split equitably, and order was restored.

Finally, it was time to sing and blow out the candle. I love this picture. That's Jim's niece, with the tiger stripes, and his nephew is behind her, with the red hair. Soon after this took place, I won the card game, and we all retreated to the comfort of central air-conditioning inside. Then, I called my parents and we met them for dinner, which was great because we got to see them, but we didn't have to drive all the way to Caledonia to do it (it would have added about an hour to our trip). As much as I complain about the heat and the noisy kids, and pretend like I'm a curmudgeon, there is something really exciting about birthdays that most people lose as they get older. When you were a kid, your birthday was the best day of the year, because it was like Christmas, but just for you. As an adult, most people either dread their birthday, or ignore it. I'm trying not to do that. My birthday is in one week exactly. I'll let you know how that goes.