Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Pity, party

I think I've documented before on this site how this time of the year always gets me down. It's still winter and kinda gross outside; I am going to have yet another birthday soon.

It's been a rough winter. We lost Petra, and have lived through a gloomy and depressing January and February. We'd intended to go on a trip someplace warm but all that money got eaten up by Petra's vet bills. We're not where we want to be and both of us are having a hard time with that. And I'm getting old.

A few weeks ago I decided I wanted to have a birthday party here in Denver, something I haven't attempted since 2003. We have a decent-sized group of friends for the first time in forever, and so I thought, hey, why not invite everyone over for a party? I sent out an invite, and within the first few days got a ton of "No"s and no "Yes"es other than Dan and myself.

Well, after I waited a few more days and my closest friends in Denver told me (in other words, but I understood the underlying meaning) that they'd rather go skiing YET AGAIN than come to a party to celebrate my birthday, even though I do lots of nice things for them on their birthdays (like make cakes from scratch), I decided to cancel the party.

It was a rough week for a variety of reasons. Finally, on Wednesday, I decided to do something about my terrible mood and self-pity. I looked at plane tickets to California and decided to cash in the $200 voucher* I got from being booted off a Frontier flight last year. I thought we could perhaps go out the last weekend of March, in honor of our 2-year anniversary, and as a belated birthday present to myself, and maybe we'd figure out how to have some sort of a party.

That very evening, my friend Brian offered the use of his house and yard for StrykerFest 2010 without any provocation, and my day was made. I may not be having a birthday party this year, but I am going to get to see friends and family, spend time in my favorite place, and not even think about people who would rather go skiing for the umpteenth weekend in a row than celebrate something fun.

We'll be in the Bay Area March 25-30 and I couldn't be more excited. Even if only 5 people show up to the shindig, we still plan to have a good time.

*story forthcoming

5 comments:

EEK! said...

It has been a long, dark winter all around. We didn't get our warm getaway this year, either. I'm glad you're getting a chance to go to CA. And hey, I'll be in Denver pushing my book next month, we should grab a drink. :)

Anonymous said...

Here's to spring and upcoming parties!

Also, I do not quite understand people who would rather risk breaking their legs in the cold than come drink & eat at a party. Perhaps this is why I am not an Olympian.

Crafty Mama said...

I know how you feel about the birthday thing....every year I try to do something to celebrate but since it's so close to Christmas (Dec 19) people blow it off to do stuff like finish their shopping. :(

It has been a rough winter for you, you should definitely treat yourself and have a fantastic time in the Bay Area! Spring is upon us....no more gloom. :)

Hillary said...

I say BOO to your Denver friends. I wish I could be in the Bay Area when you are there. Have fun!

Kate S. said...

Hey, my birthday's next week! Been reading your blog for a couple years now, (via Leah/Simon, Nina/Will etc.) and I think we live within walking distance of each other. I just moved down to Denver from Boulder at Thanksgiving. (Was born in CA too...)Would love to meet you sometime. Shoot me an email, maybe we could get coffee or claim a bench at Cheesman...supposed to be nice this weekend, well Saturday anyway. I'm just off the park on Franklin.... birdog1381 at yahoo dot com.....Hate to think of March birfdays gone uncelebrated. : )
Kate