Birthday Weekend

This mini heat-wave we’ve been having rocks and sucks. Rocks, because it’s about bloomin’ time we had some hot weather and all-day sunshine, but sucks because we have to be at work while it happens! I should be out at the park, laid on the grass, reading under the warmth of the sun!

The weekend was nice. I had Friday booked off work and had an appointment to get my hair cut at 10.15. It has been in real dire need to some trimmage, as the abundance of split ends was really adding to the straggly bush woman look I’ve been rocking. My hairdresser is really nice, my sister got her hair cut recently and he told her he had got married to his (male) partner in December, which he was very chatty about. He also loves acting and theatre and seems to do quite a lot of that on the side, although I think he would rather it was the other way round, with the hairdressing being on the side and the drama taking the main stage (literally). He told me he would be using every spare moment of the holiday weekend to rehearse for his latest project – a double bill of two short Strindberg plays which his partner was directing, which he had both translated from the Swedish and was acting in, which they had funded themselves. It was going to be showing at quite a well-known upcoming off-West End theatre in East London. We had a good chat about it and when my hair was finished, I wished him all the best and he gave me a flyer. I’m hoping to try and catch a performance, but am not sure if I’ll be able to convince Samson to come with me – not sure it’s his thing.

After the hairdressers, I then went to the hospital for a blood test, despite feeling a little weak from not having had breakfast and the fact that I’m not very keen on blood tests generally (due to my tendency to faint). I had a nice bus ride in the sun, had only two people ahead of me in the blood test queue, had a nice nurse who made me laugh (“Are you OK?” she asked for the second time. “Yes,” I answered, pausing before saying, “I don’t like blood tests.” “Yes,” she answered, “You’ve got that face.”), managed to survive and maintain consciousness and got back home by lunch time. Yay! I painted my toenails in the afternoon, randomly tried out some sparkly eye shadow and got ready rather slowly, before going to the rents’ in the evening and having a lovely home-cooked dinner.

On Saturday, our friends came over to the rents’ for home church (our monthly small group meeting) but there were only three adults and the three children in addition to my fam. I had been dreading seeing loads of people for some reason and wasn’t really keen on the idea of any fuss over my birthday, but because it was such a small group, it ended up being a really nice day. I spent lots of time with the kids as usual and after our Bible discussion, we had a nice simple lunch together. The obligatory birthday cake was rolled out after our meal, with one big candle shaped as a 2 and eight small single candles next to it, which made me laugh. The number candle was left over from my 26^th birthday, so the only other alterative was to turn the 6 upside-down and age me by one year – hmm, glad they didn’t go for that!

After chocolate cake and ice-cream, there was vague mention of going to the park. It was in the high twenties outside and had been gloriously sunny all day, so it seemed criminal to waste it. Of course, as soon as the kids even heard this suggestion, they already had their shoes on, but it was nearly an hour before the adults had caught up and were ready to go. We drove down to the park and looked for a nice spot to settle, armed with picnic blankets and a foldable chair for Dad. We settled near a big tree, far enough out that we were still in the sun, but were nearby shade should anyone need it. It was late afternoon and was already breezy, so why anyone would want to stay out of the sun is beyond me. Big C had made me promise that she could race me, which I had gamely agreed to, despite knowing that sprinting is not my strong point, especially in a knee-length tea dress and sandals. We raced to a big tree nearby and back, raced again with Little C and Big Sis and then span around, swinging to younger kids in circles and leaning back at arm’s length while holding hands with Big C. I felt worn out. After a while, we sat down with the adults, playing hand-clapping games I vaguely remembered from school and learning some new ones. I showed them how to make daisy chains and Little C was soon crowned with a daisy chain tiara and Big C was adorned with a necklace and bracelet. After a while, it started to get quite cool in the breeze and most of us hadn’t brought jackets with us (the sheer folly!). We decided to have a quick prayer as Sabbath drew to a close, so I shared a reading from my devotional and we had a quick prayer to thank God for such a lovely day. I thanked them for spending my birthday with me and packed up the blankets and walked back to the cars to return home.

After a cup of tea and a biscuit or two, Big Sis and I got changed and ready to go home and we all left, the kids and their parents getting a lift in Mum’s car with us. I arrived home, tried to make my room look presentable and opened the cards I had received by post and from work, that I had decided to leave at home and save for the evening to open. A card from my Auntie Betty (without fail, she sends one every year and it is always the first card to arrive), one from Bigger Sis (who sends me funny cards she knows my sick sense of humour will appreciate), one from The Mrs with a lovely message as always, one from Good Time Girl (GTG for short, Samson’s team-mate and a lovely girl I have made friends with), one from Lolly (that I opened the Thursday before when she gave it to me, on her instruction!), one from Big Sis and Bro-in-Law, one from Mum and Dad (and an additional mini one from Dad), and finally, one from my work mates, which was a surprise firstly since I don’t know how they knew about my birthday, and secondly since they gave me a £20 H&M voucher which rocked my socks (I love shopping and I love H&M – it’s a present made in heaven).

Later on, Samson arrived. He wished me a happy birthday and gave me card, then gave me each of his three presents one by one. Each was thoughtful and based on things I mentioned or he knew I liked. I was really taken aback by how many things he had made a mental note of. First was the novel Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, which I mentioned wanting to read to him in passing ages ago (and was surprised he even noticed). Second was True Blood season 2 on DVD because he knows I liked season 1 and I’d told him I hadn’t managed to catch much of the second series. Third (and this one he seemed nervous about) was the only one that was wrapped…I opened it slowly and was pleasantly shocked to discover an iPod Touch! I was a little bit overwhelmed to be honest. I was already happy with the book and DVD, seeing as they were both things I had vaguely mentioned liking and Samson had taken note of. That was the most important thing, that he had listened and remembered things I liked, he’d taken notice and bought me something specific to me, rather than something generic, or worse still something I didn’t even like and had never even given an inkling of liking (“I bought you this death metal CD box set – it’s meant to be really good”). It was lovely, I was very impressed.

On Sunday afternoon, we went to his. It was another gorgeous day, so we dropped our stuff at home and headed to the park, armed with ice-creams and cold drinks. We lay there talking, catching some rays until it started to get a little bit cooler a couple of hours later. We walked through the park and down the high street, where there are lots of various restaurants. We ended up going to a fancy Thai place, where you had to remove your shoes and sit at tables inset into the floor. The décor was lovely, the staff very pleasant and the food was delicious. The company was sterling as ever, of course, but the atmosphere was spoiled slightly by the couples either side of us – one who were ghetto-tastic (the man was wearing a wifebeater and low-slung jeans, complete with boxer shorts poking out of the top of them), the other who didn’t eat their whole chickens and complained because they were ‘too hairy’ and then tried to get a discount. “I’m sorry,” muttered Samson under his breath, “I did try and take you to a classy establishment,” he said and rolled his eyes. I was cracking up. It was still lovely. Eventually we ambled home and chilled out. It had been a nice, relaxed weekend – gorgeous weather, wonderful company and nice memories.