This morning I was oppressed to the point of tears. My list of things to do for today seemed impossible. Howard and I sat down with the list to do triage. I quickly discovered that the list itself was completely managable. The source of the stress was not the list. The source was the fact that both Howard and Patches have birthdays this weekend and I’d not done a thing to prepare.
A month ago Howard and I discussed his upcoming 40th birthday. Howard expressed an interest in doing something special to commemorate the event. I agreed and we discussed the possibility of having a big party along with other options. Then time passed and I had busy day after busy day. Suddenly that far off birthday was this week, and I hadn’t done a thing to prepare. This is unusual for me. I’m usually plotting and planning weeks ahead of time. Ditto on Patches birthday the day after Howard’s. Birthdays are important. It is important that the birthday person feels loved and appreciated on that day.
Once I realized that the birthdays were the source of most of my stress, I rearranged my task list. I could not relax until the birthday pre-planning was done. So I went shopping. I bought some birthday gifts. I ordered Patches a birthday cake. I made invitations for Patches’ party on Saturday. Patches and I then delivered those invitations. I spoke with Howard’s siblings and finalized the arrangements for all of us to go out to Sushi for Howard’s birthday dinner. I still need to buy party prizes for Patches’ party. I also need to pull together a coherent plan for the events of that party. But now I feel like I’ve actually paid some attention to the coming celebrations. Now I have the shape of them in my head and I’m looking forward to them rather than them just being items on my task list. This is good.
I don’t know if you know or care, but Hogle Zoo is having free admission on the 29th for people who were born on that day, and you can also get a coupon good for a family zoo membership–which gets you free or reduced-price admission to something like 130 other zoos across the country. I <3 mine. :)