fluff & stuff: 26 going on 27

Year after year, my birthday usually leaves me quite depressed, as most people (including me) are usually back at work after extended leave and freshly broke from Christmas and New Year celebrations. So two weeks ago, when Zain asked what I wanted to do for my birthday, I told him I’d leave it to him to plan something.

My choices are limited. Now, we actually have to think of “responsible” ways to celebrate! This is most definitely a sign of getting old.

Gone are those simple days when the only option we had was to get drunk and dance the night away (well, I’m sure we had other options – our young age just made us oblivious to them!). The only thing that came close to a dilemma was “Where?”…and even then, it usually ended up being the new spot in town…because back then, there only used to be one place (or if we were lucky, two) that was the so-called in place to be seen. Not like nowadays – there are so many choices that you can even go club hopping without even getting into the car. This must be nature’s ironic sense of humour…as the options for clubs and bars increase, my options decrease.

Apart from the obvious smoke pollution to the lil one’s lungs, can you imagine a heavily pregnant gal dancing the night away? Exactly…I rest my case.

So two days ago, Zain announced that we’ll be doing a simple bbq at our place. According to him, I didn’t have to do anything cos he’d handle it.

Guess what I did on Thursday and most of Friday? Groceries, cooking (laksa Johor – Zain’s choice, Italian lamb stew with salad and potato salad – my choice), baking (brownies – Zain’s choice, prune pudding – my choice), coordinating with my bro/mum (to bring over the grill, plates, water cooler etc), prepared handmade personalised bookmarks for each guest. What a hero!

What did Zain do? Fetch the maid, played XBox360, marinate the chicken and steaks (both marinate and meats bought by me, though he did play the driver role!), played XBox360, shopping (for my pressie). What a hero!

When the first guests arrived, a part of me thought the night was destined to be disastrous – to begin with, there was no ice and it started raining. Thankfully, hubby’s “exceptionally excellent party planning” skills eventually came together and it did turn out to be an enjoyable night…surprisingly! (Touché hubby dearest!)

So this year’s birthday didn’t turn out as depressing as many of the others. Tiring (!) but not depressing. Many thanks, hugs and kisses to everyone for helping out, turning up and for all the lovely presents.