Happy Birthday Wes (Part 1)

To my sweetie, my peanut, snookums, daddy, dad, Wes.  Although he responds to just about anything, love of my life is the name I choose for him.  Wes is one of the most laid back people you'll ever meet.  He's also one of the most honest people (sometimes annoyingly so) in the world.  I guess he had big plans o f transforming the otherwise corrupt land of lawyers but thus far has been unsuccessful.  He's smart, witty, loyal, a great father, and devilishly handsome (if I do say so myself).  But enough of my smutty smut, I'm just here to wish him a Happy (belated) Birthday!  He won't mind my tardiness because he has a tendency to put things off too and therefore wouldn't possibly judge me for doing the same.

Growing up, my family always made a big deal of birthdays.  It was your special day and it was handled accordingly - think surprises, gifts, and food.  Not so for Wes.  It was just another day.  You can see how these 2 worlds of thoughts might collide.  I have taken it upon myself in the 13 years (gasp!) that I've known him to make up for the 20 years that went by without proper celebration.  He now knows and appreciates the art of surprise and even reciprocates it.  I've almost built it up to a fault though.  Last year we took a surprise trip to Boston, as in I secretly packed his bags and he thought he was going to work that morning until my mom dropped us off at the airport.  As much as I love lavish surprises, they set the bar pretty high for future celebrations.

This year we're celebrating the weekend after his birthday (this weekend) and he knows every one of the details.  I almost feel somewhat guilty or that I've failed as a planner because there are no surprises.  I realize I'm the one who enjoys them more but I feel like I'm letting him down.  I have no doubt he'll thoroughly enjoy our dinner and night away at the B&B though.

At least there's that.  I was really spinning my wheels when Colin asked the night before Wes' birthday what a birthday party was.  Any descriptive I came up with did not apply.  Friends.  Do Colin and I count?  Presents.  Um, you got your running shoes a couple of weeks ago and we're going to dinner and staying at an Inn but sorry, no actual presents to unwrap.  The whole concept of a birthday party was crumbling right before my eyes.  That is until I was able to partially redeem myself.  Cake.  Check!  Finally, something I was able to deliver on (recipe to follow in a 2nd post).

Funny how the concept of birthdays changes over the years.  We go from having a party, complete with decorations, friends, presents, and cake to being thankful we made it another year!  The good part is that with our increasingly busy lives, the duration of our special day gets longer.  It's just so hard to try to get everything scheduled in one day, especially a weekday.  We refer to it as "Birthday Week" in our house and it's quickly living up to its name.  So Happy Birthday Week honey bunch!  I hope you enjoy every minute of it because you certainly deserve it!!