Birthday Blunders

Yesterday was Joey's birthday. Happy Birthday, Baby! I love you!

I began to think about what I was going to get Joey for his birthday back in May - two months ago. The plan was to get concert tickets to see one of his favorite bands, Counting Crows. I tend to get him concert tickets for his gifts, last being Marc Broussard, so I thought if an actual physical gift idea presented itself before then, I would go with it. Sure enough, Joey tells me several weeks ago that he REALLY wanted a backyard umbrella to go with the patio table and that I should get that for his birthday. Ok, will do. It's all settled then. We'll pick out the umbrella together so he can get exactly what he wants. Birthday genius. The plan will be to make a cake, plan a few special little surprise notes and such during the day, card, then we'll pick out the umbrella together. That was the plan.

Fast forward to the day before Joey's birthday at 4:30. I get an email from him and at the very end of the email teasing me, he asks "Did you get my present yet?" I wrote back, yes, that I had in mind that we pick out the umbrella together so that he could get exactly what he wanted. He emailed back, "Ok, what about my personal gift from you? We can get the umbrella later together. My favorite thing is to get something personal" He's teasing of course to find out what his gift is, but What?! Hold the phone! The umbrella is not the personal gift? Oh no. Tactical error. This gives me exactly 3 hours to come up with a "personal" gift for the guy who has everything before I am labeled The World's Most Terrible Gift Giving Wife Ever. No fair! I had thought about this for a really long time and thought the plan was set! I refuse to be labeled.

Ok, all is not lost, I can still get the concert tickets as originally planned. Checking Ticketmaster, I found that the date in Houston has been cancelled. Lovely. This is why I had started thinking about this back in May. He's tough to buy for. Clothes? Too difficult to fit his size for the most part as well as...he's picky. Tech gadgets and cycling gizmos would need specific instruction and it's too late for that. Yard stuff? Sounds like Father's Day. Aghhhhh!

I took off work 10 minutes early to beat Joey home. Left a note saying I was running errands. A plan began to materialize. I ruined a few of Joey's new and favorite J-Crew t-shirts last month in an unfortunate accident. They fit him perfectly and are some of the only t-shirts he likes because they're not too tight and they have his size. I dried them by accident and midgetized them. He refused to wear them saying that he looked like a frat guy trying to wear a muscle shirt. I know they fit, he likes them, and I'm sort of righting a wrong. Perfect!

Then I stopped by a bookstore and picked up two books that I knew he has been wanting to read: Glenn Beck's Common Sense and Angels & Demons. Success at last! Phew!

His birthday went really well. He says he doesn't like a big fuss to be made, but I don't believe it. One who asks for personalized gifts secretly likes a big fuss. So despite his being an Eeyore about it just being another day, it was given full attention. I made birthday cupcakes that we took with us to Bible study last night. (btw, my sprinkles bounced right off the icing. Not as much cupcakes with sprinkles as they were cupcakes on a bed sprinkles...what gives?). Emailed him throughout the day cheesy love song lyrics expressing my dying devotion. I know he loved that one! Beat his Mom's 5:30AM Birthday Call by a few minutes to be the first to wish him happy birthday (groggily). Referred to him all day as "The Birthday Boy" - again, I KNOW he love this. And of course, gave him his personalized gifts. He liked them!

This weekend we will be shopping for the impersonal patio umbrella. :)