Almost twenty years ago my mom took my sister and I to visit my dad on his birthday. We took him to lunch, and then went back to his office to enjoy the birthday cake we'd brought with us. Dad, enjoying the opportunity to share his family with his co-workers, reveled in cutting the cake. With a flourish he put the knife point into the cake, and slid the blade along. He frowned for a moment, and then repeated the process, looking even more perplexed. After a third attempt to cut the cake he said aloud "What the hell...?"
And so began a decades long tradition in my family: the foam cake. An oblong piece of foam is decorated to look like a birthday cake, but is impossible to cut and serve. At first it feels like the knife is cutting the cake, albeit with a little more resistance than one might normally experience, but that first feel quickly gives way to the truth that the cake is not being cut at all. It's really confusing to anyone who hasn't experienced it before, and even if you have experienced it before you're often not expecting it when it's your cake.
My dad waited a couple years after mom first sprang the foam cake on him, but he returned the favor and then some. On and off the fake cakes were bandied back and forth, in more elaborate and unexpected presentations. Dad's best delivery was when he took mom to a fancy restaurant for her birthday, and asked the waiter "Say, you guys don't serve cake at all, by chance?" The waiter promptly brought out a small beautifully decorated cake. Little did mom know that dad had personally delivered that fake cake to the restaurant earlier that day. What I wouldn't have given to see the look on her face when she realized what she'd been served. Dad also got a terrific double whammy on mom when he not only threw her a huge surprise birthday party, but managed to serve her a fake cake at that party, too!
I think my parents only tried to spring the fake cake on me one time, the year I graduated high school. I don't know what it was that made me suspicious, but I refused to cut the cake when handed the knife. Maybe mom or dad were grinning just a little too much, maybe I picked up on the excited anticipation from the assembled on-lookers. Whatever it was, I knew I was being offered a fake cake.
On Saturday we had a joint birthday party for Josie and me. Josie enjoyed discovering and eating her cake, and a second cake was brought out for me.
A fake cake was the farthest thing from my mind.
Angela had been planning the fake cake with my dad since Easter, and they executed it flawlessly. I was so surprised to have fallen for it! Angela had a perfect cover story for why a second cake was needed at all, and dad managed to discretely inform most of the guests of the surprise without making me suspicious. They got me good!
It was a terrific surprise, and the smiles and laughs all around made it worth losing my perfect reputation for spotting fake cakes. I'll have you all know, however, that my guard will be up next year!
I have something of a history for creative birthday parties. For my 25th birthday, I hosted a toga party. To my surprise, everyone showed up in a toga. For my 26th birthday, I insisted that everyone wear formal attire. Again to my surprise, everyone showed up in suits and dresses. My 30th birthday was a surprise bowling party at the inimitable Columbus Bowling Palace. For my 35th birthday, I originally decided to make the theme "Pirates and Ninjas" because, lets face it, everyone loves pirates and ninjas. It was suggested to me that the scope be broadened to include cowboys, to which my response was Pirates and Ninjas agree: Cowboys suck. After some thought, though, I decided to include cowboys in the theme, in order to allow folks to be as creative as they could.
I had originally intended to dress as a robot for my party, and had prepared a number of witty rejoinders about it being my party and I'll wear whatever damn costume I want, thankyouverymuch. But a weekend trip to Houston, Texas afforded me the opportunity to buy some authentic cowboy stuff -- most notably cowboy hats! -- so I switched gears and prepared a cowboy costume, with help from Angela who was working on a cowgirl outfit for herself.
Of course, Angela wasn't content to be just a cowgirl. She opted to be a pregnant cowgirl! This proved to be a great addition to her costume, and many jokes were made throughout the night.
I really didn't expect anyone else to show up in costume. Indeed, Rich and Maria were the first to show up, and arrive in plain clothes (though with only modest effort they pulled off a passable cowboy and pirate, respectively). Jeff and Lisa showed up next, also in plain clothes. They informed me that they were media pirates, illegally downloading movies and music. Fair enough: they got creative with the interpretation of the party theme, which I can respect.
As folks continued to trickle in, though, more and more people came in really creative costumes. There were way more cowboys than I would have expected, but I guess putting together a cowboy costume is easier than a pirate or ninja costume. Nonetheless, we had at least four ninjas and at least as many pirates!
I worked the grill, and with the large assortment of side dishes that folks brought there was plenty of delicious food to enjoy. I had my second batch of homebrew out for people to enjoy, and everyone was enthusiastic about it. (If I do say so myself, it was a superb beer!) Many folks stayed late, enjoying conversation and eventually songs around the fire. The yard was full of laughter most of the evening, and it was a real treat for me to wander in and out of conversations.
Mike gets the award for worst pun of the night when he said "I've said too mulch!"
Andy, who gets my vote for the best cowboy costume of the night, handed me an envelope when he arrived. On the envelope he had written "The Best Birthday Gift Ever!" I waited a little while to open this. When I did, inside I found a single sheet of paper, which read, simply, "My friendship". I was speechless for a moment, as that was, indeed, the greatest birthday gift ever. And it wasn't just Andy's friendship. It was everyone's.
I am amazed that my friends would put on silly costumes in the middle of June to hang out in my back yard. It is a gift beyond words that I have the friends that I do. I only hope that I can be as good of a friend to each of them as they have been to me.
If you didn't get the chance to join us, you can view my photos, or Maria's photos of the party. There's also a video floating around of Jeff singing Happy Birthday to me that really needs to be seen by more people...
"33" is printed on the bottle of Rolling Rock beer. I drank a lot of Rolling Rock in college.
"33" is the first portion of the combination lock I use at the gym.
And yesterday was my 33rd birthday.
Carina took me to GameWorks at Easton, where we joined Lisa and Jeff for food, drinks, and games. We had a wonderful time. It was fun to play the games at our own pace, and not worry about collecting tickets to exchange for crappy toys, which is all the twins ever want to do at such establishments. Afterwards, dad treated Carina and me to the famous chocolate martinis at Club Diversity.
Carina gave me my birthday present last weekend: a fancy new grill. I haven't had the opportunity to use it yet, which is mildly upsetting to me: I can't wait to cook on it!
A long-running joke I make with Carina is that she's catching up to me every time she has a birthday, and then I pull ahead again a few months later on my own birthday. She's six years younger than me, so she's got a few years to go before she even hits 30.
As I get older, birthdays become less and less important to me. I'm not the kind of person who resents (or fears) getting old, or yearns for lost youth. I don't want to be a kid again; and I genuinely don't mind getting older. It's funny that as I care less and less about my own birthdays, I care more and more about the twins' birthdays: they're finally in the double digits, and in a few years they'll officially be teenagers. Shortly after that they'll start driving; and then will come college. Those are definitely birthdays I am anticipating!
