Our Story: Wait, How Old Am I?

Sunday, December 7th was Eric's birthday. It was the big THIRTY. Wow, writing that just really brought it home for me. We are no longer young. But this doesn't give Eric pause at all... he will remind you that he has a wife, 2 kids, a mini-van, and a real job. Of course he's 30. Eeeek! And it's been a few years now since he could remember for sure how old he was anyway. Am I 27 or 28 (mental subtraction ensues)? Hence, the title of this post.

The saddest part isn't that he turned 30. We all like change. The lamentable part was the way we practically didn't celebrate at all. I had planned a fun bowling party with a nice crowd of friends to surround my husband, but then we started discussing the coming week and realized it wouldn't fit. As is typical of us, we had a busy calendar, but hadn't communicated much about it. Eric actually had a singing gig on the night of his party, so the party was nixed. And there isn't another open weekend until January, so there will be no large scale celebration of the big 3-0.

On the actual day, we went to church and then Eric invited some friends and family over for the Vikings game and pizza. That was fun, and the Vikings won. In the late afternoon he went to his Uncle Tim's house to help with a remodeling project. They worked hard, played some cribbage, ate some venison jerky, and then Eric came home and went to bed. No cake, no presents, no singing. What kind of a wife am I???

The next day, Monday, I realized that Eric's brother-in-law, Brian, was coming over for dinner. More accurately, he was buying us dinner with his unused travel stipend. Sweet! With one thing less to do in the day, I decided I could bake a cake. So I made 1/3 of a triple layer cake, which turned out delicious. I also remembered the present that Eva and I had painstakingly wrapped a few months ago and hidden in the back of our closet. I knew Eric would be needing a nice computer bag soon, so I jumped on the deal when it was fresh, back in October. Not romantic or interesting, but useful. Suddenly, a pleasant birthday celebration was taking shape.

However, to be honest, the party was still a little lackluster. I ended up asking Eric to make a grocery store run for frosting ingredients for his own cake. And he had only one guest. And he had 5 candles, not 30, on only 1/3 of a triple layer cake. And he lit his own candles. And the harmonies were less than ideal between Eva and I as we serenaded the birthday boy (but Brian's voice was beautiful...). And Eva accidentally blew out all the candles right before Eric tried to do so. And after opening the gift (which Eva had told him about immediately after wrapping it), he determined that it wasn't really what he was looking for. And in our after dinner game of Settlers of Catan, Brian came from behind and stole Eric's birthday victory. And Hope missed the whole thing, due to her early bedtime. We employed our good senses of humor though, and we were happy to be together and happy for another good year. And speaking for myself, this is a birthday party (fiasco) I will always remember!

Eric Hansen Patenaude, I love you! Happy 30th Birthday! I'm looking forward to your 31st year, by your side.