icnmgrjill
07-18-2005, 08:31 PM
Birthdays are fickle things, aren't they? As a child, I was one of those children whose birthdays never got mentioned at school. Ohh, how I envied those kids who had moms who brought cupcakes for their classmates! :hmmm: Mine was ALWAYS in the summer! Arrgh! I wanted a winter birthday! But, that changed one summer in San Diego when I was about 10 years old.
My family took me to the old fashioned ice cream parlor "Farrells" where birthdays were celebrated with sirens, drums, and a wild and crazy race around the store. :woohoo: Atleast once an hour, the staff would start an old fashioned siren, then run around the restaurant with a giant platter filled with ice cream. Eventually, they would stop in front of some lucky kid would scream when it stopped in front of them, as everyone roared out a hearty happy birthday song!
One year, it actually happened to me when was the ricipient of a San Diego Zoo... a giant bowl of about 20 scoops of ice cream covered with sauces, whip cream and little zoo animals that I brought home. Yes, I did have to share the ice cream... but must admit, several years later, to actually eating a "pig pen" platter all by myself! It is my absolute favorite birthday memory! :Smilies:
As a teen, birthdays were usually on a tennis court.. playing in tennis tournaments throughout the summer and, luckily, exercising my ice cream exccesses off quickly. One year, my sister made me a giant birthday cake castle... complete with turrets! She worked hard on that and it became a great birthday memory! :kissing:
I turned 21 doing, of all things, bartending during a summer job. No, I didn't get blisteringly drunk but, yes, I was the recipient a few shots of something wicked! I confess, though, that I do have a memory of dancing with a vacumn cleaner a few days later ... and having a good friend (Thank You Paul) who walked me home and put me to bed... with the room spinning abit! :::sigh:: Well... not one of my best moments.. but it sure gave me a wonderful, lifelong friend who saved me from embarassing myself any further! :rolleyes:
In 1993, just after my IC was diagnosed, I spent my birthday at the UC San Francisco Medical Center having my first IC therapy. Yes, I was happy to be there rather than home... because I just wanted to get better.
Just after starting the ICN in 1995, I shared many birthday wishes with my good friend ICNAsstMgr Diane, whose birthday was just a few days before mine. We celebrated our friendship through happy postings in our message boards and special gifts to each other. Honestly, though we hadn't met in person back then, we were kindred spirits. She would send me an original needlepoint ... a blanket, frame or wallhanging. I would send her something uniquely Californian... from a banner with an angel yelling out hope to hummingbird feeders to help brighten her home. For the last two years, I've celebrated her memory. I'm so glad that I have her gifts which are here in my office... to remind me of her spirit, encouragement and love! She's one of my guardian angels no. :angel: (For those of you who didn't know Diane, she was one of the precious souls of our site and, sadly, was taken from us two years ago as a result of empheysema at the tender age of 42.)
About ten years ago, I made a change in how I wanted to celebrate with my family and friends. Face it, IC can definitely put a damper on our special days if we let it. I decided that I wanted to use my birthdays to create laughter :biglaugh: even if I was having an IC flare. So, with my young nephews, family, adults and kids in tow, we picked a fun (but IC friendly event) that we could all do... and laugh doing. One year, it was miniature golf, another bowling, country line dancing, crazy restaurants, lots of movies! Best of all, rather than them paying, I always saved my money up (little that I had) to pay for them! I wanted to give a treat on my birthday... rather than just expect a gift from them.
This year, I had two days off work (yahoo!), two days in a row at the gym (I should say that I'm addicted to using the elliptical... which is a great workout, keeps my hips level and has yet to bother my bladder). Spent the 100 degree plus afternoon laying on my bed with my cat next to me, reading a great book and spending the evening with a good friend!
A few days later, I treated everyone to a movie, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory. Weird... but entertaining. It's no Pirates of the Carribean though!
What I really wanted to do was take everyone to a crazy Indian restaurant and feed them Tandoori Chicken... but they were wimps! Cattlemans it was! Oh well! No matter what I said, they just didn't believe that Indian food could be mild and tasty. I mean, sheesh, I'm an IC patient and it's never irritated my bladder. Alas, I digress!
The funniest moment of the birthday came, from my brother Jack, who I noticed singing a different tune when they gave me my birthday pie! I noticed that he was singing a different melody... a well known funeral dirge. Afterwards, I turned to him and said "what on earth are you singing." He admitted to us all that he had been singing the birthday dirge to all of us for the past twenty years. You know the one... sounds like a funeral march... and goes
Happy Birthdayyy <thud>... Oh Happy Birthday <thud>
Doom and gloom and dark despair
People dying everywhere!
Happy Birthdayyy <thud>... Oh Happy Birthday <thud>
My 52 year old brother!! The physics professor!! The straight A student!!! Singing a Funeral Dirge on our happiest days of the year! Now we know why he always had that funny smile going on during those moments! He confessed that he learned it while serving on a submarine in the Navy in his 20's. It was hysterical when he admitted it. We made him sing it out loud... he turned bright red! It was sooo funny!!!
My point with this brief, weird, journal entry is to share my birthday philosophy. You can have great birthdays even with IC! Use this special day to:
(1) Give thanks for those who have made your life meaningful
(2) Remember, with thoughtfulness, those who you have cared for. (::as she looks up to heave to see some lovely angels looking down::)
(3) Create a new, different and fun family memory. Even with IC, you can make smiles and laughter happen!
(4) Take time for you... and, yes, you can be a layabout all afternoon if you'd like without any shame. You're entitled... we're entitled. It's OUR birthday, afterall!
(5) Send thank you notes to everyone who gives you a present
(6) Buy yourself flowers once a week for a month
(7) If it makes you laugh, sing silly songs too!
(8) Try to bring laughter to the birthdays and special days of those around you too! Make it a happy day! Do special things! Make a new memory!
Anyone else have any great IC friendly birthday ideas??
Jill :)
My family took me to the old fashioned ice cream parlor "Farrells" where birthdays were celebrated with sirens, drums, and a wild and crazy race around the store. :woohoo: Atleast once an hour, the staff would start an old fashioned siren, then run around the restaurant with a giant platter filled with ice cream. Eventually, they would stop in front of some lucky kid would scream when it stopped in front of them, as everyone roared out a hearty happy birthday song!
One year, it actually happened to me when was the ricipient of a San Diego Zoo... a giant bowl of about 20 scoops of ice cream covered with sauces, whip cream and little zoo animals that I brought home. Yes, I did have to share the ice cream... but must admit, several years later, to actually eating a "pig pen" platter all by myself! It is my absolute favorite birthday memory! :Smilies:
As a teen, birthdays were usually on a tennis court.. playing in tennis tournaments throughout the summer and, luckily, exercising my ice cream exccesses off quickly. One year, my sister made me a giant birthday cake castle... complete with turrets! She worked hard on that and it became a great birthday memory! :kissing:
I turned 21 doing, of all things, bartending during a summer job. No, I didn't get blisteringly drunk but, yes, I was the recipient a few shots of something wicked! I confess, though, that I do have a memory of dancing with a vacumn cleaner a few days later ... and having a good friend (Thank You Paul) who walked me home and put me to bed... with the room spinning abit! :::sigh:: Well... not one of my best moments.. but it sure gave me a wonderful, lifelong friend who saved me from embarassing myself any further! :rolleyes:
In 1993, just after my IC was diagnosed, I spent my birthday at the UC San Francisco Medical Center having my first IC therapy. Yes, I was happy to be there rather than home... because I just wanted to get better.
Just after starting the ICN in 1995, I shared many birthday wishes with my good friend ICNAsstMgr Diane, whose birthday was just a few days before mine. We celebrated our friendship through happy postings in our message boards and special gifts to each other. Honestly, though we hadn't met in person back then, we were kindred spirits. She would send me an original needlepoint ... a blanket, frame or wallhanging. I would send her something uniquely Californian... from a banner with an angel yelling out hope to hummingbird feeders to help brighten her home. For the last two years, I've celebrated her memory. I'm so glad that I have her gifts which are here in my office... to remind me of her spirit, encouragement and love! She's one of my guardian angels no. :angel: (For those of you who didn't know Diane, she was one of the precious souls of our site and, sadly, was taken from us two years ago as a result of empheysema at the tender age of 42.)
About ten years ago, I made a change in how I wanted to celebrate with my family and friends. Face it, IC can definitely put a damper on our special days if we let it. I decided that I wanted to use my birthdays to create laughter :biglaugh: even if I was having an IC flare. So, with my young nephews, family, adults and kids in tow, we picked a fun (but IC friendly event) that we could all do... and laugh doing. One year, it was miniature golf, another bowling, country line dancing, crazy restaurants, lots of movies! Best of all, rather than them paying, I always saved my money up (little that I had) to pay for them! I wanted to give a treat on my birthday... rather than just expect a gift from them.
This year, I had two days off work (yahoo!), two days in a row at the gym (I should say that I'm addicted to using the elliptical... which is a great workout, keeps my hips level and has yet to bother my bladder). Spent the 100 degree plus afternoon laying on my bed with my cat next to me, reading a great book and spending the evening with a good friend!
A few days later, I treated everyone to a movie, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory. Weird... but entertaining. It's no Pirates of the Carribean though!
What I really wanted to do was take everyone to a crazy Indian restaurant and feed them Tandoori Chicken... but they were wimps! Cattlemans it was! Oh well! No matter what I said, they just didn't believe that Indian food could be mild and tasty. I mean, sheesh, I'm an IC patient and it's never irritated my bladder. Alas, I digress!
The funniest moment of the birthday came, from my brother Jack, who I noticed singing a different tune when they gave me my birthday pie! I noticed that he was singing a different melody... a well known funeral dirge. Afterwards, I turned to him and said "what on earth are you singing." He admitted to us all that he had been singing the birthday dirge to all of us for the past twenty years. You know the one... sounds like a funeral march... and goes
Happy Birthdayyy <thud>... Oh Happy Birthday <thud>
Doom and gloom and dark despair
People dying everywhere!
Happy Birthdayyy <thud>... Oh Happy Birthday <thud>
My 52 year old brother!! The physics professor!! The straight A student!!! Singing a Funeral Dirge on our happiest days of the year! Now we know why he always had that funny smile going on during those moments! He confessed that he learned it while serving on a submarine in the Navy in his 20's. It was hysterical when he admitted it. We made him sing it out loud... he turned bright red! It was sooo funny!!!
My point with this brief, weird, journal entry is to share my birthday philosophy. You can have great birthdays even with IC! Use this special day to:
(1) Give thanks for those who have made your life meaningful
(2) Remember, with thoughtfulness, those who you have cared for. (::as she looks up to heave to see some lovely angels looking down::)
(3) Create a new, different and fun family memory. Even with IC, you can make smiles and laughter happen!
(4) Take time for you... and, yes, you can be a layabout all afternoon if you'd like without any shame. You're entitled... we're entitled. It's OUR birthday, afterall!
(5) Send thank you notes to everyone who gives you a present
(6) Buy yourself flowers once a week for a month
(7) If it makes you laugh, sing silly songs too!
(8) Try to bring laughter to the birthdays and special days of those around you too! Make it a happy day! Do special things! Make a new memory!
Anyone else have any great IC friendly birthday ideas??
Jill :)