Whenever a childapos;s birthday comes along, an epic battle plays out in my head. Do I want to make a big deal out of it? How much can I afford to spend? Do I want to cook? Do I have the time? Do I really want to bother?
But I havenapos;t been around for Craigapos;s birthday the last two years. And I didnapos;t want to let another go by without at least a small party. Birthdays are a big deal to me. My mom never let mine go by without a good party. From parties with games and prizes and balloons when I was little, to parties with music and dancing and disco balls when I was older.
Plus itapos;s been forever since Iapos;ve had my Home Team over. And Craig bought me Coke Light as a treat last weekend.
So that settled it lah. I bought the groceries yesterday and cooked dinner tonight. I shudder at the amount of leftover pasta there is. I should have known better than to cook 1kg worth for just 12 people. Considering there were also 2 shepherdapos;s pies. And salad. And chips. And fruit. And ice cream cake.
Hereapos;s the birthday boy with his cake and ever ready store of goofy poses. Evidently he also favours a samurai-style cake-cutting stance.
I have also rediscovered the convenience of having help. In London, when one cooks, one cleans up after oneself. Here, I do the planning and Glory does the initial chopping up of food while I am at work. I come home and cook and she does the washing up as I go along. Brilliant.
Whatapos;s even more brilliant, is having my most beloved friends gathered around my kitchen table, eating and laughing and chatting. And seeing the kids (all so grown up except my Lauren who has never even been to my place) spread out all over the house, doing whatever it is they were up to. And of course there was Joe who took his compulsory nap on the living room floor. I have the photo evidence, but I desist from putting it up. Plus most of you have seen his party trick for yourselves anyhow. Ah the beauty of the familiar.
Thank you Adele for all the assorted presents you came with. For the kids as well as for me. I really appreciate them.
Tomorrow Craig continues the birthday celebrations with the ex-inlaws. And on Sunday weapos;ll finish off the hat trick with dinner at HRC. I hope he enjoys this debut into teenhood. I cannot believe my baby isnapos;t one anymore. Man...
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