Happy Birthday to Me! Now Go Hide in a Fallout Shelter.
Just two short years ago I received a call from a family member saying something to the effect of, "You better get started on having that baby!" I replied, "Uh, no," just as I had for months prior anytime someone voiced that it would be REALLY! FUN! if I got to share my birthday with the baby. In fact, the moment I learned I was due right about my birthday, I vowed that the child would not be allowed to be born on, or immediately preceding, January 23. I don't know precisely how I planned to stop it from happening, I just knew it wasn't an option.
Every time I would look at someone like they had three heads for suggesting just how much fun it would be to share my birthday, they assumed it was because I didn't want to share "my" day. I'm not good at sharing, but that wasn't the real reason. I admit I played along with that theory because it was easier to just nod and agree. All this time, I've kept the real reason a secret. Just what is the real reason? Peeps, my birthday sucks. Every year, my birthday sucks. If something horrible doesn't happen on the actual anniversary of my birth, then it happens a day or two before my day. Every year, without fail.
To demonstrate my point, let's look at the history of January 23rd:
1556 - The deadliest earthquake in history, the Shaanxi earthquake, hits Shaanxi province, China. The death toll may have been as high as 830,000.
1570 - The assassination of regent James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, throws Scotland into civil war.
1870 - In Montana, U.S. cavalrymen kill 173 Indians, mostly women and children, in the Marias Massacre.
1941 - Charles Lindbergh testifies before the U.S. Congress and recommends that the United States negotiate a neutrality pact with Adolf Hitler. (Great idea, Charles! Hitler was such a nice guy, after all.)
1973 - A volcanic eruption devastates Heimaey in the Vestmannaeyjar chain of islands off the south coast of Iceland.
1985 - O.J. Simpson becomes the first Heisman Trophy winner elected to the Football Hall of Fame. (I don't care how great of a player he was. He doesn't deserve the honor.)
1991 - World's largest oil spill, caused by embattled Iraqi forces in Kuwait.
1993 - Indian Airlines B737 crashes art Aurangabad, 61 die.
1996 - The first version of the Java programming language is released. (Trust me, this was a sad moment in history.)
2002 - Reporter Daniel Pearl is kidnapped -- and subsequently murdered -- in Karachi, Pakistan.
2005 - Johnny Carson, American television host died.
2004 - Jennifer Lopez breaks engagement to Ben Affleck. (A great day for Ben, but it was all downhill from there for J.Lo. I mean, have you seen her current husband? Yuck!)
2007 - Iraq: twin market bombings kill over 100.
OK, OK, so none of that actually affected me personally. Want some "my world" examples? Fine:
1980 - The water lines in our house froze and we had to spend the night at a flea-bag hotel complete with orange shag carpet, a heavily stained green/orange plaid comforter, and an hourly rate.
1981 - While driving cross-country to my Grandpa's funeral, our car went kaput. We were stranded in the no man's land of rural Wisconsin for hours.
1982 - My birthday party was cancelled due to TWELVE FEET of snow.
1983 - My birthday party was cancelled due to sub-zero temperatures. (I never bothered to try to have another one after that.)
1986 - A little boy in my neighborhood died of Spinal Meningitis.
1989 - My parents forgot my birthday. Seriously, they FORGOT it. I kept thinking there was going to be some big surprise at any minute. I thought wrong.
1991 - My Dad was called up from the Air Force Reserves for deployment to the Gulf War.
1992 - My Mom had a radical mastectomy to treat breast Cancer.
1994 - My college roommate thought it would be a great idea to have her boyfriend spend the night in our all girls dorm. The things that went on in that top bunk were loud, smelly, disgusting, and very memorable. Did I mention that she was pretty heavy-set? What about that her boyfriend was more like morbidly obese? I bet that's a pretty picture in your head right now. I HAD TO BE THERE! I spent most of the night silently praying that the bunk bed wouldn't give way. I spent the rest of the night (not) sleeping in the hall.
I could fill in all of those other years, but since I'm more of a sunny-side up sort of person, I refuse to do it. Just trust me, something always happens. Given that one of my absolute favorite movies ever is Ten Things I Hate About You, I think it's safe to say there's already been one stroke of grief for this year. Let's hope there's not another.
Alexis, just be glad you were born on January 27th. It's a much happier day.
Psst . . . if you want to make my day better, you could maybe click over on one of those little Blogger's Choice buttons over to the right and place a vote. That would make me smile!
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Reader Comments (41)
Happy Birthday! You and I share the big day! I'm excited that you and I have the same birthday ....hopefully that doesn't get added to your list of things. (oh crap! I just realized...I just might be the older one- oh damn!)
How sad that Health Ledger is gone so close to our birthday...I heart 10 Things that I Hate About You. Seriously a fun movie.
Happy Birthday to the coolest Burg Blogger I know!
First off, I am sorry that your birthday has sucked for you in the past. New Years Eve is usually like that for me. But, don't think I'm letting you off the hook, because I looked it up and 1. In 1849 - Elizabeth Blackwell is awarded her M.D. by the Medical Institute of Geneva, New York, becoming
the first woman doctor in history.
2. In 1997 - Madeleine Albright becomes the first woman to serve as United States Secretary of State.
So, go out there and have a great birthday, okay?
Happy Birthday! My daughter is a January birthday too and she hates it. She can never think of a good gift she wants after Christmas and I'm usually too exhausted to throw her a good party.
But have a great day...and I'll go now and vote.
You know January 27th is National Crapper Day, right. Like literally. John Crapper & the toilet.
Well, let's just hope this year breaks the cycle! Have a happy one!
Happy Birthday!! Cripes, your right the suckitude of your birthday rivals few. Here's hoping this one doesn't suck nearly as bad as the others.
Sheesh, and I thought it was bad that Elvis died the day after my birthday!
I'm gonna vote a couple of times just cause it's your birthday. I hope it went well and you celebrated big. Now to plan the BIG party...for Alexis of course!
Happy Birthday BB's Mom!
Well Happy Birthday! We'll pray for no fallout tomorrow!
Johnny Carson's dead? And no one told me?!
Happy Birthday!!! I don't know how old you are, but I'm 40, and I didn't start having good birthdays till I was 36. This year I had to help my birthday along - I went clothes shopping. So don't lose hope! Good birthdays are out there waiting for you. Hopefully today was one of them. :)
Happy Birthday! Hopefully this will be a GOOD one to remember. Oh, and yeah Jen for finding some good stuff for this day in history--not including the day you and PAM were born!!!
I cast my vote for you today . . . good luck!!!
Wow, and I thought I had a claim to fame because MLK was killed 3 days before I was born. My dad had to go to the hospital to visit my mom when the riots were going on in K.C. I hope you have a great day tomorrow! Alexis shares her birthday with my best friends daughter.
Happy birthday!
And holy coincidences! That's insane!
I have a feeling the bad luck will break this year.
I've always been a bigger fan of celebrating "UN-birthdays" .... there are 364 of those vs. just one of the actual birthdays.
That leaves so many more chances for good things to happen, right? :)
Here's to hoping tomorrow marks another great UN-birthday for someone else... which could hopefully coincide with a decent day for you! :)
(yes, I know... I'm all sunshine and rainbows tonight.... )
I'm late to the party, as usual!! Happy Late Birthday and I hope it was a great one.
I'm still cracking up over the roomate thing! OMG!! I soooo would have been sleeping in the hall!! LOL!!
Happy Birthday!!!
Happy Birthday! Hope you'll have a great day and there won't be anything bad happening for you to add to the list! :)
Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you! Happy Biiirtthday, Dear Burgh Baby's Mom, Happy Birthday to you!
This is the year you're gonna break the streak -- I can feel it in my bones!
So sad about Heath, though, isn't it?
Happy Birthday! I've enjoyed reading your blog (found it via Adventures of Mommyhood - we were college roommies) as of late! And no, I'm no saint - my husband and I just have a heart and passion for giving a home to those little ones who badly need one here in the US.
Hmmmmm...well my oldest son's birthday is tomorrow, and it's usually a pretty okay day. I guess I'm glad he wasn't born a day earlier!!
I guess you just have to work harder at the whole "happy" thing than most people. Go get a massage or something!!
Happy, happy birthday! I hope you have a wonderful day, and go celebrate in style.
I know what you mean about birthdays. Mine has always been synonomous with bad weather. In fact, the storm was so bad when mom birthed me that it was a miracle that dad even made it to the hospital. The nurses were arriving on snowmobiles. Almost every single year during school it was a snow day. I loved it. But we've never had TWELVE FEET. Good lands, the snow castles you could make with that.
Well I was going to say that most of those things happened before you were born, then I saw all the things that happened after you were born. I'm sure though, that if you shared birthdays, it would make your birthday the best ever. Imaging getting a little tiny baby for a present. My husband and his mother share their birthdays. They are always together on it and they never forget them. BTW, when your parents forgot yours, were you 16 (like in Sixteen Candles, my favorite movie)? Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday! Do something fun today...you deserve it! :)
Happy Birthday!
Have fun and celebrate!!!!
Kimmy
Happy birthday! Just voted for you.
Emily
Maria-I was 13 when my schmuck parents forgot to celebrate the greatest gift of their lives.
Jen-Leave it to you to do a little research!
I'm not even going to check into how many bad things have happened on my birthday. I don't want to think about it. I know a girl whose birthday is Sept. 11 and she haaates it! So, I guess it could be a little worse....
Well, anyhow, Happy Birthday for whatever it's worth! ;-)
Happy Birthday!!!! Weehoooooo!!!!
Hoping you have a fabulous bday and nothing catastrophic happens. Oh and many clicks to you on the side. ;)
Happy Birthday to you! Maybe you should wear a helmet today. Do you need a helmet? Bc I have one you can borrow.
My first son was born 2 days after my birthday, and really, I was kinda glad bc now we can all pretend my birthday doesn't happen and I don't turn any older! Yay!
Oh, and thanks a whole lot for the meme tag. Ill get to it sometime on this trip. I was kicked out of the computer room last night where we were staying, so maybe today? (I would just use the hotel's free wireless but my husband, the world's least technically inclined individual, installed our wireless at home....and now we can ONLY get it at home. Grrr. I'm not bitter about it.)
Happy Birthday! Boy, I never knew Jan 23 was that eventful!
The dorm story was hilariously gross. I really feel for you. How the heck did you ever look at those two again? I would be packing my bags and changing schools. yuck.
My birthdays are usually uneventful, except last year. It was my big 4-0, I was excited. My b-day was on a Monday, so we planned a nice dinner out, at my favorite restaurant, for the Saturday night before. A few days before, my parents and my sister and her husband decided to join us. For some strange reason, when that afternoon arrived, I wasn't excited about going out. Which is strange for me. About an hour later, my sister calls to tell me our dad just had a stroke. A few minutes later, my MIL, who was also going to be our babysitter, called to tell us she had stomach flu and would not be babysitting (although obviously it didn't matter any more). So I spent my big 4-0 with my parents in the hospital. It was a very sad b-day, although my dad recovered quite well for an 82 yo. and is almost back to normal. I'll never forget that birthday.
Um...Happy Birthday???
;)
the 27th?! that's my hubby's birthday! perhaps you should have kept your legs crossed for just one more day!!
happy birthday to you!!
Happy Birthday!!!! I'm sorry about the sucky years of birthdays past.
And I'm still not ready to talk about Heath.
Happy Birthday!!!! What a great day to come back to my internets.
Must be fate! Thanks for your support.
Happy Birthday!
Sorry your birthday has, in the past, been the suckiest suck that ever sucked (to sort of quote good old Homer). I looked it up too, and your birthday also falls on National Handwriting Day, National Pie Day, and Measure Your Feet Day.
My birthday, falls on Panic Day, which is SO telling in not so great ways about me...
So I say, write yourself a lovely note in your best handwriting about how great you are, eat some pie and don't count the calories and buy yourself some new shoes.
Oh, and by the way, it's Isaac, Evie and Gracie. In that order. :)
Happy Birthday!!!!
Don't take this the wrong way, but glad that I'm not the only one with a crazy day to be born. In 1993, 52 people died in a Polish ferry boat accident. Or in 1989, 1st reported case of AIDS transmitted by heterosexual oral sex.
http://www.brainyhistory.com/days/january_24.html" REL="nofollow">"January 24"
No offense taken, Colleen. I have always found that when my curse is pretty mild, January 24th usually sucks in a big way. So I know exactly how you feel.
oh, and I guess that chinese earthquake was pretty bad...just shook for days because it's on the 24th as well....
Well, happy birthday a day late. Sorry about the tragedies. I, too, was saddened by Heath Ledger's death. He was the only young actor I liked. The rest of them seem like such... light weights. Well, except for Jake G. (I'm not even going to try to spell that last name. You know who I mean.)
I'm going to give you a vote, now. And try to sleep...
ciao,
rpm
First off, I'm traumatized that Alexis is about to be 3.
Second, yes, your birthday does, indeed, suck. SUCK suck suck. Suck.
But if it makes you feel any better, I got married on the anniversary of the atomic bomb drop on Hiroshima. Didn't find that out until after the fact, but still. Pretty bad.
And I thought it was bad that it rains EVERY year on my birthday. Guess I won't complain about that one any more. Happy birthday by the way! So that makes you what? 50?
Sorry so late to wish you a happy birthday, but a very good thing happened on your birthday in 2005. Baby Adam was born!