Birthdays - Yuck

I was a big fan of birthdays as a kid. When I turned seven, I still remember the chocolate chip cookie my Dad got with white and chocolate icing on it. It was so big we couldn't finish it. So we put it in the freezer in the garage. Where I repeatedly snuck to in order to take a bite before or after school. I think I also got a shirt with a big number 7 on it.

I know I got other neat and cool gifts, but for some reason that one sticks out.

And I remember my 18th birthday. Mostly because it was two days after I started dating Yvonne. I think the greatest gift she gave me then was the fact that she stuck around long enough to hold my hand (and no, she wasn't drunk). And there was my 21st birthday I was surprised by my Mom and Dad when I was in college. That was pretty neat (but I'm still not big on surprises).

But my birthdays have long since run together. There was even a period of a few years where I would have to stop and do the math to figure out how old I was. Is it 27 or 28? Well, thirty hit last year and I was not excited. Which means 31 is less than a month away and I'm still not excited. Hell, I'm more excited about the afore mentioned anniversary of dating Yvonne (it'll be 13 years on October 1st).

The idea of getting gifts at my age is, well, fun and sad at the same time. I love free stuff. But I hate asking for it.

Maybe this year I'll ask for $500,000 dollars. Yes, that's 5 zeroes after the 5. What would I do with it? Buy the family farm to ensure it would continue to stay in the family (123 years so far). But I would donate the house to the local museum or something so they can help me store and research family history, Nebraska history, pioneer history, and everything else under the sun that applies to the area.

I guess that's why I don't get big presents anymore. I tend to give them away.

Maybe I'll just ask for a Lowe's gift card instead.