Growing up with four siblings wasn't something enjoyable. While I love every single brother and sister I have, it was tough to be heard with all the over-powering personalities in the house. As I got older, and my brothers decided to live with my father, it got easier but I was still surrounded by three females. Three loud, and opinionated females. My older sister was a popular bitch, so she got what she wanted, when she wanted it. My little sister was the baby, and she was treated like one until the adults didn't want to take care of the problems that came along with getting older. I know how sad that sounds, but it's true. My mother is a very emotionally driven woman in a lot of ways. She shops emotionally, she dates emotionally, and she lives her life emotionally. You know when she gets fed up because she lets everyone know it. Needless to say shes the grown up version of my older sister, just don't tell them that. There I was, for a long time the only boy in the house. I kept to myself, watched my family, and had a few friends at school. I was by no means, the popular guy though. So every year my birthday would come up and I would ask to do less and less. It wasn't that I hated getting older, I just knew what my family would turn it into. My mother would create a theme that would NEVER be true to me, my older sister would use it as an excuse to invite her friends (ultimately outnumbering my own) to take over, and my little sister would somehow be the center of attention in some dramatic way. So, I never had a birthday party growing up. Just some cake, ice cream, and a few presents at home. Of course my mother always took pity on me and gave me whatever I wanted, but I never asked for a lot.
Lets skip forward a few years. My birthday lands on the most awkward of days (obviously) April 20th. Smokers holiday, Hitlers Birthday, and an astrological train wreck! I knew what I WANTED to do, but my partner was hellbent on creating a fun environment for me. Bless him, I love him to death, but he just did not understand my inner plight. He started creating a surprise Birthday party with some newer friends of ours, and I quickly dashed that dream. While the intention was appreciated, my awkward life would never allow it. It finds ways to embarrass me at inopportune times. So, knowing that my partner wouldn't be dropping the subject, I took charge. He asked what I wanted to do, and boy did I answer. If he wanted people over, fine, but my day was NOT changing. I had a day of food and video games all planned out! So it was hot dogs, hamburgers, and Halo 3. Who was invited? Only the people who I play games with on pretty much a daily basis. I allowed one exception in the form of a friend of his choosing. Call me stubborn, call me a party pooper, but I had fun on my terms. I didn't invite a lot of people, and if you are one and you stumbled upon my blog, I apologize, but I'm sure you are already aware of aversion to parties. Thank you for understanding in advance, and know I love you. :D
Even with my careful planning, subtle passive aggressive planning, and not so subtle passive aggressive planning, my partner STILL had his way with the party planning. He ordered balloons, put up streamers, banners, and had a cake planned. It was a bit much for me, so I added personal touches to each of the decorations. I'm not controlling....
Still, this small party was fun! I had my brother stop by and my nephew swung by for a bit as well. My nephews are hardcore gamers, I love them to death, but only one of them lives here in AZ. So he came by and played a few rounds with us. I had a lot of fun. I'm sure anyone reading this is going to think that all this sounds horrible, but I didn't want it to feel like a Birthday party, and I succeeded. So my first and very unorthodox Birthday party was awesome, and maybe next years (my 27th?!) will be a genuine Birthday party, if I can find enough balls to go through with it.
Happy belated birthday. <3
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