ray-ray says

Your birthday was yesterday.

Your 30th birthday.

I thought I had everything planned out to make it the almost perfect day. ((the perfect day would be me and you at ozette, with perfect weather. and maybe seeing that couple we saw on our honeymoon. you remember, the lady was sunning herself. topless. good thing they were 50 yards away and that she was in her forties...))

Back to your birthday---
Nothing went right. The butcher gave me the wrong cut of meat for your chicken fried steak, I forgot the key ingredient for your birthday "cake". And for a split second I thought of just not making it. But then I knew I would never live that down. It would have turned into the story that would be told for years, "remember that birthday when i didn't get my cake?"
Yeah, I didn't want that to be a memory. So I had to wait until Corgan got home from school until I could go back to the store to pick it up, then rush home and make it, along with your requested dinner, and tidy up the house.
Your kids of course, wanted attention and only my attention would do. Needless to say, I raised my voice at them a few times. The cupcakes I had made earlier---when I thought that they would be an ok replacement of your birthday tradition---were sticking to the linings, and just weren't as good as I thought they should have been considering the recipe name was "better than sex chocolate cupcakes". That they were not. Not even close.

Finally dinner was done. But that also was a disappointment. Because of the cut of meat, you had to use a knife when a fork should have sufficed. Tough.
But then friends arrived, the song was sung, desserts were eaten with smiles on faces, especially yours. You had your "cake". What was I thinking when I thought not to make it?

At the end of the day it was perfect.

I was able to be with you on your big day. And your kids love the Nerf gun they gave you almost as much as you do.

Happy 30th Birthday, love!