Last Thursday was my birthday so I turned the big 27 on September 11th. A day made infamous 13 years ago and again chosen to be my sister’s wedding day in 2009, it’s not far off to say that I don’t have the chance to do much of anything on it when it comes around. My day started out with my mom treating me to lunch, an event that usually coincides with celebrating my sister’s wedding anniversary as well. It was originally planned to be just my mom and I, but my sister and youngest niece joined us as well. Lunch was filling and my mom presented me with both new towels and sheets for my new bed (which is on layaway and still waiting to get paid off).

My next stop was to the Book Arts Center, the non-profit I’ve been volunteering at for 2½ years. We have a tradition where we split gourmet cupcakes to celebrate everyone’s birthdays as a way of celebrating. Two of the staff wished me a happy birthday before-hand and when I arrived, while the last one did as an afterthought after we locked up and he rode off on his bike. They didn’t do anything for my birthday and I immediately felt super bummed. Maybe I was more hurt because it was something I was really looking forward to, but it just seemed like they didn’t care enough to even bother. (Side note: I went in the next day to finish up some projects and nothing was said by anyone about it.)

(e:yesthatcasey) had asked me earlier in the week to let him know how I wanted to celebrate, so I told him all I wanted was a nice, chill evening spent relaxing. Casey, our roommate Brad, and I began the evening playing Castle Risk with the aid of some quality vodka. (e:terry) stopped by shortly after to partake in our mellow night. Casey dominated in Castle Risk and (even with helpful advice from Terry) he wiped out my castle before overpowering Brad in any chance of retaliating from his attack. As our night continued someone mentioned playing frisbee; while I cannot remember how it came up we all decided it would be best to play out on Colonial Circle at around 1:30 AM with three frisbees in hand. It was a perfect night to be outside and even with our delayed reaction to catching or misguided accuracy at throwing, we had a good time. Terry headed home and the three of us crashed, not worrying about waking up any time soon.

I’m still a bit bummed that I didn’t get a chance to celebrate my special day with friends and family with a cake (or cupcake substitute) purely out of the symbolic thought behind it. Maybe it’s dumb because in retrospect it’s such a tiny tradition and not what birthdays are all about. Regardless, I didn’t let that ruin my day in any aspect. I had a great night bonding with my roommates and Terry, and it solidified the fact that I am now somewhere I belong living with some pretty great people.