Edith/Maddie here, bringing you a month of group posts about celebrating. Because really, who doesn’t like a good celebration? Humans tend to celebrate all kinds of milestones and holidays. Birthdays, graduations, family events like Thanksgiving, meeting a personal fitness goal. For authors, we get to add book-related cool stuff like a book release, seeing a book in print for the first time, meeting a deadline, and blogging together. Maybe even making a bestseller list.
Yesterday was my birthday, and as a good Scorpio, I’m not ashamed to tell you that. One of the best gifts I got was seeing our fabulous dynamic young mayor, Kassandra Gove, re-elected for two more years! Yes, I did my share of sign holding and campaigning.
Two months after she was elected for the first time, COVID hit and Mayor Gove rose to the challenge brilliantly. She totally deserved a second term, and I’m delighted she got it. (Whoever made this poster totally got her – it looks just like the mayor!)
Otherwise, Hugh got me chocolates and flowers and gourmet takeout dinner (with cake), and my sons each called, which is all I need to make me happy.
Wickeds, how do you like to celebrate your birthday? Do you have an annual ritual connected to your birthday? How did you celebrate as a child?
Barb: Happy belated birthday, Edith! My birthday is January 6th. My mother threw some great parties for me when I was a kid, but my family is not much for adult birthday celebrations and even if we were, by January 6th, everyone has seen each other ENOUGH. For the last few years, my friend author Lucy Burdette has organized a lovely lunch out with friends for our mutual birthdays. (We were born a week apart–same year.) That is just the right speed for me. Of course, last year I got an insurrection for my birthday, but I hope that won’t become a tradition.
Jessie: Happy birthday, Edith! I love to celebrate most anything but am particularly delighted by birthdays. I love to plan fun things for friends and especially for my children. I don’t have a particular tradition about it but rather prefer to tailor the activities to the feted person including baking their favorite cake. Each of them has wanted something different so we have had the pleasure of strawberry, banana with chocolate frosting, ice cream cake, flourless chocolate torte and a towering coconut and fresh berry extravaganza. Such fun!
Sherry: Happy birthday, Edith! Like Barb we had lots of fun birthdays as kids, but now I’m content with a dinner in or out with my family.
Liz: Happy birthday Edith! I’m a pretty simple birthday girl too. I like a nice dinner and some cake and I’m good. Although my favorite birthday of all time was my surprise 40th, which included many of the local Wickeds – I will always remember that night. So fun!
Readers: How do you like to celebrate your birthday? How did you celebrate as a child?
Like Barb and Sherry, my adult birthdays were low-key for the longest time: a nice dinner and no gifts. But I got some ideas from two Environment Canada colleagues in Toronto that changed my approach. Katrina and I have birthdays in the depths of winter: hers is in mid-January, mine is in late February. She always took a personal leave day off to pamper herself. I had never thought of doing that although it is pretty easy to use one of my accumulated vacation days with short notice to my boss. So when my birthday fell on a Friday or Monday, I took a personal leave day and went on a whirlwind 3-day vacation, often to San Francisco or Chicago.
When I retired from Environment Canada in 2015, I was able to combine my birthday travel usually with going to Left Coast Crime (e.g. Phoenix, Honolulu) for a few weeks. I was able to do the things I love: eat yummy food, hike/explore gorgeous natural settings and read a lot of books!
That’s a great approach to a birthday, Grace.
Thanks, Edith. Like many, I was stuck at home in February 2021 with the pandemic lockdowns in Ontario. It would be nice to resurrect this birthday tradition in February 2022 but it really depend on how pandemic conditions are next winter on whether I am willing to travel long-distance. But I am still planning on going to LCC2022 in early April, although I have not booked my flights yet. See you there!
I hope you had a great day yesterday Edith!
As for me, I had a typical kind of birthday celebration as a kid. A party with cake and ice cream and presents. That kind of thing. As I got a little older, I stopped with parties. I even stopped with cakes. I preferred a cherry pie.
These days, I don’t really do much celebrating. I barely acknowledge it really. Since I turned 50 last year, my sister cooked me a steak dinner which was nice. And before the shutdown, a concert fell the day before my birthday so I bought myself a ticket and said I bought my own birthday present. Occasionally I get a card or a Facebook congratulations on my birthday but that’s about it for this semi-old fogey.
Steak and a concert sounds like a great birthday celebration, Jay.
Happy birthday, Edith! I love your enthusiasm for supporting effective leaders.
Thank you!
Usually your pick for dinner on your birthday. Had a 16th birthday party that was fun. I love parties but usually again favorite meal now. My birthday my husband’s and our anniversary all the same week in Jan. Oh I love to send someone like 40 things daily for 40 days leading up to their special day anonymously of course. Lot of fun.
Fun idea!
Happy birthday Edith!
As a small kid, it was always just a family party. After my brother was born (his birthday is exactly a week before mine, six years apart) and reached birthday celebration age, it was always a joint party. And since he was the younger kid, he got to choose everything – the cake, the decorations, you name it.
Nowadays, a nice dinner and my favorite cake from the Oakmont Bakery is fine – although this year I was up in Buffalo for my sister-in-law’s baby shower, so my step-mother made dinner and a cake for me, which was also nice.
Can’t go wrong with a favorite cake!
Edith hope your birthday was the best one – yet – until the next one!
As a child, we were made to feel special with Mom fixing our favorite meal and dessert. I was always the more practical child and instead of parties I would take the money that would have been spent of the party on something more special to me. One year that meant taking me and my BBF to Santa Land with a whole day of fun followed by a sleep over.
As I became a Mom, I realized that my birthday had as much to do with my Mom as it did about me. I tried to make the day special for my Mom in some small way. As I’ve gotten older, it’s more about being with those I love and appreciating them than gifts.
On a fun side note, in my family it was always “your’ time until the next person had a birthday. With birthdays scattered out so everyone had a little time to be favored. Now there’s just hubby and I left and our birthdays are exactly 6 months apart. Since I just had a birthday the later part of October, it’s now MY turn for the 6 months of being “boss”. 🙂 Nothing like getting to extend out a celebration!
2clowns at arkansas dot net
Happy birthday to you, Kay!
Happy Birthday Edith!
We had cake and ice cream for our birthday. As an adult, I don’t do much.
THanks, Dru.
Happen birthday!! Just had mine 8n October – I like cards and going out to eat, that’s all.
Happy birthday, Kathy!
Happy birthday, Edith! I’m sad to say I don’t usually do much for my birthday anymore, though I do take the day off from work sometimes and spend it gardening (weather permitting).
I believe in taking the day off – and gardening? So much the better.
Happy, a day late, Birthday, Edith! We have a November Scorpio Grandson, so November is a month of many “Thanksgivings” in our family. I did have birthday parties growing up, but really haven’t wanted parties as an adult. When I was a teen and in my early 20’s, I would send a Thank You card to my friend’s mothers. I always thought how nice it would be to know your child’s friend appreciated you being their friend’s mother. And, I had a good friend who would write a thank you note to my own mother, too. Getting married and having a family caused that practice to become more spotty, but I did try to keep it up for really close friends as long as I could.
That is a lovely practice, Judy!
As an adult I like to go to dinner with my husband. I always had my choice of dinner and my favorite birthday cake for my birthday as a kid. I have to admit I miss having someone bake me a birthday cake on my birthday. Those days were over a long time ago. I do hope that Bill and I can go out to dinner this year since I turn 65 on the 23rd of November. I’m just not sure we will.
You can at least have cake at home!
Belated birthday wishes , Edith! I see it was a really nice day fir you so that’s wonderful news. As a child my Mom had a nice at home Birthday party for each of her three daughters, mine in December and the other two in Feb. and March. We each had six or eight friends and Mom served all kinds of little sandwiches and our favorite cake. She also had cake for each friend to take home for their and their family! Living in a small town you knew each family quite well.
For my 16th birthday my parents had a huge birthday party fir me at a local restaurant at a golf course and sports venue. I had about 30 kids and we had DJ music, dancing and a fabulous buffet one for the entrees and then a second one with the birthday cake and all other pastries and ice cream. The “boys” all wore sports coats and the girls wore their “party dresses” and other than two really fun sit down dinner and dancing proms and our wedding, that 16th birthday party has never ever been forgotten as the best birthday party I’ve ever had! Ahh, memories!!
That sounds lovely, Cynthia.
My birthday has become a pretty low key event most years. My family will often celebrate, but usually after the fact when my parents come down for a visit. I wish it were more of a thing, but I hate saying “come celebrate my birthday with me.” I guess I need to change that.
Ask for what you need!
Good morning, and Happy Belated Birthday to you, I’m glad you had a good birthday! Yesterday was my husbands birthday. I love to spend my birthday with my family. When I was just a little girl growing up, our birthday would start early in the morning before my dad would leave for work, he would play Happy Birthday on his harmonica standing in front of our bedroom door, later on my mom would take us to a bakery to let us choose our bday cake and then we would go get some ice cream to go with the cake and then we would all have cake and ice cream after dinner, very cherished memories. Our dad and mom always made all our Holidays and birthdays extra special and there were 6 of us kiddos. God Blessed us with very good and very loving parents.
Wonderful role models! Please wish your husband Happy Birthday from me.
I had a summer birthday & hated it because my friends would be away at camp or family vacations so I never had a party. When I was a teenager people would make birthday corsages for friends – bows covered with bubble gum, candy or coins – to wear at school. The popular girls wore A LOT on their sweaters! One summer a good friend made me one, but where would I wear it? To the swimming pool?
These days I might have dinner with friends, my sister usually takes me out to dinner too. This year I joined 2 friends with birthdays close to mine & we took a cruise around Manhattan Island followed by dinner in an Irish pub – a perfect birthday celebration!
That cruise sounds perfect.
Quietly.
LOL!
Happy November birthday fellow Scorpian!! 11/4 was my grandfathers and 11/17 is mine!
Thank you, and happy birthday to you!
I picked up some small eclairs on my last grocery run and if they last that long I’ll have one on my birthday. As I child, I remember usually having to wait for the weekend when my father was home to celebrate with cake and ice cream.