For the past few days it has seemed like my birthday has gone from being not even thought of to being a trigger to talk to me. Chris, my mother, Oscar and Jared (in order of query) have all asked what I have planned and what I want to do for my birthday. My honest answer is that I simply do not know. Birthdays in my family end up being very food oriented, so that is the primary concern, what to eat and where to eat it. Perfectly valid thing to ask I suppose, except I plan what to cook and I cook it every other day of the year, why can someone else not have an opinion on this and let me have a culinary adventure and not fall victim to my own habits and concerns for what everyone else likes. Funny thing is, I get asked these questions every year, but it never matters, by the time everything is done my plan for my birthday ends up manipulated, mutilated and mucked around with by my mother and my aunt.

I do not know what I specifically want to do yet, but the general gist is I would like to spend a quiet evening dining with the parts of my family (including Chris) that I like, but my mother says it would be impolite to ask my father to stay at home. Funny thing about my birthday, it is the only family occasion that my father will not manage to duck out on. Maybe there is a sense of obligation there, or perhaps guilt?

I am steering away from a diner with my family at home, that seems almost too drab and non-acknowledging of my birth, and also, if someone other than me cooks, I know I will end up in the kitchen anyway because whoever is cooking will either not know how to do something, or I will not like the way things are being done, I’m over-anal like that. I guess that means I definitely want to go out.

Cakes are another topic I love. People suggest that for my birthday I should want cake, well… I don’t really like cake in general. The only cakes I really like are frozen yogurt cakes. I’m not going to mention this to anyone this year, I’m just going to let them sweat it out themselves and figure it out (only member of my family that reads this blog is Chris).

More topics of interest, I have been eligible to drink alcohol for 3 years now, and I have yet to have my first drink, and I do not anticipate having a great need for trying for it this year. I suppose not drinking probably brings down the level of festivity just a bit.