Sunday!! Sunday!! Suunnndaaay!!!! No it's not a demolition derby. At least not here, and not for me. Sunday marks quite a few special occasions. It's signifies the beginning of many great things in my life. Not only will I be a year older. I will also have been married to my lovely wife for a total of 6 years. I know it's a week away from the 10th anniversary of the September 11th attacks. I also know that a day after that solemn event will be my daughter's 7th birthday. This Sunday I will also be working my first full day on the new job. Believe it or not I have started other jobs on my birthday. So now the dilemma is on how I will commemorate each event in my own special way.
Last year on my birthday/anniversary otherwise know as "birthnaversary" I spent it taking constant shots of various spirits with my best friends. True my wife was there and as usual we did have dinner the night before to celebrate. This year I was planning on visiting a club to commemorate. I was quickly reminded that this is our day, not my day anymore. In the words of my wife's favorite politician of all time, Mayor Marion Barry, "BITCH SET ME UP!!!" It wasn't my idea to get married on my birthday. I did even know I was to be married that day. Now I have to suffer the consequences. So now I said, "OK then how would you like to celebrate?" It's been two weeks and nothing has been decided. I figure we'll end up doing what we usually do and have a nice overpriced dinner at some prentensious, ill designed hotel restaurant. Let me explain. We've eaten at every chain restaurant in the area. We've eaten almost everywhere we could and couldn't afford. So what we did one year was go to the National Harbor. We ended up at the restaurant in the Westin Hotel. The food was actually pretty good, not good enough for the bill. The other tidbit is the fact that my wife is an Interior Designer, so she spent a good amount of her dinner criticizing the decor and color choices.
So what do I do now? I had planned on taking her out to a swanky bar, because we never go out. I have friends with connections and figure we cab it to DC, get drunk, dance and have a grand old time. No good. She's one to complain about me making plans without her consent. If you don't already know this, my wedding was a birthday surprise. Don't get me wrong, I loved it and will always remember the momentous occasion. I get home and there is an outfit laid out, that I can't wear. All new, even the shoes. When the time comes, I am given to OK to get dressed. I thought that this was going to be a surprise party. Instead, I show up at a wedding chapel. What do I do now? I suck it up. Two things to know, we were already engaged, and if I had it my way, we would have gone to the courthouse way before that day. She didn't want that, she wanted a memorable wedding. So she planned one without me knowing the wiser. On one hand it was cool, because I had to do nothing to prepare. On the other hand, I got stuck with not being able to do "me" on my birthday.
This year is going to be a bit different. I have to work on that day, so I will have to leave the celebrating to the evening time. The good thing is I have off the next day. I transfer to a new location for my work. Even though I am technically already working, my first full day is on Sunday. I'm so excited for whats to come professionally. I needed a change. This gives me a more positive outlook on my career. I get to open a brand new location with eager fresh blood and closer to home. The fact that this all happens on September 4th means a great deal to me. Just another great reason for me to remember that date. My last long term employer hired me on September 4th many a year ago. I think this is a good sign.
September 4th 2001 fell on a Tuesday. I have no idea what I did. Oh yeah, I went to Miami for the week, and even spent a couple of days in Nicaragua. I traveled with my brother in law. We partied and had a great time. The following Tuesday was not so great. After I arrived at work, one the bosses showed up saying that a plane had crashed into the twin towers. I had a TV in my office, so I plugged it in and began to watch the rest of the days events unfold. Like many other people in the world that day I stayed glued to the TV. I was working for Greyhound at the time, so when they figured out it was a terrorist attacked, all service stopped. In the afternoon they sent everyone home, and I remember it took me 2 hours to drive from K st NE to Lanham. It should have been a 20 minute drive. After 10 years, it's still hard to think about all the people that lost their lives that day. A short 3 years later the day after would have a totally different meaning for me.
My wife was set to be induced on Monday, September 13th. She started having contractions on the afternoon of September 11th 2004. Of course, being the guy I am, I didn't believe she was actually in labor. She seemed too calm and didn't seem to be freaking out from the pain, like I imagined she would. I had not set up the car seat. I didn't even want to drive all the way to Georgetown because I didn't want to lose my parking space. I didn't pack a bag for me either. Which later bit me in the ass. I pull up in the emergency area to drop her off. By the time I walked back after parking and went to the waiting area, they had decided to deliver through cesarean. Strike one. I end up staying in the hospital room with them for a week with no clean clothes or smokes. Strike two. I had to set the car seat up on the fly in the parking garage before taking our daughter home. Strike three. Still one of the best experiences of my life.
Now back to Sunday. What to do? I think dinner and a movie. Maybe a trip to Atlantic City. I would be happy with firing up the grill or ordering carry out. Then I would have to hear her complain about the smoke or that they never put enough duck sauce in the bag. Going to the club is out of the question. She gave in and said we should go to Busboys and Poets. They just opened one near our home. The problem with that is that we've never been there and there is a possibility she might not like the food. Who am I kidding, she will definitely complain about something, that's what she does. Now if she could only decide on something to do that she will actually enjoy. I never buy concert tickets, because although she buys someones music, when I suggest we go see them, she finds a reason not to. She claims they suck in person or she doesn't like the venue. I have no clue. Whatever it is, it has to be fun, and they have to have good food. I can't figure it out. If I get it right, then I'll probably hate it. Happy Birthnaversary to me!!
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