Saturday, October 11, 2008

Someone Else Turned 50 - Dutch Style

I didn't have just a 50th birth-day. I actually had a birthday month. It all started in early September when a package arrived from one of my sisters, Kathy. In it were five presents all wrapped up with a note on each one. The first said, "Open this one now." The second one I was to open the following Monday, three weeks before my birthday, and there was one a week up to and including my actual birthday. That was fun and the anticipation was wonderful!
A week before my birthday felt like my birthday..... but then I didn't know what was to come. I opened my next gift from Kathy and received two cards to celebrate my special day. Then another gift arrived from my other sister, Tricia, and a bouquet of flowers.
The next day came another bouquet of flowers.
And the next day more blooms arrived and another gift bag full of goodies.
I was beginning to note a pattern. (Isn't the dog cute! He was a gift from my sister, Barbara.)
More flowers and another gift bag.I was running out of vases......
and rooms to put them in. It was a nice problem to have.
Finally I did run out of vases and since I had received a beautiful fall ribbon in one of the gift bags, I asked the helper to the assistant to the birthday fairy to get some things for a fall centerpiece. It is even prettier in person. And another gift arrived as well.
Jon is a good cook and a willing one, but I decided to make my own cake - it is a fussy recipe and a bit hard to make. I began my birthday with a delicious piece of that cake for breakfast and enjoyed every morsel. I received more gifts and prepared to enjoy my day. The gift I gave myself was I didn't have to clean house that day, though it was my usual day for that activity. Didn't have to do my Dutch lesson, nor my aerobics. That was just about celebration enough for the day! A friend invited me to lunch and I met her over at the TWR offices. There were illusions to yet another present awaiting me, so I headed down to Jon's office to fetch it. As I walked down the hall towards the kitchen I could smell something wonderful and thought, "Somebody is having something good for lunch. As I walked past the door..... Surprise! Our friends and colleagues and planned a celebration of my special birthday!
They had festooned the room.
They had gathered some of their favorite recipes and hung them on the wall. We had started a blog called The Recipe Room where we share our recipes from our monthly staff lunches. Hmmmm, these look lekker!
There were hugs all around.
And bubbles for celebration.
Turns out I was one of the somebody's getting that delicous lunch.
But I did share with others. There was also a special delivery of a Sarah cookie. I couldnt wait to try it.
The folks had e-mailed my friends and family and they had sent birthday greetings to me, which they had compiled and put in my card from the staff which included their love and best wishes.
Of course, we had to have party games. I played two of them - can you guess how many roses there are? Being a genius, I guessed 50 which meant I got to take them home!
Then came the hard part. I had to guess how many 50 euro cent pieces there were on this board. Fortunately my highly developed deductive reasoning kicked in and I guessed 50 and so I got to take them home as well.
And there were more presents!
And since it is a Dutch birthday, you must have a silly song.
Here are the words to mine sung to the music of "Oh, Susanna": Oh, Dear Susan! It was nineteen hundred fifty-eight A little girl was born, With her jet black hair and big bright eyes And skin so soft and warm. (Refrain) Oh, dear Susan, you're fifty years today. Traveled everywhere, but you're from nowhere. We hope you're here to stay. Susan went to school at Taylor, Where she took French 101. Well, she may have gone unnoticed then Except for handsome Jon. Jon and Susan moved from place to place Wherever God would send. In the year two thousand five they moved Themselves to the Netherlands. Susan planned the move so carefully; Downsized from large to small. Measurements she had in hand For every floor and every wall.* Susan doesn't care for sports at all, Not basketball or track. But she does enjoy all nature. Joins the ducks with kwak, kwak, kwak. Susan loves to swim and scuba dive And fish the dep blue sea. Loves to ride a roller coast high; That's just her "cup of tea". Susan's handy with a needle And we know she likes to bake. She is good at making miniatures, Like a tiny birthday cake.*
I couldn't decide which of the desserts to try, so they made me have a piece of each!
I received more cards, e-cards and gifts from family. Ooooooh, moolah, the joy of figuring out what to spend it on. My brother gave me two gift cards - one for the first fifty years and one for the next fifty. I asked him if I had to wait another fifty years to spend the second one. Hmmm if they compounded the interest, that would be quite a sum. (I can see I have been living with a finance guy for waaaay too long.) It was an incredible day full of fun and laughter and joy.
If I had known being 50 was this much fun, I'd have done it a lot sooner!