Surprise! It's me again! All that NN14 energy means when I saw a hole in the schedule, I rushed over to fill it :). Summertime is birthday time here at Casa Brillig... K1 is a Gemini, K2 and I are Moonchildren, and Mr. Brillig's a Virgo. That means parties! Follow me below the dingledoodle squigglie dKosagnocchi dividerthingie fold after a word from our sponsor, and let's talk birthday celebrations...
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When I was growing up, "go somewhere to have a birthday party" just wasn't a Thing You Did For Kids Parties. My box of photos inherited from Mom currently awaiting a week or two of my life where I can sort and scan everything suggests that I had a lot of birthdays in my backyard. I remember small plastic pools and, when I was older, the above-ground one we'd put in. I know there were games on the front lawn (badminton, volleyball, and I am old enough that "Jarts" were a thing people had; thankfully no one was impaled!), homemade cakes on the porch, and truth be told I have no idea if people went home with goodie bags back then.
Fast forward to my kids' birthday experiences. K1's early years, up until she was about 7 or so, all involved at-home parties. There was the year we put out slip-n-slides, and one adventurous year we tie-dyed T-shirts for everyone. We had a magician come to the house one year. But around second grade, the push to have a party "somewhere" was growing stronger. Perhaps it was that for kids with winter birthdays, at-home meant inviting a lot of the class but not having room for everyone, or a dose of cabin fever. Whatever the case, birthdays became trips to the bouncy house place, or paint-your-own pottery, or mini-golf, etc. As long as it wasn't at home.
Thankfully K1's been an easy kid to plan for... as long as she and her besties were able to have a fun time together, she's been happy. Once we hit the teenaged years, a trip to Six Flags amusement park was one year and Japanese hibachi grill was another. This year was special, her 16th birthday... so we took she and a few friends to see Blue Man Group then sleepover.
K2's class is all about the action and adventure. By far the most popular place to have a birthday has been a place called Jump On In... essentially, a trampoline wonderland where you can jump individually or play dodgeball while jumping. Because his birthday is in July, we usually celebrate it with his school friends either in June or September... ie, during school. We've learned the hard way summer parties in general are hard to get people to attend. Today was a school friend's party, and they chose to do an at-home party. Of course, they have a pool, so on this 90+ degree day, it was well-attended :).
Birthdays as an adult have been interesting. Most years I favor a quiet affair- dinner with family, nothing overly fancy. The year I turned 45 I happened to be on vacation in Oklahoma, so my birthday began at midnight in a casino and ended that evening in a tattoo parlor, where I got a UU chalice inked on my shoulder. haven't had many like that :-). This year's 50th was exactly what I wanted... calm quiet day, with dinner at a favorite restaurant that everyone in the family agreed was a good choice.
What birthdays do you remember fondly, or wish you'd had, or hope never to have again? Please share your birthday thoughts here!
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From Its the Supreme Court Stupid:
In HoundDog's diary on NY GOP gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino accusing Andrew Cuomo and Chris Christie of being "in cahoots" over Bridgegate and the Republican Governors Association failure to support Astorino, Dood Abides coins a new word.
From Angie in WA State:
This comment by EdSF in this diary by JoanMar, because truer words were never spoken.
From emeraldmaiden:
In Mourning CNN by Upie, I came across this moving comment by Lib Dem FoP.
From Yours Truly, brillig:
In Steveningen's Ted Nugent calls people demanding venues cancel his concert "Unclean Vermin", sjburnman starts a thread well worth reading, particularly bkamr's comment on humanity.
Top Mojo for yesterday, July 23rd, first comments and tip jars excluded. Thank you
mik for the mojo magic! For those of you interested in How Top Mojo Works, please see his diary
FAQing Top Mojo.
1) always look on the bright side: by bubbanomics — 242
2) I lost 250 and reversed my diabetes. by zenbassoon — 231
3) {{{{{Mrs. Badger}}}}}! by JeffW — 226
4) Refugee children at the border till need stuff. by TexMex — 199
5) Someone who knew the price of things by ontheleftcoast — 177
6) RIP, Badger. You will be missed. by Gordon20024 — 173
7) Heart hugs, Mrs. Badger. May you know solace by worldlotus — 144
8) Always Look on the Bright Side of Life by aoeu — 143
9) it's rough sometimes... by Front Toward Enemy — 136
10) The Reverend Barber event was my favorite by navajo — 131
11) I love that there are two of these videos posted by Eileen B — 127
12) Let's hope this gets on the rec list today. by nailbender — 120
13) Say Obama ran for president -- twice -- by Remediator — 118
14) Mrs. Badger by Kestrel — 118
15) What was the harm? by leevank — 113
16) And a gentle last farewell... by Vacationland — 105
17) This is really beautiful, David. by Laura Clawson — 105
18) What a profound, profoundly sad by Calvino Partigiani — 104
19) The heartless response to these by JoanMar — 103
20) Anything with "dump" and "Nugent" by badscience — 103
21) Which part of his life was unamerican? by theKgirls — 101
22) Eloquent and profound it turned out to be by Catte Nappe — 100
23) Regarding fascism, racism and hatred by David54 — 99
24) I'm in rescue and even my dogs don't sleep in by cany — 99
25) It was different situation by kos — 96
26) {{{Mrs Badger}}} by sfbob — 94
27) He's American like me by anastasia p — 94
28) OMG..!!..that is depressing... by Glen The Plumber — 90
29) My condolences, Mrs. Badger. by badscience — 90
30) Jeez... by Retroactive Genius — 89
Top Pictures for yesterday, July 23rd. Click any picture to be taken to the full comment. Thank you
jotter for the image magic!