Surprise!

Note: I wrote a LOT today. So prepare yourselves, and I won't be too hurt it you skip the middle section... at least I won't tell you that I'm hurt.

I don't know who founded surprise parties. Until about six months ago, I had never participated in one, myself. But sometimes duty calls and the perfect situation comes about and you have to throw a surprise party. Such a thing happened last September when my friend Brianne was procrastinating planning her birthday party, and I decided to jump on in, because who doesn't love surprises?

We all clambered into her closet and jumped out, as a homage to Prom Night, where the killer has a thing for closets. I don't remember Brianne's reaction, I suppose she was simply surprised. But when I got home from badminton yesterday, I have to say I was more shocked than surprised. At first I thought my mom had decided to decorate early, rather than get up before me on my birthday and doing it then. It was about that moment when a bunch of people jumped from behind the couch and chair, and I was, well, surprised.

It sounds like I have no faith in my family, when I say I wasn't expecting it. On Friday, I had told my mom that instead of planning the menu myself, I would prefer if she could plan it and surprise me, so it was a bit of a coincidence when that is what they did the next day.

I sat down and before long I was pointing at everyone and asking if they had known about this. I thought it must have been a spur of the moment thing, but apparently the planning had been in the works for a few weeks. I was impressed. No offence intended (and I seriously mean that, I'm not just saying it to cover up for insulting you, which I did do, but didn't mean to)

Now it's my birthday. May 10th. W00T. The most common question that is asked of a person on their birthday is some version of, "do you feel older?" (also common is "how does it feel to be __"). The answer to this is usually some version of "I feel the exact same as I did yesterday". But the weird thing is, that is not an honest answer for me. I do feel older, if not only a little. The thing is, it's only your birthday for one day out of 365 and a 1/4, so the chance that you're actually going to mature a noticeable amount on that day is low. But this year it feels like it's been building up for a while, all year in fact, and now it's all burst to the surface. Fifteen feels like an accomplishment. That's a multiple of five, 30 divided by 2, and a bunch of other mathematical things. In a year, I'll be able to drive (provided I have the required courage and manage to pass the test--I have a premade wish for next year!). Why is it that the age you've just turned always feels WAAAY older than just one day ago.

I don't think I'll have too difficult of a time adjusting to this new fifteen-ness. It's been coming on for a year. I am having an enjoyable birthday, so far. Now I have to get some ice cream. I'm going to come back to this blog when I get back so I can answer Rena's question so though it may take a second for you to scroll down, please know that there was a gap between here and...

Here. Yeah. Ice cream was had. Yum. (apparently ice cream man, Andy, has the same birthday as me. Happy birthday, Andy!)

All this talk of age has reminded me of the OTHER thing I was going to write about. The future. We think about it ALL THE TIME. You go to school and then you go to college so you can be prepared for when you REAL life begins. Because all of your life up until you graduate, isn't real. It's completely fake. It's all been useless other than to prepare you for the future. For getting that job. For finding a partner. For having kids. For your retirement. And then you die. You have to learn and save. Until you die that is. Nothing to prepare you for that. 

It gets you thinking, what's even the point? I'm not trying to sound suicidal, but if your whole life isn't real, what are we trying to get at anyway? I guess you just have to be as happy as you can with what you have at the moment, because you never know when it's all going to end. But why are we so obsessed with preparing ourselves for the "harsh realities" of real life? All these trials and problems I've been through, apparently are just the beginning. Real life is going to be much harder. Oooh, I'm scared, now. Instead of teaching kids to be happy, we teach them how to deal with pain. There's something wrong with that.

After all that doom and gloom I thought I'd leave you with a few snippets of conversation from our chess table last night after the party (for reference we have a Lord of the Rings chess set):

Rachel: Alex is smarter than me. I admit it.

Alex: At least you have the maturity to say that out loud.

R: I will also admit that the last person I won chess against was 9-year-old, and it was just barely.

...

Caitlyn: (playing with the deceased chess pieces) Saruman's getting his freak on.

A: Frodo is such an idiot. How can Sam put up with him? 

R: Yeah, here's Sam (all the pawns), carrying this huge backpack, and Frodo just wanders around with a sword drawn.

A: The relationship is unequal, and unfair. Sam must revolt!

...

A: You're not necessarily going to lose, Rachel. Maddy beat me.

...

C: If more people surrendered, there would be more pride and dignity.

R: I have pride and dignity.

C: You have Sam and Frodo.

R: And Merry.

...

A: Good game, Rachel. Remind me not to bring you to chess club. I don't want you to be beaten by a five-year-old girl like Maddy was. I'm just thinking of you.

...

I realize I haven't answered your questions and I will devote my blog on Thursday to it, if I must, because I just want to publish this now. I just have enough energy to proof-read for clarity.

Happy birthday to me. Hope everyone had a good my birthday.

Oh one more thing. It occurred to me, as I was waiting for my ice cream, that May 10th, is just an ordinary day for other people. This year it's Mother's Day, as well, but every other year it's just another day. It's odd to think about it, because it's such an important day for me. For instance, tomorrow is thousands of peoples birthday, and I don't know them, but for me it's just another manic Monday... isn't that something.