jayfurr | Carole's Birthday

caroleotter's 40th birthday is on Friday. I'll be starting the DC 3-Day that day. I know it may seem odd that on such a momentous occasion I'll be 800 miles away from her, but if you don't mind my weaseling a bit, perhaps you could say "Well, he's doing something awfully nice, walking in honor of his wife on her 40th birthday."

The fact is, when I did well enough on fundraising earlier this year that I decided to walk a second 3-Day, I opted to add the walk in DC without really stopping to think that I would be doing so on her birthday, let alone her 40th. The 2008 3-Day in DC was my first, and it's an event that's close enough to home that it's easy to get to. Furthermore, ever since I heard that the 2009 event started at the Washington Nationals stadium and ended at the Lincoln Memorial I've been wanting to go back and experience such a neat route for myself. (The 2008 3-Day began at a mall way out in Virginia and ended in a downtown DC parking lot and went near absolutely nothing exciting along the way.)

So yeah, there's a bit of sheepish guilt there.

On the other hand, I spent my 40th birthday three years ago on site at a customer in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and by the time I got home from that trip it seemed anticlimactic to go to any sort of fuss, so...

Yeah, we can both be bums at times. Welcome to adult life.

Her big 40th birthday gift was our trip to France this summer. I promised her, years ago, that we would go to France before she turned 40. This promise came about because we were always going off and doing things like touring the southwest USA or going to maritime Canada and were never doing anything really exciting like Europe. She doesn't remember the promise, but we did go this summer, and we did have a great time, for the most part, so at least there's that.

We celebrated her birthday on Saturday with three cakes from our favorite baker -- three cakes each decorated with a different message and with different frosting and filling and so forth. I hate having to celebrate a birthday early -- but at least, I guess, it's better than celebrating it late. I'd send her a mess of flowers on Friday but I actually don't know where she'll be that day. She may be at another temp assignment (it's been hard getting a permanent accounting position the last couple of years) somewhere in rural Vermont or she may be at home. If she'll be at home I'll probably go all out. If not, perhaps I can find out where she's working and send her a singing Gorilla-gram or something. (Okay, no, I'm not that stupid.)

But the fact is, I may well be celebrating her birthday by calling her from the 3-Day route and singing Happy Birthday to her. I do feel guilty about it. Wish I could think of something really neat to make it up to her. Ponder ponder ponder.