July

 July is a big month for me. It’s Rob and my birthday month. Which, as an adult is a little different than it would be as a child. When I was a kid, July meant birthday parties, cake, presents from parents, grandparents and friends, dinners out, all of it. But as an adult, trying to desperately learn the art of the budget, it mostly means a slice of buttercream cake from Kroger and Rob letting me sleep in, cooking me an amazing dinner and trying to get the kids to clean their rooms. 


Heather has created a culture of the birthday month which I respect and admire. She starts her “save the month” texts in April. I know what flowers she prefers in her birthday bouquet (lillies) and that a jug of sweet tea is a perfect gift.


July as a kid meant telling mom who I wanted at my slumber party, what kind of cake to buy and where to order the pizza from. It meant going to the mall anytime from July 1 to 31 and using “it’s my birthday “ as a reason for her to get me something. It meant having a family date, my favorite one being going out to my favorite pizza place and her and dad giving me a little ring I had been admiring for a while, then going to a movie with them. Or my 21st birthday when they took me to Savannah. We stayed in a beautiful old house. The hosts set up a champagne breakfast on the front porch for me, and tourist buses took pictures of us celebrating. Then we went to Elizabeth’s on 37th where we ate and ate and drank mint juleps. A gentleman who was seated nearby stopped over to tell me  happy birthday. “It only gets better,” he said. 


If I’m honest, It did get better. More complicated and bittersweet of course. But better. 


I guess not much has really changed. Only now I tell Rob what I would like to do. This year around my birthday I will be on my annual girls weekend. Surrounded by all the girls that were at all those slumber parties when I was a kid. We will eat cake and laugh and maybe make a prank call or two. Then I’ll go home to Rob and the kids and have a special dinner and more cake and watch a scary movie. 


Rob will ask to go to dinner for his birthday. But we will try and make sure we have a pile of presents for him to open and try and spoil him for the day. But he will resist it and insist on doing something for us instead.


So honestly, I’m still doing July how I’ve always done it. Cake. Sleepover. All the people I love. 


Happy July everybody, and here’s to it all getting better every year. 

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