Birthdays, Take 2 (Johanna)

How strange that Sophie and I have the same birthday! It’s bizarre, and I suppose it discounts everything and anything astrology says. We’re both Virgos down to the same day, but so obviously different. However, I’ll follow her lead and give a blow-by-blow frenzy of what happened to me!

I lay about in bed until noon, feeling dreadful and falling subject to the cheering up attempts of PXW, my guardian angel. I have somehow managed to get sinus/throat/chest infections (at the same time) about 8 or 9 times this academic year, severe enough to land me in bed for several days. It’s getting ridiculous, so I was none too happy that it had to land on my birthday. A box of tissues later, I decided to get up. My housemate David came home from uni just in time to accompany me into the city for some heavy-duty wandering. I was wearing an incredibly girly aqua sundress, cardigan and cute kitten heels, carrying a little pink Chinese parasol.. I like dressing up!

So, we wandered – visited the puppies at Melbourne Central, I considered buying a goldfish but no, I bought coloured pencils and paints and canvasses and new paint brushes and some apple green paper lanterns, we had juice and chocolate, then met Matthew on Swanston St.
How romantic it was.. he was looking for me and from underneath his jacket he pulled this huge amazing bunch of red roses in antique golden paper. I was absolutely bowled over – he looked so happy to see me and kissed me on the cheek. The roses were so beautiful and I was smiling so much that my cheeks hurt! We wandered a little more and he took me to Peter Alexander (one of my FAVOURITE shops in the world) and told me that I could have anything I wanted. He admitted he was being lazy – he didn’t have a clue what I would want from there or what would suit me, or what my size would be (silly – it’s small, medium or large – so difficult!), so he decided to let me choose. I got this beautiful pair of pajamas (see below)- white with a beautiful pattern of roses and hummingbirds all over them.

We then skipped over to Richmond, my Dad’s house – he’d been cooking for ages and had managed to make enough food to feed an army. There was awesome roast lamb encrusted in rosemary, brocolli and cauliflower baked with white sauce, tomato and onion au gratin, gorgeously crunchy sourdough bread and then an orange cake! Just when I was craving a home-cooked meal too.. Then my Dad revealed something incredibly cool – I’m getting an iPod! I know, it’s probably not exciting for anybody.. but I have wanted one for ages, but everytime I’ve asked for it (Christmas, other birthdays, etc) I’ve gotten something else. What’s more is I’m getting one of those new Nanos.. the colourful ones. Mine will be pink, my signature colour! *dances*

Fate even had it in store that I’d feel better for a little while. I stopped having to blow my nose every five seconds and my voice came back for a while.
Then House was on! (Favourite TV show, ever). How lucky to have my birthday fall on a Wednesday this year..

I suppose this is the turning point in the post – the next morning, I woke up unable to breathe properly. My voice was utterly gone, I couldn’t even squeak, I couldn’t stand up without someone helping me and it hurt to even open my eyes. I was promptly rushed to the doctor, who gave me lots and lots of tablets. I still feel very sick,

Later in the day, my step-mother came down from HK on business, so she took us out to dinner for my birthday (again). I really wasn’t feeling up to going out, seeing I was in still in bed when Dad came to pick me up, but they insisted so I rugged up, took some Panadol and obliged. We went to Chinatown and had some truly awesome Cantonese food; crispy roasted duck, fried rice, wilted greens with garlic, salt and pepper calamari, claypot seafood, braised pork and vegetables, etc. I haven’t actually eaten very much in the last couple of days, despite the dazzling array of dishes that have been presented before me. When you feel like you have golfballs embedded in your neck and a cheese grater shoved down your throat, you don’t feel like eating much at all. But it’s nice to look at it, try to smell it as much as you can through a blocked nose and take a bite of every dish. At least it makes you feel a part of everything, even if you can’t enjoy it with so much gusto.
Afterwards we went back to the Westin hotel where my step-mother is staying – very lovely. The bath in her suite is as big as my bed.. I had a lovely long hot soak with bubbles and everything, and when I stepped out, they had gotten almond croissants and hot chocolate from Starbucks! We lounged around for a while, watching the weirdness that can be found on cable tv. Now I’m in my new pajamas back in Richmond, thinking about going to bed. Fun fun fun..

I suppose the bad part about all this birthday business is that out of all my friends, only one of them remembered. I couldn’t believe it – I got one message from Elke tonight saying, “Oh, happy birthday Jo! My phone wasn’t working yesterday, but I hope everything was/is great! I miss you, see you soon!”. *sigh*
Even my supposed best friend spoke to me for half an hour on my actual birthday and then said, “Hang on, isn’t it your birthday soon?”… *head slap*

Now I have to go to Geelong to have yet more birthday celebrations with my Mom and siblings.. eek. The perils (!) of having a split and augmented family.

Being ridiculously sick and friendless on your birthday isn’t great, but it was nice to be spoiled by the few that mean the most.