Sunday, July 13, 2008

Fun Monday-birthdays

***Breaking news--Mama called this morning and she's bringing cake on Sunday. Sigh. God is good.


Dungareesablaze could not have picked a more timely topic for Fun Monday this week, because my birthday is this Friday. Yea for me! I love a birthday, mostly because there is cake involved. (More on that in a moment.) If anyone asks, I'm 37...at least. Hey! Knock it off, Super Cop. I heard that. Does a big sister ever stop having to whack her brother up the side of the head? Anyway, here were the specific instructions.

For your assignment lets hear about your favorite “Birthday”, it needn’t be your actual birthday just a "birthday" celebration. You can use one you planned, one you attended, one you crashed, just a fun time for this FUN MONDAY’S assignment, and of course you can use one of your very on Birthdays.
I’ve been tapping my thinker and puzzling my puzzler trying to determine the best birthday celebration I’ve ever been a part of. The truth is I’m just not sure. No one in particular stands out. Oh, I had some special birthdays when I was growing up: A puppy at five, a bike at six, the driver’s license at sixteen and an adult beverage at 21. I’ve enjoyed my adult birthdays, too. For the last three years Hubby has taken me to see Jimmy Buffett as a birthday present. That’s been great fun. My family has celebrated big birthdays. We had a special party for Mama J.’s 80th last year. Don’t tell you I told her age. She doesn’t want anyone to know she’s past the big 8-0. And I’m trying to convince Hubby to have a big 100th birthday party next year in the spring because our ages will total..well, 100. Have I mentioned he’s older than me? Just wanted to clarify that in case you were erroneously thinking I was fifty or something. Despite all the fun and frivolity, not a single birthday party stands head and shoulders above the rest. The one thing that does stand out though, is cake.

My love affair with cake is well documented on this blog. To me there is no bad cake, just cake and better cake. One of my favorites is good ol’ white sheet cake, the kind you buy for birthdays. Growing up, no matter what we did or what kind of present we got on our birthdays, one thing was constant. We always had cake. And mother had the interesting habit of taking pictures of us propped up next to our cake. Her photo albums are full of these pictures. See? Me…and a cake.
This is my third birthday. And here’s Super Cop on his first birthday….with his cake.
See the scab on his head? He was a child who always fell forward, never backward. Check out his third birthday. More cake, and note the frosting on his baggy pants.
I cropped this one so you can’t tell, but all of his birthday pictures have Christmas cards in the background. He was born in late December. Handy Man’s birthday is in October, so his birthday cake pictures have pumpkins in them.
Since my birthday falls in the summer and peak bicycle wreck season, I usually have scabbed over knees in my pictures. I searched for one particular picture where I'm holding the cake for my twelfth birthday and both of my knees are banged up something fierce because I decided to try out a hill that was way too steep for my bike. I couldn't find it though. Sifting through old pictures you'll find numerous photos of the Hula-gen's propped up next to a birthday cake. We loved cake, and apparently, I've passed that love onto Teen Angel because she has a hissy fit if we try to have a birthday around here without cake. When she was about five she was mortified to discover late one evening that we were going to celebrate Papa T.'s birthday without a cake. He didn't really want one, but nothing would do but to get a cake, so I trudged to the local Piggly Wiggly and grabbed the only cake sitting in the deli case, a Garfield the Cat cake that looked like it was three days old. Satisfied that the proper birthday celebration resources were at hand, she plopped on her party hat and proceeded to sing Happy Birthday. All was right with the world. And we have never tried to celebrate another birthday around here without a cake. Oh, and just to show that some things never change. My mother will probably show up on my doorstep later this week with a cake...a pink cake with pink frosting...just like she's been making me since I was a kid. And you know what? You could hand me a million dollars for my birthday, but it still wouldn't be quite right without that cake. Maybe we'll skip the picture, though.

25 comments:

karisma said...

Ah yes! There must always be cake for sure! Now whether you actually get to eat it or not is another matter, just so long as you have it! There are many willing people down here wanting a piece of cake thats for sure!

Hootin Anni said...

Pink cake?!!! No matter what color, just share some with us.

Adorable photos, baggy pants covered with frosting and all!!!

Happy Fun Monday.

SwampAngel65 said...

I want to see a picture of that pink on pink cake! Cakes are a tradition, but seems a bit more so with your family. Very nice!

Irish Coffeehouse said...

Great pics and cake stories! And I'm totally loving the Jimmy Buffet bday celebrations! What a great husband you have! :)

Jan said...

I love cake, too. I love making them and eating them. I really love that your Mom brings you a pink cake with pink frosting. You are so lucky.

Sayre said...

Dang. Now I want cake. And I've been so good, too...

dkuroiwa said...

Okay...so I saw your 'name'on Tooties' blog post...HulaGirl...loving that. Then came on over and saw the whole Jimmy Buffet theme on your blog..and I'm thinking.."have I found my bloggy soul mate?"...and then...the whole cake thing...honey...I have introduced the whole of this part of Japan to "American style" birthday cakes. My granny was from south Texas...could we be related?!?!
debbie

dkuroiwa said...

oops...sorry...had some drinks tonight with dinner..that was supposed to be "from Tootsies"...as in Mrs. Farklepants.
:-D

Anonymous said...

Better to have the scab in front than in the back...warns people not to mess with you.
You cakes were a bit different from my cakes.

ChrisB said...

I loved seeing all those photos. It's funny because my memory of my children's birthdays is~yes there had be a cake but it rarely gets eaten and you end up sending it home in the party bag. The cake that my children used to bring home from parties never got eaten by them~ I hate wasting food so now you know why I am overweight!!hehe

Driftwood and Pumpkin said...

My kids don't want cake unless it is ice cream cake from Carvel. They don't care for cupcakes either. Go figure.

Heather said...

I love the cake pictures! Those are so cute! And the chocolate frosting cake picture is great!

Molly said...

I think that having a 100th party is a grand idea. However, we have passed that milestone. (We will be 126 this year, and our birthdays are only three weeks apart.

Cake is all right. But sometimes we would have birthday pie. My grandma could make the best lemon meringue pie. (I was born on her 75th birthday.)

Anonymous said...

You've tried to have birthdays without a cake? I don't like cake (don't whack me, you can have my share!) but even I have to have cake for all bdays!

storyteller said...

Ah … you beat me out in the puppy department because I got my 1st puppy at 26 for my 2nd wedding anniversary present. How wonderful that your mom is going strong past 80, and what a lovely idea to celebrate the combined ages of you & your hubby for a 100th! I love all the photos with cake ;--)
Hugs and blessings,

Amy said...

I love all things cake!
If you don't believe me, just ask my thighs?;)

Happy "Early" 37th Birthday too!:)

Hopefully this year there will be no skinned knees.....just cake!:)

IamwhoIam said...

So where is the son of a Sailor sing this year for your ears. Those Pic where just too cute
Thanks for sharing.

oreneta said...

Some traditions, you just have to be, don't they....though I will confess *gasp* I really prefer pie.

Jo Beaufoix said...

Oh cake, fabulous. And the pictures are so cute.

Gattina said...

It seems exactly like my birthdays, and we are both summer girls !

Anonymous said...

I love your post, it was interesting reading it...the pictures are real cute too

Hula Girl at Heart said...

dkuroiwa-Girlfriend, we could be twins! Phins Up!

swampy-your cakes were might fine.

chrisb-cake never goes to waste at our house..never.

molly and oreneta-pie will work, too. Make mine coconut cream..or pecan..or derby.

amy-I'll try, but I managed a skinned up knee last year around this time. I fell while running and still have the scar. Sigh. Some things never change.

iamwhoiam-We waved our phins in St. Louis this year, but it was a very mild JB crowd, and we've decided to go back to Cinncinati. Those phans are waaay more fun.

Unknown said...

Sounds like you guys like cake. :) Happy early birthday! Hope you have a great one, are you going to Jimmy Buffet again?

Hula Girl at Heart said...

lisa-I'd like to. He's in Cincinnati this week, and I keep playing around on Ticketmaster hoping to snag some late released tickets. If I don't get to though, I'm good since I got to see him in April.

Alison said...

birthday cake is one of my favorite things also!!