Put Another Candle on the Birthday Cake

I need to vent and because this is my blog I get to do that sometimes.  So, here goes.

Today is February 8th so it must be cold and crappy outside.  True, it is February in Pittsburgh so the weather is supposed to be unpleasant.  Nonetheless, I grew up in Southern California and the weather was usually fairly nice on February 8th so this Pittsburgh winter is still, even after eight years, an adjustment for me.  Unfortunately, the weather outside has often been a precursor to my birthday, which by the way, is February 8th. 

Here are just a few examples:

The kids and I moved here on my birthday.  Ted had already been here for a couple of months and he was anxious for us to join him. So without thinking about what winter in Pittsburgh really meant, we made the move.  Who moves across the country in the dead of winter  and on their birthday no less?  This was not good planning on my part.  The silver lining, if you can call it that, is that I'll always remember the exact date of our move to Pittsburgh.  Despite Kate's directions, Ted did not greet us with a birthday cake but he did give me a really nice Chanel handbag that year.  

Last year I turned 50.  I informed Ted that I wanted great fanfare and a really nice cake.  I also really wanted to deal with the big 5-0 someplace other than Pittsburgh, say Paris, like we did for his 50th.  Instead I got what turned out to be two feet of snow, a week of snow days for Kate, and no cake.  He did give me a really nice Bottega Veneta handbag though. 

This year it's below 20 degrees and snowing.   When I took Kate to school this morning, I hit a pothole, spun out and got a flat tire.  I wasn't wearing a heavy coat and I did not have my cell phone with me.  I thought I was only going to be gone 10 minutes and I didn't feel like schlepping back upstairs.   These  turned out to be two big mistakes.  Fortunately, there is a very nice little button in my car that connected me to the nice people at Mercedes and they directed me to drive my car directly to the dealership which was just a few miles away.  In the snow.  On very icy roads.  On a flat tire.  It was a very long couple of miles.  Anyway, my car is now enjoying a spa day at Mercedes and getting four new tires.  I am driving a loaner and schlepping Kate to tennis later, although I did have a lovely lunch with my friend Catherine.

I don't think I'll be getting a new handbag either.  A few weeks ago I got a new refrigerator and made the  mistake of saying that it could be my birthday present.  What the hell was I thinking and why did Ted take me up on this?  Men really don't understand women, do they?  A refrigerator is not a birthday present to a woman over 50.  A handbag is.  Or jewelry.  Or something else in the luxury goods category.  Not a refrigerator, even if it is a really nice one.  If I had known that this was going to be the "real" present I would have gone for the Viking.

I have given up on asking Ted to buy me a cake and am going out to take care of it myself.   Maybe I'll get cupcakes.  That sounds nice.