Making the world a better place. That was the gist of Dad’s epiphany last night, and it sort of goes hand in hand with the whole narcissism thing. We’re not here to help out ourselves! We’re here to help out other people! Imagine that. 🙂
OK, so on a more self-centered note, I’ve been stressing out about my birthday lately. I am one of those people who enjoys stressing about things like birthday parties and get-togethers. Every year around early February, I begin planning and worrying and such. Don’t worry! It’s a happy thing*.
Anyway, this year I’m really, really, really stressing out! Woot! I have no clue what I want to do, but I made a list of options:
- Murder Mystery party. I’m thinking of making it a boy/girl party because I know a maximum of 5 girls who are at the appropriate age to enjoy this, and I need at least 8. This option would be really fun if everything went off without a single hitch, but it rarely does. There are a LOT of things to consider when doing it.
- Normal Party #1: Invite a bunch of kids over to play games and eat food and roast marshmallows and stuff.
- Normal Party # 2 Same as above, only with a theme
- Normal Party #3 Meet at a roller-skating rink or a bowling alley and then go home for dinner
- Sleepover : I’ve done this every single year since I was 10, and I want to do something different this year, but it works! So I just might do it.
- Individual Thing: This is where I have just one person over and we do cool things all day then go out to dinner.
- Skyler Party: I had this friend named Skyler, who’s birthday was two days before mine. She would always wait 4 or 5 months before having her birthday party, so she could do it in the summer and take her friends to the pool. It was a good plan.
Desicions, desicions. I think that’s all that I’ve thought of. Does anyone know of any unique and fun party ideas? I’m running short.
*I am not speaking for the rest of my family here. They don’t really understand what it’s like to be anal-retentive.
Mi querida y preciosa Kelly!!!
No te preocupes, vamos a celebrarte en grande cuando vayamos a Monterrey!! y mientras tanto aqui haremos algo excepcional por tus dulces 15 anios!
Te quiere mucho,
Tu mami,
L.
Hi Lorena,
I have not taken Spanish since highschool, but have helped the kids a bit. I will try my hand at a very poor Spanish to English translation of the above message to Kelly:
My dear and precious Kelly!!!
Don’t you worry, we are going to celebrate big (or grandly) in Monterrey. Something about being here (aqui) we will do something exceptional for your 15th birthday!!!
Love very much,
Your Mommy (mother)
L.
When is Kelly’s birthday. I have a daughter the same age…Mattisse will turn 15 in April.
Hey, that’s right on!!! 🙂 We are planning a family quinceneara with a pretty dress and a tiara down in Mexico. I am looking forward to that… it won’t be for a while though and I want to have a little something here. Nothing really big.
My birthday is on March 27, same as Mrs. Wilson’s.
That is too cool that Mattisse (what a beautiful name) and I are so close in age!!! I didn’t know that! I’d love to write to her if that’s OK… Does she have e-mail or Facebook or something?
Hola Ruthie,
Tu traduccion del espaniol al ingles esta increible!
Mi ingles no es muy bueno y quisiera practicarlo mas y perder el acento que tengo algun dia de estos 🙂 Durante el dia hablamos puro espaniol asi que no hay mucha oportunidad de practicar mi ingles, pero estoy muy contenta que Kelly y Christian son bilingues! El cumpleanios de Kelly es el proximo mes. Que lindo que tienes una hija que va a cumplir 15. Creo que es una etapa maravillosa y llena de ilusiones para chicas de esa edad. Espero que puedas leer y entender este mensaje.
Saludos,
Lorena.
Hunter
A turkey shoot?
Okay, here I go again….
Hi Ruthie,
Your translation from Spanish to English is incredible! My English is not that good and something about the fact that you speak Spanish mostly during the day and that doesn’t give you the opportunity to practice your English but you are glad that both Kelly and Christian are bilingual! Kelly’s birthday is in March. Something about me having a 15 year old and then something marvelous about the illusions? of girls that age? You hope I can read and undertand what you wrote or the message.
Salutations/greetings
Lorena
Lorena,
You are very fortunate that your children are bilingual. In contrast, my husband’s mother is from Taiwan, so he is 1/2 Chinese and the kids are 1/4 Chinese. My mother-in-law is completely illiterate (she worked in the fields ~oh, you should see her garden and her fruit trees! ~ as a young child and never went to school)in both her native Chinese and in English, though at the same time she is fluent in Mandarin, Cantonese and Haka(native Taiwanese) and gets along in the US with her “broken English”. She has been here since the early 60’s and came with her service-man husband. There was NO Chinese spoken in the home and she was trying to raise her kids in the traditionally white environment of Arkansas and struggling to learn English herself. So, long story short, her children never learned how to speak Chinese (Mandarin is spoken in Taiwan) or Haka and as a result they are unable to communicate verbally with any of their vast number of cousins and extended family in Taiwan.
I am considering the idea of purchasing Rosetta Stone Mandarin and making learning it a family project. We would like to travel to Taiwan with her as a family while she is still alive to visit with her family.
Ruthie
Thanks for the note Ruthie. I am a little bit on the run right now because we had a two hour snow delay this morning (in North Carolina in March?) We are really trying to decide between Russian and Mandarin for a third language. I might engage with that a little here and would love to hear your thoughts on the matter.