What We Know Here At the Shoe

BIRTHDAYS!!!! If there is one almost constant topic here at the Shoe it is Birthdays!! We have to keep a running tally of whose birthday is next and how long until the next birthday party for our crew. The Boss (a/k/a the Sister who I now realized is really the Boss) is next in line for the big day and she is counting the minutes.

Here at the Shoe we have experimented all levels of Birthday party's. For the Doodlebug's 1st birthday I managed a city wide Christmas parade followed by homemade BBQ and Spring like weather on December 1st. We've done everything from the bounce house/burger affairs which are common (including the Boss's last brithday which involved 64 people at The Shoe midst the Katrina disaster and the Old Man was absent for almost 72 hours straight) to the Monster's last birthday which just involved our dead friends The M&Ms who also have three children the same age as ours. We have discovered when you mix the M&Ms with the residents of the Shoe the 6 of us make a party.

Now it is America's birthday! The Old Man spent the entire weekend putting together his City's birthday party. Much like the birthday parties at the Shoe once the party is over and you survey the mess and the expense, we always start thinking why do we do this to ourselves. Well, the Old Man's City is no different. There are ramblings of canceling the expensive fireworks and party. Much like parties at the Shoe, the City has tried the elaborate affairs to the simple inviting a few friends to hang out. What I'm afraid they miss is all the happening outside of the actual fireworks.

This year we here at the Shoe invited ourselves to join Tammy's crew (well, we did have the VIP parking passes so it was a bit of a trade off). We had so much fun that the Boss has declared the discovery of a new best friend and the Doodlebug actually let another human being hold her. I hope that the City will remember that despite the cost, the birthday party memories seem to last the longest.

As an aside, I have to say how blessed I am to be so easily incorporated into a family that is not even mine. For at least the past 6 years I have always been able to join in on the happenings with Tammy's family much as if they were my own. We have shared memories of these types of celebrations and yes all those birthday parties!!!!!!!