Mild Birthday Effort

On a scale of one to ten, I'd say the effort put out for my birthday by anyone I knew was maybe a 2 or 3. ("1" being "no one but Marlboro paid any attention.")

I woke up with a hangover on my birthday, having been up 'til all hours the night before working on my Joan Crawford website. After 9 Budweisers the night before, I only felt like lying around on my couch channel-surfing on my "big day."

I woke up at 9am or so, watched some TV, fell back asleep until about 2pm, when a knock came on my door. From my 6-inch-raised blinds, I saw legs walking away. I was sure it was a UPS guy --- they knock and walk off. So I blearily got up to open the door, just in case I had to sign anything.

Lo and behold --- it was my brother and nephews (ages 16 and 13) who had stopped by! "Come on in!"

They had a birthday card for me. But everyone had neglected to sign it. It was a blank card with a $25 Amazon gift card inside it that my brother had just picked up from a drugstore minutes before.

They hung out for about a half-hour. (My brother immediately said upon entering: "We can't stay long.") Luckily, my apartment wasn't too messy, so I wasn't too embarrassed. And I had a very fun time talking with my nephews, whom I hadn't seen in a year (since last August, when I broke with my mother, their grandmother, over her will --- so no Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.). I like my nephews a lot, and was happy to make fun of the 16-year-old for following Kylie Jenner on Instagram!!! (We were talking about today's rap artists, and he said he liked Travis Scott---when I mentioned that Scott was a Kardashian Boyfriend, he admitted that he followed Kylie, Scott's girlfriend...And he knew all about her makeup empire!!) :0

While the nephews were over, I got to bitch at them (lightly) for not saying "thanks" for my cards and gift cards that I'd mailed to them in May and July for their birthdays. The lack of response had been weighing on me, and it felt good to jokingly tell them in person: In the future, say thanks to your Aunt for sending you money on your birthdays, dammit! :)

I was grateful for the visit. It felt good to see the nephews and to talk to them and my brother.

But then afterwards, my negativity kicked in: They didn't think to sign the card? They couldn't take me to lunch or something? That sort of thing. But then, hey, they're not responsible for my birthday. (I guess, as an adult, no one is, except a lover.)