Chris' 30th, part 2

So, as I mentioned (and publicly humiliated Chris) earlier, he turned 30 last week.

I really, really wanted to throw him a 30th birthday party, for a few reasons. First, in his 30 years, Chris has never had a birthday party because it falls halfway between Christmas and New Year's. I can somewhat relate to this as my birthday is on New Year's Day. However, instead of never having a birthday party, I always have a birthday party, whether my New Year's Eve hosts planned for it or not.

So, a few years ago, I realized that Chris' 30th would fall on a Saturday, and I figured that was the ultimate sign that I should throw him a huge 30th birthday party. I'm not a fan of surprises, so I let Chris know about my little plan. Initially, he was all about it, but then he started to waffle on where to have the party, and then he started to question who to invite, and eventually, he decided he didn't want a party at all. And then, because he's pretty good at reading my mind, he said that under no circumstances am I to throw him a party, with or without his knowledge. Apparently, he didn't realize that this party was all about ME anyway. But whatever, I decided to abide.

So, with no party to plan, I turned my attention toward his gift. It had to be something big, but not ridiculously expensive because we just bought a house and have all kinds of big purchases already on the horizon, like a new furnace, and air conditioning, and new windows that don't let all that wonderful and insanely expensive heating and cooling seep out.

And it had to be something memorable. And useful. And fun. And perfect.

Obviously, this cannot be accomplished with one gift. Plus, one gift wouldn't give me the opportunity to obsessively plan things and make lists, which just might be my most favorite task, second only to checking things off lists.

So, I decided to give him 30 gifts, throughout his 30th year. I started a little scrapbook for him* to document all the things, food, experiences, trips, etc. I give him over the next year to celebrate his 30th year.

This year of gift-giving started last Friday, when he received gifts No. 1-5:

1. A massage. (He hasn't had a massage since 2004. Since then, he's graduated from law school, lived briefly with my parents, studied for, took and passed the Illinois bar, got a job, got engaged, got married, became an uncle, moved four times and bought a house. So, he was due.)

2. New clothes.

3. Dinner at one of his favorite tapas restaurants.

4. A new book.

5. Going to see "Gran Torino."

Then, on Saturday, I made him gift No. 6: Stuffed cabbage.

Gifts No. 7-30 are still in the planning phase. Some will be surprises. Some won't -- like a trip we're taking to New York later this month. Some I haven't even thought about yet. But, I plan to write about them all here.


* uh, yeah, totally for me