Birthday madness is in full swing. My sister and I drove up to Costco today to order my daughter’s birthday cake. For $14.99, their white buttercream frosted sheet cake is quite a bargain. To my taste it’s helaciously sweet. But my daughter has her heart set on the rainbow with a smiling sun decoration.

Every morning, my daughter asks me to count the number of days until her class birthday (2) and the number of days until her real brithday (3).

BirthDAY is actually a misnomer. My daughter’s birthday will be monopolizing all or part of three days. The day before, I bring cup cakes to her school for a classroom celebration. Afterwards we’ll bring a cup cake to each of her previous teachers – a tradition at PS 321.

That night my father and stepmother arrive for a pre-birthday dinner and the presentation of her gifts. On the actual day, we’ve invited her eight favorite friends for a bowling party at the local alley. And the day after my mother and my sister are taking her, and two of her nearest and dearest, to the American Girl Cafe on Fifth Avenue for afternoon tea.

‘Nuff said.

Did I mention that I’m running the Brooklyn Half-Marathon, a 13.1 mile race from the Coney Island boardwalk all the way to Prospect Park on her birthday morning?

It should be a VERY interesting weekend.

Yours from Brooklyn,
OTBKB