Special birthdays

My birthday isn't until Saturday but on Monday, I shopped online with my mom to pick out my gift so it could be shipped to me. BTW: The gift I chose was a faux-leather storage ottoman with lids that turn over into trays.

Today, my gift from Nate came in the mail, so he had me open it up - an espresso maker, espresso glasses and espresso beans, with syrups to arrive soon.

Usually, I am a stickler for not wanting my gifts ahead of time. I really love birthdays and Christmas and every other day that presents are given. I like to make that one day really, really special instead of opening stuff up at other moments.

When I was little, my mom even would decorate our rooms on our birthdays, used special birthday dishes with stars on them and would write happy birthday on the refrigerator in magnet letters.

I know that as I get older, birthdays are not as big of a deal, and it doesn't really matter if it has special moments or is just any other day. However, I will always want to celebrate birthdays to the T.

Even though Nate doesn't care, I love to decorate for his birthdays. I love to make him a special meal, a brownie or pie, to given him a carefully wrapped and chosen present - even though he often already knows what it is because I can't keep gifts secrets.

Birthdays might only be one other day, but they are a time that we can celebrate each other. I think that is reason enough to make them special occasions, even if you're all grown up.