One year ago I celebrated my birthday week with a quick escape to Portsmouth, NH as my parents stayed back to watch the girls, followed by the Three Kings festivities, a movie night with Nacho, dinner with my family and a blowout karaoke party for 22 of our closest pals. It was a week to remember. This year, by comparison, I started off on New Year's Eve day with severe abdominal cramping and stomach pain that tormented me for three days before I decided to hit the ER and see what all the fuss was about. It's not my style to stop the world and get off, but after the day at Coney Island and suffering every bump on the ride home, I knew something was up with my body. I suppose turning 40 was the beginning of that downward spiral that I'll hopefully stave off for a bit (please God), but this was no joke. It didn't make things easier that I was alone in the hospital for over 7 hours with two medical professionals that seemed to hope I'd take some antacids and go home. I waited them out and finally got both the ultrasound and CT scan to rule out my gallbladder and appendix. Fortunately though, the scan did show I have inflammation in the terminal ileum which is part of the small intestine. No one can tell me exactly why I have this but getting some confirmation for the root of my pain was gratifying. It also meant a follow up with a gastroenterologist to talk further and a colonoscopy in the near future. Ah yes, this getting older stuff isn't for the faint of heart...
Despite my pain, I did my best to soldier on this week. We had NY Hall of Science passes to use up which meant a little indoor adventure while the weather dipped back into the wintery temps. We had a late lunch at, where else, Nixtamal, and polished off the day at the Lemon Ice King just down the street. Then there was the Three Kings celebration to prep for and the roscon to buy in Corona. I'm not sure they deserved even more toys this year with all the sisterly fighting that's been going on, but hey, the kings were lenient. And for some reason, the cake from Tulcingo Bakery this year tasted even better than I remember. Maybe because we had to buy the last one during an emergency road stop in CT on our drive back from NH last year, it wasn't the most desirable. But this year certainly made up for it and more. The girls both got their baby Jesuses in the cake and the world was right...for a few minutes. Our elderly Peruvian neighbor even brought over two elaborately wrapped fashion dolls for both the girls which was such a lovely gesture. They didn't quite know what to make of this at first, but I think they were as tickled as I was. We'll definitely have to bake her some treats as a thank you.
Then Nacho heard from his old aviation college buddy Eric Kjeldgaard that he was going to be on a long layover at LGA and he would be up for meeting us for lunch on Thursday. We decided to take him to Brooklyn for a bit of a stroll through Williamsburg and great views of the city. That area never disappoints and it was a pretty mild day for early January. Stumbling on the public piano propped up on a giant rock was part of the charm. Eric took a few minutes to play us a tune and I really enjoyed catching up with him and listening to him and Nacho geek out about planes. They have that pilot nerd charm.
By Friday, I was feeling better physically and had an idea to kick off my birthday celebrations in earnest with a movie date in the city. I found a matinee of "The Revenant" showing on the UES at the AMC Orpheum (for $7.49! amazing!) and on our way there we spotted a new Shake Shack which made for a perfect lunch spot. Done and done. The movie was magnificent and I really enjoyed seeing it on the big screen with its imaginative cinematography. Knowing the Golden Globes were coming up, I wanted to see at least one of the movies up for awards and this one lived up to the hype. I hope it's Leo's year. Later, our walk around the reservoir in Central Park was another birthday treat. It's been so long since I've been up there that I was happy to be doing something different. That's what makes life enjoyable after all--mixing it up a bit and of course, having the health to get out there and enjoy it! It was also nice to have this time with Nacho after the blur of the holidays and his absence over Christmas and the lead up to New Year's. I know I fight off the doldrums around this time of year, so being able to do a few fun things with him really brightened my mood. It also helped that he started off my birthday with donuts from Peter Pan. The guy gets me.
After getting to sleep in til about 10 a.m., the girls made me a chocolate chip cookie cake which I helped oversee. And I even had a gift to unwrap (a sweater from J. Crew) that actually ended up being something I almost bought myself. Ha. Nacho is really getting better at this. Mostly, I just felt relief that I felt better than a week before when I was sitting on my own waiting for all kinds of lab results and hoping I wasn't going to be going into surgery for a ruptured appedix or gallstones. No, it wasn't a birthday I will put up there with the best, but it was a great day nonetheless. We took the girls to Poppy and Charlie's joint birthday party at Super Kickers in Jackson Heights in the afternoon and ended the evening with a very Spanish-speaking meal at one of our old favorites Elias Corner in Astoria. It was just as I'd remembered it and I was glad to introduce Carmen and Jose and Irene to the flavors of the sea that they do so well there. Since they didn't get to celebrate Nacho's birthday, it felt like we were really getting a twofer and I was just the excuse to make it out that Saturday night. For my real blowout party, I'm dragging the ladies out for karaoke again in 2 weeks. So that will be the night I hope to feel 100% better and up for a little drinking and singing. I mean, I'm getting older, but I haven't lost it yet.
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