remember when your birthday was a big deal ALL DAY LONG? it started months before the actual date, when you realised your birthday was COMING and you needed to make sure EVERYONE knew exactly what you wanted. this, of course, was so it would be easier for them to find your gifts, so they would not spend many sleepless nights leading up to your birthday trying to figure out the perfect present.

as the days crept by, every whispered conversation certainly had something to do with your BIG DAY. shopping bags were sure to contain things you were not supposed to see. high shelves in closets were suddenly off limits. you started hearing the theme song from mission impossible playing in your head as you peeked into drawers and under beds.(please tell me you're not doing the math, and thinking "yeah, right, how old was this girl when MI came out?")

then the big day came, and you were surrounded by a multi-colored, glittering aura proclaiming your supreme importance. from the moment you opened your eyes and kicked off the covers, it was YOUR DAY, and everyone knew it. breakfast? whatever your little heart desired. lunch? dessert first. dinner? your favorite place to eat, even if that place happened to be chuckie cheese's...

everybody gave you presents. you got to have cake. party favors. candy. a party at the swimming pool park, with heather person (even though you really weren't friends) since your birthdays were in the same week and your mothers thought it would be fun.

eventually one year you don't want a big fuss. no party, no paper hats, no balloons and you're happy with that.