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Friday, 13 November 2009

The weekend I turned 27

Started with a strange feeling in my stomach.

Due to time zone differences, I received a flurry of Facebook birthday wishes (gotta love social networks) from all my peeps in Singapore from early Fri 6 Nov evening. I smiled and laughed, but inside I also somewhat wept. The people I've grown up celebrating my birthday with are miles and miles away, and that night in bed I told Emil that I almost wished that Saturday wasn't my birthday, so that I could just relax that day, without any expectations, without hankering for birthday hugs and birthday cakes from Bengawan Solo.

Boy was I glad my almost-wish didn't come true.

I opened my eyes to find that the other side of the bed was empty. Blurry-eyed, I saw that it was 7.30am. Emil up so early on a Saturday morning? Hmmm...

And then I heard slight sounds in the kitchen. Very slight, barely noticeable, but enough to trigger a memory of Emil telling me of the Lide way of celebrating birthdays. And so, with a smile in my heart and an almost-bursting bladder, I eagerly awaited to hear the door to the bedroom to open again.

After what seemed like eternity (though it was really only 30 mins later), I heard the door gently open, and in he came, singing "Happy Birthday" and holding the most lovely breakfast setup I've ever had. I expected breakfast in bed for the birthday girl (as all good Lides do), but not the candles! What a way to remember my first birthday as a Mrs :)

We ate breakfast together, and then my parents called from Singapore to wish me Happy Birthday! Was really nice to hear their voices - chatted for half an hour on the mobile phone :)

Emil and I then took a walk to the nearby grocery store to get some provisions. Emil had to rush off at noon to help a friend of ours move house, so he grabbed lunch before he left with a goodbye kiss, and an instruction to "just do what I wanted today". So what did I do?

1) Made carrot cake for the 1st time (not because I wanted to make my own birthday cake! I just had a craving :P)
2) Cleaned the house (yes, a clean house brings me great joy on my birthday hehe)
3) Read my textbook (might as well right?)


Amidst the chores, I noticed something weird - the canned food that we bought earlier in the morning seemed to be missing. And I remember putting them away myself! Hmmm.... maybe Emil, out of the kindness of his heart, gave them to our friend who was moving in case they didn't have time to shop for their dinner?

The key to the door turned at 4pm, and Emil was back! He looked tired, so I told him that I just wanted to spend the rest of the day relaxing at home, maybe going out for some good Chinese food, but nothing fancy. Emil said that the friend who was moving wanted to treat us to dinner in return for the help, so that was the plan for dinner. A bit disappointed, to be honest, just wanted a quiet day at home with hubby, but decided not to whine too much. Dinner was at 5pm, so we spent the time in between chilling in front of the TV. And then the doorbell rang at 4.45pm. Emil looked nonchalant, but I smelled something fishy... Opened the door, and it was Emil's parents and sister and boyfriend! They dropped by to give me birthday hugs and birthday pressies :) So sweet :) Emil's sister gave me a scarf that she made herself, and I absolutely love it!

We left for our friends' place (5 mins walk from ours) at 5pm. On the way, as we were chatting, I was wondering if this dinner thing was simply a ruse for a surprise party. Of course I had my suspicions re. the canned food, but I didn't share them with Emil. As we neared the home, I was checking out the front yard for signs of a crowd, but nothing. No shoes, no bicycles. Hmmm... Looked through the window and saw our friends sitting there, as expected from waiting for us for dinner. Hmmm.... Rang the doorbell, and our friend opened the door for us. Not many coats hanging on the rack. Hmmm.... Then my friend, Lina, said, "Sarah! I forgot it was your birthday till a few minutes ago! I am so so sorry! Happy Birthday!" and as she gave me a hug, I erased all thoughts of a surprise.......................








"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!"
Suddenly the lights turned off, I saw figures popping out from behind the sofa, and a cake with candles heading its way towards me!

I guess there was a surprise after all :)

Turns out that Emil had been coordinating with the international cell group and my classmate for the past week, and had brought the canned food with him to make pizza for the surprise dinner (when he was supposed to be helping with the moving of house). My friends even rehearsed the 'entrance sequence' twice before I came!

I'm really blessed to have friends and family, both in Singapore and Sweden...

... and of course, so blessed to have such a wonderful hubby who voluntarily took the stress of organising a surprise for me upon himself!


Come Sunday, the day after, I received a phonecall from my pastor and his wife, all the way from Singapore! They had apparently thought the timezone difference was more than 24 hours, hence the delay...hehe...

And so the birthday weekend ended with another strange feeling in my stomach - a combination of good food, and a fuzzy feeling of warmth that transcended the cold autumn night :)

I feel so blessed to be so loved!

Labels: birthday, singapore, sweden