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"Rex turned 39 on Friday. My husband, as you readers have probably figured out, is a pretty understated kind of guy. The time I threw him a surprise luau? That went over about as well as my landlord appreciated the lawn chairs and tables littering the driveway to his walk-up apartment complex. I learned, a little too late, that there&amp;#039;s a lovely middle ground between not making a fuss and doing practically nothing. I ordered pizza - a rare treat for us boring healthy eaters. The kids made him a card and we sang our little hearts out to him the moment he walked in the door. But... there was no pistachio ice-cream. (His favorite.) There was no additional home-made goodies. (A nice salad with fresh tomatoes and dressing? Nope.) The look on his face when he thought I was bringing out a kid-created angel food cake and his crabby wife plopped 2 pre-made chocolate lava cakes on the center of the table? Eeeeeeckkkhhhh. Heart wrenching. The night, honestly, sucked. To my credit, it&amp;#039;s not in my general nature to blow this stuff off. I&amp;#039;m always making the magic and laughing and making a fuss for everyone. But that night - I just didn&amp;#039;t have it in me. But, unlike an orgasm, I should have just faked it. The bad news - I totally, singlehandedly, without a doubt made it probably the worst birthday ever. If it weren&amp;#039;t for two friends who showed up unexpectedly and made us laugh out loud with their tales of home made beer making and Disneyland Halloween plans, it would have gone down as one of the worst nights in 2010. The good news - Rex forgives easily. Also, I made it up to him the very next day. Can we say angel hair pasta (his favorite) with chopped basil and cubed tomato? The kids and I topped it off with angel food cake and another rendition of &amp;quot;Happy Birthday!&amp;quot; Later that night he and I totally talked it out. I took responsibility for where I was at that week - moody - and he reminded me again that it&amp;#039;s not a 14-piece song and dance he needs. Just a little attention - and rightly so. I&amp;#039;ll take some of that myself. It&amp;#039;s not like Rex is an angel in the birthday/gift department. The first five years of our marriage I can count on one hand how many times he found it necessary to celebrate a special occasion with a gift. He&amp;#039;s just not a materialistic kind of guy, which I&amp;#039;ve come to accept about him. But he does appreciate the little details. And when I forget those, he&amp;#039;s kind of bummed. To answer your question, &amp;quot;Did I do this on purpose as payback for his past transgressions?&amp;quot; the answer is, &amp;quot;No.&amp;quot; I simply, for the first time in a very long time, ran out of juice. I&amp;#039;m working on recharging those batteries as I type this! Rex is awesome, but he can&amp;#039;t do it for me. Though he can certainly plug me in... always appreciated... wink wink.) Anyone else out there mess up their spouses birthday? If so, how did you make it up to them? Rex, I really am sorry. I love you! "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/relationships/a3206/rexs-birthday-suit/>