Birthday Shenanigans

Aging, Blogging, Blogging, Writing, Writers, Blogs, Uncategorized 6 Minutes

It was a stabbing pain to the left side of my forehead, my temple throbbed, as I opened my eyes and blinked and tried to focus on my husband, who was standing at the side of our bed with a tray in his hand.

“Wake up…It’s your birthday breakfast, Sweetie.” He said as he smiled and handed me the tray with the plate of bacon and eggs. “It’s your favorite.”

The left side of my head was throbbing unmercilessly. “My head hurts…Noooooo…Not today…Babe…Motrin, now, please.” I rubbed the left side of my forehead as I sat up in bed.

I couldn’t figure out why today of all days, on my birthday, I woke up with a headache. I was not amused as I looked up at the ceiling and issued a warning to the imaginary Gods of the Universe. “Today is my day and you’re not going to screw with it. I will enjoy MY day!”

Damn, I’m Determined

My husband suggested that it might be the “wine from last night” that was causing my headache. My thoughts went back to the night before; we certainly started the birthday celebrations off with a bang. Greg, my husband, took me to see the Donna Summer Musical on Broadway, which was excellent. I was singing and dancing with the rest of the audience, especially with the gay couple who sat directly in front of us and who were having the time of their lives. By the end of the night, one half of the gay couple and I found ourselves in the aisle of the Lunt-Fontanne Theater dancing up a storm to Hot Stuff and Last Dance. Oh, what a fun time it was!

After we left the show we walked the 6 blocks to Gallagher’s Steakhouse, me in my high heels strutting my stuff pretending not to feel the start of the inevitable high heel ache that comes on after a few hours of wearing stilettos. Oh, how I miss my youth! I used to be able to rock those babies all night long; but not anymore. I made a mental note to slip into my sandals as soon as we sat down in the restaurant, but for now, the birthday girl in her birthday outfit needed to keep moving along gracefully in those 5-inch heels. Yes, people, I walked 6 NYC blocks in 5-inch heels! My Mom always said, “Beauty feels no pain.” Someone should have added to that saying “until the next day.”

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The high heel wearing ache was nothing compared to the migraine that was trying to force me to spend my birthday in bed. I wasn’t having it though, I swallowed some Motrin and hopped out of bed and started getting ready for the gym. Greg thought I was crazy. I tried explaining that for the past decade I have been going to the gym on my birthday every year and I wasn’t about to break the tradition. Besides, my gym gave away a free protein shake to everyone on their birthday. I had waited 365 days for my free shake and I was going to get it.

Greg looked at me like I was insane!

“It’s my birthday, Babe. I have to go to the gym. How else am I gonna see my gym buddies so I can get my well-wishes and birthday hugs? Greg just stared at me in disbelief and walked out of the room. He was clearly fighting a losing battle trying to convince me to stay in bed until the headache subsided.

So I donned my birthday button and left for the gym. 😃

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I have been wearing my button every year for longer than I can remember. It’s so much easier than telling everyone I run into that “today is my birthday.”

By the time I arrived at the gym, the Motrin was taking effect and I was feeling good.

At the start of the Aerobics Step class, the instructor had the class sing “Happy Birthday” to me. I loooooved it!!! It was a scene right out of grade school, the only thing missing were the cupcakes. I couldn’t be happier. The day was headed in the right direction.

As I walked out of the gym sipping on my free protein shake I noticed the morning clouds had cleared, the sky was a gorgeous blue and the temperature was a lovely 75 degrees. Afternoon showers had been predicted but the Universe knew it was my birthday and gave me the best day weather-wise.

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The Crash!

Greg and I had planned lunch and the movies – since going to the movies is one of my favorite pastimes, what better way to spend the afternoon. (Check out my blog piece on the movies here Let’s Go to the Movies!)

As we sat having lunch at the restaurant across the street from the Cinema, I felt the migraine coming back. Truth be told I felt the headache trying to make a comeback while I was getting ready to go out to lunch, but I refused to stay indoors, I refused to take more painkillers and go back to bed. I was fighting the good fight, I wanted to be out and about on my birthday. I tried helplessly to ignore the throbbing pain on the left side of my temple. Then it happened – A cough followed by a sneeze and that’s when I knew I had no more fight left in me.

“Take me home,” I whispered to my husband.

The poor man look worried. He could not believe his ears. No, I did not want to go to the movies anymore. No, I did not want the “birthday” chocolate mousse dessert I was offered by our nice waitress. Yes, I was sure I wanted to go home. Then I sneezed again and I almost cried. I was getting sick…On my goddamn birthday!!!! What kind of cruel joke was this?

I had dinner plans that night with my best friends, another birthday tradition. I couldn’t afford to be sick. When I arrived home I got under the covers swallowed some flu medication and dozed off to Kavanaugh’s voice vehemently denying the allegations levied against him. Yes, my birthday was the most historical day of the Senate Judiciary Hearings.

Never underestimate the power of a nap! I woke up a whole new woman, got dressed and headed out to meet my girls for my birthday dinner. It was a fun evening of great conversation and loads of laugh but I dare not touch a drop of alcohol because I could feel the migraine waiting in the wings to make a nasty comeback.

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The Birthday Party

I am sure it doesn’t come as a surprise that I have a birthday party every year. This year the party was planned for the Saturday night, 2 days after my birthday.

The day after my birthday, that is the eve of my birthday party, I spent most of the day in bed. I was miserable. The day should have been spent delightfully running around doing last minute prepping for my party, which thankfully was a small party, a very intimate affair, this year; but instead, the flu-like symptoms came on full force and I spent the day in bed cursing at the untimely onset of my illness and trying to decide whether or not I should cancel my party.

I was sneezing and coughing and headachy for most of Friday but woke up on Saturday morning, the day of the party, feeling like I could conquer the World (thank you God for Tylenol Flu and Cold tablets). The party was on, and when Greg came home with my birthday cake the party vibe hit me even more.

I spent the better part of Saturday busying myself with party preparations, I thoroughly enjoy doing stuff like that, and was content with hanging balloons and strategically moving around stuff in my house to facilitate my guests until the endless coughing and sneezing came back just 4 hours before my party was supposed to begin. I was livid! What made it worse was every time I coughed or sneezed, the cough or sneeze triggered a ruthless headache that lasted at least 10 minutes.

I even tried to bargain with God, I promised him that if he would keep me in good spirits for the rest of the evening he could make me bed-ridden all of next week. God wasn’t having it though and at 3:30 I had to crawl back into bed even though the party was scheduled to start at 7 pm.

Again, never underestimate the power of a nap. I still wasn’t a hundred percent when I woke up but I took a look at my cake and my dress (one must draw inspiration from wherever one can😉), turned on some Donna Summer music while I was getting ready and willed myself to feel better; and oh yeah took some more of that magical Tylenol Cold and Flu tablets.

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In the end, the party turned out to be a success, I remained “fierce and fabulous” in true Racquel form for the entire night. However, this birthday taught me that I can’t do it like I used to, now I need to take naps in between in order to keep going. 😃 After all, I am a year older; but I won’t give up though, I will never settle into being old, I will never readily concede. I am never ever going down without a fight.

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One love, Racquel!!!!

Published by Racquel

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82 thoughts on “Birthday Shenanigans”

  1. Pingback: Racquel Writes! – Birthday Shenanigans – phicklephilly

  6. I missed this ! Sorry you had to battle so hard on your birthday weekend, but I’m glad it worked out for the most part! Wine gives me terrible hangovers. Your birthday shenanigans looked like fun!

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  13. I giggled at the end…yup – it’s true, with age we loose that wiggle room, which is replaced with wisdom to make different choices. And OMG Racquel – A friend gifted me Louboutin’s – leopard print…they are SO fabulous and I can’t walk in them more than a few feet…my mom also told me – “comfort over beauty” – so there you have it! Can’t wait to hear about next years birthday Shenanigans with nap included! xo

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  14. The cake, your willingness to care for yourself, the pics, your plans and attire! Everything was set for the queen you are on your special day!! I’m so thrilled that the rest killed off the nasty onset long enough for you to enjoy yourself. As I was reading, I couldn’t help but think maybe sinus/allergy headache? Sneezing is a symptom of both sinus and cold sickness.
    This was so encouraging to read! The power of mind over matter!
    Yeah you rocked it like a BOSS! 😀

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    1. Thank you so much. I always try hard to make my birthdays and those around me (hubby’s and son’s) special. Birthdays should always be celebrated.

      Sinus/ an allergy headache? Possibly. I am not sure. I still have a bit of a cough. Thinking of going to the doctor tomorrow. I don’t want it turning into pneumonia or something worst.

      Thanks for always commenting on my posts. I appreciate the dialogue.

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  15. You looked fierce and fabulous in ALL of your pics! The killer power necklace (with the jumpsuit, which is also amazeballs, but I salivated a little when I saw the necklace!), the awesome yellow dress (it’s shade is delicious on your beautiful skin!) and the amazing red lipstick (in the GF pic – WOW!) are my favorites! It sounds (and looks) like you were a little owned by the illness, but you also owned IT in return – get it girl!!

    P.S. That cake though!

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    1. Lol…Yep, I know you’re a choker/neckpiece kind of girl.

      The mustard yellow dress and my dark skin…Yasss!

      I persisted nonetheless, girl…Afterall it was my birthday.

      Thanks, Doll. 💕

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  16. Racquel, I’m so sorry to hear you were battling a cold. I would have never guessed. But I’m glad you pushed through regardless and had several wonderful celebrations to enjoy!😘

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  19. Thank you for my read today…lol. Sisss – you looked amazing, despite those pesky headaches and cold symptoms that kept rearing their ugly heads.

    You managed to still have a wonderfully, exciting birthday. Might I say I loved both of those outfits – the yellow one oh yes and that cake!!! Girl, that was sooooo pretty….what kind was it underneath? Purple is my favorite.

    I’m so glad you had a good time and rocked it for your birthday and Oh, I do know about those heels – beauty hurts, right? but even more so the next day (I liked that).

    Wishing you many more Fabulous and Fierce birthdays ahead and hope you’re feeling so much better now. Much Love =)

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    1. Hey Roshonda – It was strawberry cake with lemon filling and it was delicious. So so good.

      Thanks for always stopping by, Sis. I did have a wonderful birthday despite the pesky, annoying headache. It was a lovely week.

      I am feeling better, even though my cough isn’t all the way gone. Have a beautiful weekend.

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  22. I’m glad you were determined to fight and maintain that birthday spirit, definitely couldn’t tell you were under the weather from the pics lol…gotta steal that yellow dress from you haha… a headache woke me out of my sleep last Sunday, but as the day went on I figured it was dehydration from those dang margaritas the previous night.
    Happy birthday (again)!!🎉🎉

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    1. Oh yeah, that night you hung out with your army girlfriend left you with a hangover, huh?! 😂😂 Well, at least you had a marvelous time. A hungover is so worth it to get together with an old friend.

      Yes, girl, I was looking at the pics and thinking that I hid the fact that I was going to battle with the damn flu very well indeed. Can you believe I’m still suffering from remnants of the cough? Headache and cold all went but this persist cough remains.

      Thanks for always giving me love on WordPress, Lady. Makes me wanna keep on writing. 💕

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  24. Couldn’t tell that you were battling the flu, you looked Raculous as usual.
    Those post 5 inches pain ain’t got nuttn on you Ms. Fierce & Fabulous!
    Always a good read.

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  26. So sorry you had to battle illness on your special day… or should I say week? Love that you stretch the celebration and milk every ounce of birthday you can. And fierce indeed… you rocked that yellow dress, beautiful!!
    Keep dancing Donna!
    But next time do it in flats.
    😊

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  27. Racquel, you looked fabulous at your birthday party. I would have never known you were battling the flu, so the gods were kind to you or your will power to look and feel FABULOUS is strong. Great piece as usual, looking forward to your next piece! And let’s not forget to plan our movie outing. ☺️

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    1. Yes, Zora, we have to plan our movie date. Turns out there are 4 movies coming out tomorrow that are on my movie list, but I know you’re busy this weekend. Maybe we can go during the week. I’ll text you.

      Thanks for commenting, Hun! 😃

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  28. Happy Birthday Gorgrous Girlie!! You looked stunning in your outfits. I’m so jealous of your hair, you looked like a model in those photos. Beyoncé WHO??! Rakkelle’s where it’s at!
    My birthday got forgotten by everyone this year but I don’t think ‘im indoors will EVER forget it again after the pasting I gave his credit card while I was on vacation. I done turned that sucker anorexic *smitk*
    Now about these migraines. We need to talk. I used to work for a headache charity. I would highly recommend a few prescribed meds to talk to your doctor about that WILL kill that sucker dead and more importantly stop the rebounds you’ve been having. If you want to talk any time it will be my pleasure to help. I’m not a doctor but I’m an expert patient and staunch advocate and can give a lot of suggestions to discuss with your doctor 😊

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    1. Awww, thanks Britchy!!!! A model?? 😊 Helluva compliment!

      How could you ‘im indoors forget such an important day? You have to shamelessly make it known that it’s coming up and start throwing out hints weeks before.😉

      Regarding the headaches…I did see my doctor and got a prescription for Imitrex. I literally only took 1 pill (2 days after the party) and I haven’t had another migraine since. The rest of the packet is sitting there untouched in case I may need it in the future. Truly a miracle drug. 😁

      LMAO @ “expert patient”. You keep me cracking up. You’re freaking hilarious.

      P.S. I love my hair too. My hairdresser got it right this time. 😉

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      1. I’m glad you discovered triptans! There are several and Imitrex (sumatriptan, Imigran in the UK) is the oldest and ‘worst’ in that it takes the longest to kick in and had the shortest half life (up to two hours) so you can get rebounds because as we all know, migraines ain’t short!
        Frova (Frovatriptan, Migard in the UK) is much newer and better. It’s faster acting and has a half life of up to 26 hours which is FABULOUS! Since you can only take a max of two triptans in 24 hours, you can easily run out of juice with ‘trex so frova is both more efficacious and cost effective… and triptans aren’t cheap so that’s good!! Hopefully this will help you or someone else 😊

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  30. Wow! girl you might not be able to do it like you used to, but you were determined to give it your best shot and you succeeded with class 💐 Was on the edge of my seat by the time you got to the party finale 🙏 Love the photos by the way, thought the red at the beginning was fabulous, but that yellow? at the end really looks great. Happy Birthday (again😂) 💐💐💐😀

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    1. 😁 So glad my story was interesting enough to keep you on the edge of your seat, Charlie. Thank you for being so engaging.

      Yes, I live for the birthday outfits.😂😂 Can’t you tell?! I also love colors. I’ll do black once in a while but bring on the colors.

      Thanks again for the birthday wishes. I’m a true kid at heart when it comes to birthdays. 🎂 🎈🎉

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  31. I also woke up with a headache on my birthday. My birthday was on the last day of September, two Sundays ago, and it didn’t feel special to me. All I did was work, work, work, then solve crossword puzzles until my head started begging for a break.
    It was like every other boring day, my parents didn’t even remember twas my birthday until past noon when I reminded them.
    Reading this post has got me jealous 😞😒
    I’m glad your day was a blast, Racquel. You are surrounded by beautiful people.
    Happy belated birthday.
    One love.

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    1. OMG Obinna! I am so sorry to hear that your parents forgot your birthday. Aw man; that sucks!!!

      Why didn’t you plan something special for your day? I’m sure you have people around you who would have been happy to partake in any birthday celebration honoring you. Truly sorry your day wasn’t what you would have wanted it to be.

      Happy Belated Birthday, anyway, fellow Libran!

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