EEEEEK! I forgot!

I fell off my birthday list wagon! How could I forget? Certainly, I didn't forget the birthdays themselves, but in the wild joys of the early days of my vacation, I totally forgot to post. My apologies to the boys who helped me prepare for the trials of living with THE boy.

First, on the 25th, we have my illustrious brother Steve, who turned 26:



10. People often ask where Steve gets his red hair, as my parents and I all have dark brown hair. In reality, both sides of the family are blessed with that recessive gene - mom's mom has red hair, as do three of my dad's four siblings. In fact, Russell is a Scottish (and French) nickname for redhead.

9. When we were little, I had a friend over, and she and I made up a song to tease Steve that went, "Stevie Wonder's gonna get hit by thunder." I remembered the lyrics but forgot which friend it was. I was later reunited with Kim in college when I befriended her best friend Tanya - she remembered it too. Mystery solved.

8. When we moved to Lansing, six-year-old Steve got his hands on one of those Graphic Street Guide books (i.e. "For Walnut St, see page 37, coordinates A-9") and the kid memorized it. He also told my parents how to get around town.

7. Steve remembers the birthday of everyone he's ever met. He's going to be a big hit at his high school reunion.

6. As a preschooler, Steve's most treasured companion was an old, tattered Sears Christmas catalog.

5. Steve was once an ardent admirer of Cookie Monster and owned several related items, including this one.

4. Give Steve any date in history, and he will tell you what day of the week it fell on.

3. Steve is an accomplished public speaker; he once performed a solo act on one of our high school mission trips that had an incredibly funny punchline about a blue-light special.

2. Steve works in the library of the Lansing branch of Josh's law school.

1. Steve just moved out into his first apartment and we're all very happy for him!

Daddy-o then turned 66 on the 27th (because the Mikruts aren't the only ones who can pile up birthdays on top of each other) -


10. Dad was a honeymoon baby. I figured this out when I was about 11, and as his 50th birthday was approaching, I realized, "Hey, wait a minute...we just had Grandma and Grandpa's 50th anniversary party...nine months ago?"

9. His middle name is Sean, although my Grandma has always insisted that it is pronounced "Seen," which she claims is the Scottish pronunciation.

8. When I was a kid, Daddy and I always got up early together on Saturdays to watch The Muppet Show and the cartoons that followed. One of his favorite ways to get my goat was to insist that he and Gargamel were the best of friends.

7. Being the jokester that he is, Dad once painstakingly crafted gag Christmas gifts for some of his co-workers. I remember him retrofitting a string of Christmas lights, four lights in length, to plug into a co-worker's outlet. The lucky recipient was apparently very vocal about how much he hated Christmas lights.

6. I remember Dad working hard on preparations for one of my birthday parties; he got a book of kids' games from the library and my favorite of these was a shuttle relay in which we had to carry a golf ball on a spoon and hand it off to the next person without dropping it.

5. When my mom was nearing the end of her pregnancy with Steve, Dad was very insistent that 40 was too old to be welcoming a new child into the fold. Steve was born two days before Dad's 40th birthday, and Dad has been most appreciative ever since.

4. Dad has always been handy and creative in the area of woodworking. He has spent many Saturday afternoons in front of the TV watching Bob Vila on PBS, though now his interest has shifted to gardening.

3. Only my father would purchase one of those faces that you put on a big ol' tree.

2. Papa was a sailor in the Navy. He loves boats, books about boats, books about wars between boats, and all things Tom Clancy. He and Josh get along so, so well.

1. My father is one of the only people I know who does not like Mexican food. Poor guy - doesn't know what he's missing, I say.