Ray’s 27th Birthday… Finally a Hit!!!!

At 12 a.m. of October 15, I wished Ray a Happy 27th birthday. He was too tired and nearly unresponsive since it was a Sunday evening and he knew that he had a long week ahead. But it’s okay, I knew I had to wake up pretty early myself so that I can make him a nice birthday breakfast. By the time he awoke at 7 a.m. I had his breakfast with juice laid out for him. It comprised of an egg, a half bagel, kielbasa sausage and some home-made fries. Ray used to tell me how his parents used to make home-made fries on Sunday mornings when he was growing up and he reminisced about those days. So I thought I could make him something that will bring back some good memories. With the breakfast, I also gave him two cards, one from me and the other from our loving doogies, Pok’e and Cappy. Of course, they whispered to me what they wanted me to write and I simply put their thoughts onto one of the cards. 🙂 It was their idea…. really. Ray was very happy that morning and it was a good start to his 27th birthday.

Oh, and I got him some bar soaps as a gag gift. He didn’t like the liquid bath soap that we’ve been using and just raved about how much better bar soap was. So I thought it’d be funny to wrap up a couple of bar soaps I picked up at CVS. He thought that was all that he was getting for his birthday…. hehe. We were both very busy that day, with his long day at work and my two upcoming midterms.

However, after I got home at 9 p.m. that evening, I surprised him with a mini strawberry shortcake that I picked up earlier that afternoon from Whole Foods. It was a good size, enough for two people and not too much leftovers. And then Ray thought THAT was the end of his birthday. Although I told him that I have a gift for him later on in the week, I think he didn’t believe me.

So… today (Saturday, October 20), after we picked up some breakfast, we were off to a special place. Ray hates surprises but I thought this one was a sure bet and that he’ll definitely like his “gift”. We finally pulled up to an appliance store 20 minutes away from our place and when we walked in, he still had no idea why I brought him there. He thought that I was going to take him go-carting today (although, that’s a great idea and I’ll do that for him another time). So when we finally walked over to the video game section, I think he finally put two and two together… yeap… after the numerous conversations of how much fun XBox 360 would be, he’s finally getting one. Actually, I planned to get him this for his birthday two years ago. I remember doing all the research and everything I needed to know, except one thing…. the release date. Somehow I thought it was already out and when I took him to Best Buy, he looked confused. He didn’t know what I was buying him and when I revealed his surprise, he gave me an even bigger one… “It’s not even out yet honey.” ????? What????? I was such a moron! I went on to the Target and Best Buy websites and everywhere described and raved about this new console. Little did I realize it was the hype and advertisement before the release….. Hmm… No wonder it didn’t have prices. Anyways, this bothered me for a long time because what I thought was going to be a nice big birthday surprise for him turned out to be a big disappointment.

But today, it finally happened… we got it!!!!! Yippieee!!! And he got Halo 3, one of the biggest game release in video game history! I remember he and Eugene talking about the game several months ago and it was finally released about a month back. I’m not a gamer and I don’t think Ray is by any stretch compared to some real addicts out there that stays up 24 or 48 hours at a time to play. But even I heard all about the rave and rift-raft about this game and it sounds exciting. Well, Ray had a huge smile on his face as we walked out of the store and seeing him look like a kid at a candy store made me happy. I feel good that I finally bought him a gift that was exactly what he wanted. Getting Ray gifts were at times difficult, just hits or misses, and over the years, I must admit, there was a handfull of “misses”. I felt so bad when he didn’t seem to really like the gifts I got him and I kept wishing that I got him something he would die for. This XBox 360 is so far one of his favorite gifts. 🙂 This would make life easier for me too, since I can just buy him video games for gifts for upcoming special occasions and let him build a little collection of games.

He’s setting it up right now as I’m typing this and he has this little kid smile on his face. Very cute and funny. He’s only entering letters in the system so far and hasn’t even started the game, but already looks so amused.

I want to wish him a very Happy 27th Birthday. Many people consider this age a milestone. Well, at least many girls I know do. And for my husband, it’s also a milestone. His first game console gift. He seems pretty happy about that so I consider this a successful birthday gift. 🙂