Saturday, October 4, 2008

October 4

Two score and five years ago today was a very good day for me. I was born! The people of Chile were so excited, they named a street after that day, see? 4 de Octubre!

Pretty cool, huh? I just loooove google earth! Someday I will have to bore you with more google earth pictures. Today I'll just bore you by telling you that we went out to eat yesterday at Tucanos; the whole family! No one barfed or anything. Amazing, huh? That food is so yummy! The Things loved the whole having the guys cut the meat off for you to grab with the tongs thing. Thing 1 loved the roasted pineapple, too just like me. I love the fried bananas and cheese bread and I always have a salad that includes the palmitas and quail eggs and then I have to have the collard greens, the rice with stroganoff and the mashed potatoes with the black beans. MMMMMM! The trick is to take small portions only and then you have room for some meat, too. They sang to me and gave me a yummy sundae too. The kids gave me a perfume that Enigma wanted for herself and she is so annoyed Papi would make her get it for me. I promised I'd share...
So, today I gave the kids a history lesson on what happened 45 years ago today. It went something like this. My parents had just recently moved to San Jose, California. They had 3 little boys. My paternal grandma came to help out. My dad worked about an hour to an hour and a half away. ( I can't remember exactly.) As soon as he got to work, my mom called to tell him he'd better come back. I'm just inconvenient like that and all. So, once he got back my little grandma was out front anxiously jumping up and down, telling him to hurry. He got my mom in the car and off they went.
But, the OB was also their new Stake President, and seeing as the next day was General Conference, he was in Salt Lake City. (If that doesn't make any sense to you, check out my Big Fat Mormon Terminology Guide on the sidebar and scroll down till you find those words.) So, they had to go see his associate. In Los Gatos, CA. Another fun drive ensued. They got to the hospital in time. The associate was a jovial guy. (Actually, I think maybe my mom described him as a nut-case, but we'll go with jovial.) He asked them if they wanted a girl or a boy. Their preference was a girl. He offered to castrate the baby if it turned out to be a boy. So, I always wondered.... I'm SURE I'm a girl, Mom, and I'm really not even all that messed up after growing up with that creeping doubt.
So, then he thought that if it was a girl they should name it Shannon, or was it Shirley? One of those, but my mom had already picked out Shellie, because once she read a book called Laddie and one of the sisters in the story was named Shelley, but since she read it a long time before, she thought it was spelled Shellie, so here I am! Luckily, I was a girl. (Either that, or that guy did a bang-up sex change job and all, seeing as how I even bore children, as in had them, I usually entertain them.) The Dr. didn't talk them out of my name, not that I minded the other names, but since that's how it all played out, I'm Shellie. Life has been just about as crazy as that day turned out to be, and I'm loving it. Today, I got to see General Conference once again, just like all the other weekend birthdays I've had my whole life long. It was good! Hope I stick around for quite a few more.

11 comments:

Jeri said...

well a super happy birthday to YOU!!! (you SO totally do not look 45 years old! amazing)

Pancake said...

HOPE you have a MOST WONDERFUL birthday!!!

mommeeof10 said...

Happy Birthday!

I'll be 45 in April. It doesn't seem so old now, but when I was a teenagers, 30 was ancient. :)

Gerb said...

Happy birthday Shellie!

Joanna said...

Happy birthday to yoooouuuu!

Burgh Baby said...

Gah! I'm behind and am late! Gah!

Haaaaaapy Birthday!

Karen said...

Happy Birthday! Sounds like it was a fun one.

I love the description of your mom. She and my mom could be the same.

Rebecca Talley said...

Very entertaining post. Hope you had a fun birthday!

Carrie and Troy Keiser said...

Happy birthday - a few days late! What fun birth facts!

Elizabeth said...

Happy Belated Birthday!
I love the story...glad the sex change wasn't required!
God Bless, Elizabeth

caramama said...

Happy Belated Birthday! I'm so sorry I haven't been by in a while and I missed your b-day!!