Birthdays happen whether you're near or far.

I will continue to attempt - desperately - to make up for my 2.5 month absence through my blogs. I celebrated my birthday five times this year. Once with my mother's side of the family (minus my brother and favorite only aunt), once with my father's parents, once by myself (on my actual birthday with jet lag and sushi and wine), once at my pub here - the OTT - where they let me pour my drinks and run my tab because its "my home too" - yes, they actually say that, and once with some close friends at my favorite restaurant. It made me think back on memorable birthdays.

When I turned 10, LSU played homecoming on my birthday. Dad and I went to the game and Lee Greenwood sang "God Bless the USA" at the halftime show. I thought that was pretty spectacular. My own personal concert for my birthday.

One of my most memorable birthdays was my sixteenth. We played games at my house, had brownies for dessert, and I got a car. Not just any car, my aunt's Mustang Convertible. Cherry red, tan top. That was a great birthday.

On my eighteenth birthday, my friend Lane and I had a picnic. We celebrated together because her birthday is the day before mine. (I forgot her birthday this year because I am a terrible friend. She is one of my closest friends and in the chaos of travelling back from the States on that day, I forgot. Happy birthday Lane, I love you!) It was a BEAUTIFUL day, so we got po-boys, drove to a state park covered in old oak trees, spread out a blanket, played football and frisbee. That was a GREAT birthday.

On my 22nd birthday, it was an LSU game day. We went to the game, my friend Brooke and I almost got into a fight with some guys who were rude and dogging on the Tigers - ON MY BIRTHDAY and in MY STADIUM. And then, because I was having a tough time turning 22 and not really being young anymore, my friends Jennifer, Brooke, Kathleen, and I, along with my brother, went and rolled down the Indian Mounds on LSU's campus. They are a couple huge hills and they were covered in dew because it was the early morning. They were probably covered in more than dew being game day and all, but regardless. Memorable.

Every year on my birthday, my mom would wake me up for school and tell me "Ten years ago today..." "Twelve years ago today..." et al. Now, for old time's sake, I make her tell me the story. "Twenty-six years ago today, I went into labor and they sent me home from the hospital because I wasn't in enough pain yet..." It's a good story, you should hear it sometime. SPOILER ALERT: It ends with me being born.

But it only gets told once a year. On my birthday.