Flower Festivities

I'm a no-fuss type of girl; I hate going to restaurants where the entire staff comes out and sings some random birthday song that is also an advertisement for themselves and everybody in the whole place looks at you. I avoid those moments if at all possible, and that's why I requested a quiet dinner at my parents' house.

It was great: we had barbecue, cole slaw, and pork 'n beans. A good Southern meal.

We had a delicious cake with my name on it, and I opened my presents without fanfare or picture-taking or having to wear a stupid hat.

Since it's my birthday, I got to choose the activities. So of course we played games.

Playing games with the Flowers is completely different from playing games with any other group. We are all fiercely competitive, we all have fiery tempers, and we all like to yell--a LOT. It's super-fun!

Tonight, and I don't know why I thought of this, we played Spoons. I won the most times, and my mother tried to pull my finger off when we both went for the same spoon. We are vicious people.

My sister Joon's husband MJ did not like Spoons (he kept losing). So when it was his turn to deal, we played poker. I won that too.

My dad chose blackjack. I lost.

My mom chose Crazy Eights. I won.

Joon chose Go Fish. I won.

I love spending my birthday with my family. It's really nice when people call you up all day just to tell you "Happy Birthday!" And when they listen when you tell them you want to keep it simple. And when they give you exactly the present you asked for. And when they let you win all the games. And when you get to take home the leftover barbecue.