Oh yeah, it's your birthday.

2009 has not been the year for the birthday around here, and I can blame the budget. The budget threatened to ruin my 30th birthday (and almost succeeded), and now the budget is threatening to ruin Doug's birthday. Today is his birthday, actually. And I just got home from work. Of course, he's not here (he's at practice), but if he weren't at practice, and if he weren't doing his own crazy work project himself, the budget would have ruined his birthday, too, because there would have been no way that I could have celebrated tonight with him and then celebrated on Friday, too (which is when we're planning to celebrate, at The Comedy Studio). And don't ask me to re-type that sentence into shorter, more coherent sentences. I can't. Haven't the energy.

So yes, today is Doug's 33rd birthday. I sent him an e-card, wrote on his Facebook wall, and called him at work to wish him a happy birthday, but other than that I've done... zilch. There are no balloons, there is no cake, there is no banner. There are even no gifts yet. Well, no wrapped gifts. I have to do that after this. I told Doug that if I had it my way, we'd have spent the day under a blanket on the couch watching old movies, and I'd have even conceded and watched a silent film. But no, adult life has to take over, and so here we both are, being responsible. Overly so, with Doug going to practice like usual and me doing the budget until all hours in an effort to get my work done on time. Please. What are we going to be like when we actually are old? Just drive me to Shady Pines right now, please, and save me from the next fifty years of torture.

However, I know one little girl who is enjoying her birthday this year, and that's my youngest niece, Maria. She had a fantastic start to her birthday week by being in The Nutcracker, and we had the pleasure of seeing one of her performances this weekend. She was a bon-bon, one of the little dancing girls that come out of the Queen Bon-Bon's giant skirt, and she was just as good this year as last year. My sister says that she's getting nervous about being on stage, which means little Maria is growing up and becoming more aware. Sigh. I hope she never becomes as aware as the rest of us Sheridans, otherwise she will stop performing altogether, and I do not wish that on her.

Here's Mrs. Bon-Bon before she gave birth to twenty or so dancers.And here are all of her little dancing candies: My sister thinks that she was able to pick Maria out of the crowd, but I confess to not being able to spot her. I was too busy trying to capture the event on film:I don't know the age ranges of these little tykes, but they were just adorable.

Of course I may be biased, but I think the most adorable one was my niece, and another little girl even asked for her autograph! (Yes, that went straight to her head. Before this she was lamenting that she was "just" a bon-bon, and that she didn't have any important part in the show, and then after she gave her autograph she was just so pleased with herself. It's as if she were the Sugar Plum Fairy herself!) Maria posed with Clara and all the other characters from the ballet, but paused for a minute to take a photo with her old aunt and uncle:The way she's always posing just cracks me up. She really is meant for the stage.

So I hope that Maria is enjoying her birthday... even though I didn't send her a card. I told you this was the year that birthdays didn't happen in Dedham. It's as if we went into a year-long hibernation from fun.