50 in the 49th

Today is my birthday.  Some years, I really care about my birthday and celebrating in a big way.  Other years it's more of a "meh".  In Portland, I never had to work on my birthday because it's always during Spring Break.  When I turned 30, I had a baby girl.  When I turned 40, I was just about to finish grad school.  Now, I turn 50 in Togiak.

This year, I also have a student who has the same birthday (along with other people in my life like Paul, Jack, Anne Marie, Uncle Chip, Elton John and Aretha) and it falls on Good Friday so I knew a party was in order.  My classroom aid, Lynnette asked me months ago what kind of cake I wanted and nothing would dissuade her from making one.  She decided to make me a German Chocolate cake to share with staff, and cupcakes for the kids.  The kids in class were also very enthusiastic about bringing in chips, cookies, popcorn, more chips, water-flavorers (no soda in my class no matter how old I am turning) and random sugar cereals in ziplock bags like Capn Crunch and Fruit Loops.  We all sat around eating and watching Three Stooges shorts, which the kids loved and had never seen.  Every once in a while, the fun would explode with a loud pop from a balloon.

You see, my students are the best.  They knew that I was missing my daughter and feeling kinda low that we couldn't be together on my birthday.  So they planned an elaborate surprise for me before school started.  I went out to get them at the usual time from the Commons where breakfast is held daily.  Immediately, I knew something was up because my boy who always wants to be first in line was telling me that we shouldn't get lined up yet, that we should wait a while and not rush to class.  This boy is on the autism spectrum so for him to voluntarily deviate from his daily schedule is a big deal.  I looked around, noticing that most of the girls were missing and that the remainders wouldn't look me in the eye but were all giggly.  Then the sped director pulled me to one side and had a long, involved conversation with me about a proposed schedule change-a conversation we not only had already had, like yesterday, but would never have just standing in the Commons for privacy reasons.  I played along and took my sweet time to get the line ready, meander down the hall, stop to talk to another aid about nothing at all, until finally I was able to walk toward my classroom unimpeded. 

SURPRISE!!  Not only were most of my kids hiding under their desks but had totally redecorated my room in paper flowers (that's why everyone kept asking me my favorite colors this week!) and the number 50 and, best of all, 51 large balloons in said favorite colors.  It was magnificent and there, in the middle of all the chaos, was Lynnette the aid who organized it all.  One student said, "We knew you didn't get to have your daughter here, so we wanted to make you have a happy birthday anyway."  Could you just die?!  Sweetness abounds.

After school, I stayed in the staff room and ate cake with first the elementary teachers (we finish a half an hour earlier than the upper school) and then with the upper school teachers.  It was really great and certainly made for a happy birthday to me. 
As a present to myself, I signed my contract for next year.