Today is my mom’s 50^th birthday.  A birthday that my mom has dreaded and knowing that, I tried to make it fun and exciting by throwing her a non-over the hill, surprise birthday party.  So, this last Sunday (after a crazy weekend of bikini football tryouts in Southern California to expand our Northwest League) with the help of her now (they broke up Sunday night) ex-boyfriend (who also used to be her ex-husband – long story).  

When talking with her ex-boyfriend/husband, I told him that I wanted to have her surprise birthday at a restaurant where she could dress nice since she had bought a nice black dress specifically for her 50^th birthday.  He wanted her birthday party to last more than an hour or two and suggested that we hold it at Del Mar Horse Race track in San Diego.  I asked him if she even liked horse races (I have only been with my dad who LOVES the horse races) and he told me that he had taken her there several times and they had a blast.  I, knowing my mom, did not think she would want to spend her 50^th birthday there, but then again, I had never gone to the horse races with her, so maybe I was completely wrong.  Another thing about the horse races that made me not want to have her party there (besides the fact that she couldn’t wear her black dress) was that the tables that her ex wanted to get cost $100 each, and that is just for the table itself, there was also a minimum food purchase that you had to buy as well.  My brother and I are both struggling financially right now, so spending an extra $50 (we split our table), plus the cost of food AND my mom’s cake, decorations and birthday presents adds up. Neither of us really wanted to have it there, but if my mom’s ex felt it was that important, that she loves the track so much, we should do what mom wants.

Later I found out that she wanted to cancel going to the horse races, which she did not feel quite up to, but I am glad she did not because my boyfriend and I were there, decorations all in place, waiting to surprise her.  She also mentioned to me that the horse races were not that fun to her – URGH!  I told her that my original plan was to take her out to a nice dinner where she could wear her black dress, we could decorate it and have someone sing her happy birthday (I know my mom, and I knew that she would have liked that much better, but I went along with what her ex thought was best).  She told me she would have much rather done that and the $200 spent on tables could have gone to a spa day or something like that versus wasting time at a track that she did not really care about. 

The deal that I made with her ex was that if we did go through with the horse races that he had to take her to a nice dinner on her birthday so that she could wear her black dress. Later on at the horse races he had told my mom that this dinner was her “nice dinner” and that really pissed me off.  After the horse races my mom called me later that night to let me know that they had broken up, what a way to end your birthday…

Happy 50^th Momma!