Ulala's Birthday

Happy Birthday to my lovely and wonderful wife! 

I had quite the plan today to celebrate!  And you know what they say about the best laid plans... 

First I arranged for our friend Emi to take Ulala for a massage in Kyobashi around lunchtime while I watched the baby.  I paid for this excursion as part one of her birthday present. This had two benefits: 1) It gave her a much-needed break from the baby to go relax and be pampered with her friend. 2)

It got her out of the house so I could decorate and prepare her small birthday get together and friends could arrive. 

We only had a couple people over. Bad timing and late planning on my part meant that some people were out of the country and others already had plans. That was probably for the best, though, since Shinryu would have enough excitement with the few new people that were coming over. 

So Ulala left to go meet Emi, and I arrogantly thought I’d quickly get the boy in the carrier and head out to the balloon shop in Hommachi.  Well, he was having none of that! It was an hour before we got out of the house! This meant I was just getting to the cake shop near us at the time our first couple guests were due to arrive. But not to worry. That’s what cell phones are for!  So it all worked out fine. Masako met me at the cake shop and helped me carry the cake and sweets back to the apartment. Shinryu was very well behaved once we did leave the house, so taking the subway, getting the balloons and cake and drinks was all no problem.

Then Ulala and Emi were supposed to get back around 3 but didn’t come home until close to 4pm!  Sheesh! But Masako, Tony, and I had fun relaxing and talking until they got there. Then the five of us ate cake and had a nice evening.  It was mostly a girl’s night for Ulala and her friends but I had invited Tony more for my sake than anything else. And he is a very good friend, so he and I hung out in the kitchen and drank and we had some really interesting conversation.  There were a few hiccups, but overall a successful venture

And why, you ask, did I go to all this trouble?  Well, March 10^th 2012 is the fifth anniversary of the huge surprise party I threw for Ulala’s birthday back in 2007, at which I proposed to her in front of so many of our close friends here in Osaka.

Back in 2007 on proposal night. Surprisingly few pictures from that night:

 And a nicer picture of Ulala the next day, still 2007, with her birthday haul: