Both my kids completely forgot my birthday this year. I am finding it very hard not to brood about this.

However, I did get a good birthday party in the form of F’zer’s company holiday wingding. He works for an outfit that really knows how to throw a party, and we had a great time. I even went out and blew $40 on cosmetics ahead of time, for the first time in years. And was pleased to note that I hadn’t, after all, forgotten how it all worked.

I wanted to go to Disneyland on my birthday during their 50th anniversary year. My mother has always said that I watched the opening of Disneyland on TV, but I don’t remember it. (And I don’t think it was possible, because we didn’t have a TV at that point.) But it makes a good story.

Unfortunately, my father-in-law died in early November of that year, so we had other things on our minds. And last year it didn’t work out for one reason or another. But this year, we got to go. And it was just as much fun as I thought it would be.

Disneyland, when all is said and done, is not exactly for kids. The lines are too long, and some of the rides are all about stuff that kids might have known about in 1955, but not today (how many modern kids have read The Wind in the Willows or Tom Sawyer?) It’s mainly for people who wished they could go to Disneyland when they were kids. There were a lot of us in attendance on Monday, that’s for sure.

We got to see the sights and ride the rides. I liked the changes in the Pirates, not so much the changes in the Haunted Mansion (which I’ve been told are just seasonal). We found the quietest, least crowded, least expensive place to eat lunch–White Water Snacks inside one of the hotels in Downtown Disney–and when we were finished, two marvelous things happened. A calico cat appeared on the patio outside. And a small bird flew in through the open door and then couldn’t get out and smacked into a window. I was able to walk over, cup it gently in my hands, stroke its feathers lightly and then take it outside and release it.

We were on our way out from Disneyland to go to California Adventure when the daily retiring of the colors ceremony started, so we stayed to watch that. And then we got on the train for one loop around the park, and were returned to Main Street just as the parade came marching through. We had a great view of that from the area by the stairs to the train station.

In California Adventure, we took in the two best attractions (Soaring, and the Muppet show) right away, and then F’zer went and did the stuff that scares the crap out of me (the Tower and the ferris wheel) while I stayed happily on the ground and browsed through the shops and watched the Disneyland fireworks over top of the buildings.

We were pleasantly worn out by the end of the day. I was asleep less than an hour after we got home. As birthday celebration goes… it was worth the wait.

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