Do you know what today is?...

Yup! It's my BIG 4-5! Woo Hoo!

As a kid, you think that anyone over the age of 40 is ancient. Right? But I'm here to tell you that, other than the size of my hips, it's not that bad.

I thought it would be fun to tell you about my most memorable b-days. They include a wedding, a funeral and a ride in a police car.

10th - I developed a migraine at noon and my oldest brother, (a medic in the Navy), gave me a pill to knock me out. I woke up 6 hours later, headache-free! After dinner and b-day cake, one of my presents was a white stuffed mouse that was nearly as tall as I was. Years later, I was told that my brother felt so bad about me sleeping my b-day away that he bought me the mouse. I had the thing til it was grey and falling apart.

12th - My 'golden' b-day, when your age and birthdate match. I had my 1st sleepover and invited Barbara and Margo. At 12 am, mom told us to go to bed. Yeah, right! We fell asleep at 1:30 and were awake by 6. For some reason, we thought it was a good idea to go swimming. We froze our butts off and made so much noise coming in that mom woke up. She didn't scold me, she just shook her head as if to say, "I'm raising an idiot."

16th - Remember 'Sixteen Candles'? My 16th was similar (I even had a geek 'stalking' me at school), except no one forgot my b-day. My oldest brother's wedding reception was at our house. After the 1st dance, the band played 'Happy Birthday'. It was hilarious because as they got to "happy birthday, dear _____", half the voices stopped since they didn't know my name! Then the cake was cut and they said to cut mine too. They left at 6 and I had a pool party with my friends...and everyone who stuck around. I went to bed at 1:30. At 6 am, a cousin woke me up, saying, "Come upstairs. We're getting the bird drunk." A brother had collected all the drink glasses and fed it to his bird! As I walked through the house, I had to step over several people sleeping on the floor. That was, BY FAR, my favorite b-day!

21st - I went to dinner with the family, then my brothers and sister took me to Marie Callendar's (the bartender was a family friend) and they proceeded to order every drink off the menu. I'm picky and refused the ones I don't like. By 12:30 am, I was feeling f-i-n-e. My sister drove me home and we watched Love American Style. We were laughing so hard that we knew we were (at least) buzzed. After she left, I found Live-Aid on MTV and stayed up til 5:30. I learned, later, that the brother who drank the ones I refused couldn't get to sleep because his room kept spinning.

24th - My cousin's funeral was in the morning and it was weird hearing, "Happy birthday, Jodi!" from the relatives. Then mom and I went to a March of Dimes benefit at Dodger Stadium and I felt much less freakish when people wished me a happy one.

30th - I'd had back surgery 1 1/2 months, prior so I was only up for a small gathering. I invited 6 girlfriends over and we sat on the patio eating pizza, drinking margaritas, and reminiscing. Mom had to help me into bed so it was over by 11:30 pm...but it was fun.

36th - In Lake Tahoe, CA for a family reunion, a group of us decided to go to Reno, NV. We stopped at Sav-ons and followed a cousin to the greeting card aisle. He said, "Ok, everybody. Pick a card for Jodi" and the 5 of them proceeded to hand me their cards. As soon as I read each one, the cousin plucked it out of my hands and put it back. I was laughing so hard that people came from other aisles to see what was so funny. Then, on our way home, the car broke down on the highway. A (shaved head) cousin hitched a ride and returned with a cop. He said, "I got in the car and the woman said, 'Please don't kill me'." Because my w/c was in someone else's car, 2 cousins had to carry me to the cop car and they gave us a ride home.

40th - 2 brothers took me out for a couple hours while mom got a surprise party organized. What shocked me more than anything was that my man was there! I asked about it later (thinking she'd asked him when he was at the house) and he said, "She called me." To this day, I don't know how she got his phone number because I keep my cell phone with me at all times.

45th *gasp!* - My favorite cousin (dad's side) is in town and stopping by to give me a b-day hug before he goes home. The bbq isn't til 3 pm because it's supposed to be 100 degrees. So I don't know whether today will be blog-worthy (yet). : )