DOUBLE DIGITS

Yesterday was OSFO's tenth birthday. OSFO is the kind of person who looks forward to her birthday for months and months. In fact, she starts looking forward to her next birthday as soon as the last one is over.

She just really love birthdays. Especially her own.

Maybe everyone does. At least most kids. It's the only day in the whole year when your family has to do something really special for you.

And this was a special, special birthday because OSFO is in the double digits now. Boy, was OSFO relieved that her mom didn't write a blog post about her birthday (OSFO turns ten, OSFO turns ten) that would have been so embarassing -- because she usually gets everything so wrong.

(Last year she wrote about bringing cup cakes to my class and her teachers read it out loud).

Ten years old. That's kind of a big deal. To OSFO, anyway. And she actually feels a little different. Two numbers intead of one.

OSFO is almost a teenager.

But when she's a teenager, she won't be a bit like Zeb, who lies on the couch all the time playing his unplugged electric guitar, running out of the house every time his cell phone, which has this weird cackling kind of ring, rings.

All he cares about are his friends. And he said he was going to get OSFO a birthday present but he didn't.

Obviously he wasn't invited to OSFO's party because he thinks Fluffy Bear parties are stupid. OSFO only invited three girls from school: Crystal, Kate and Ani. She didn't invite Rasa because she goes to a different school and she's in a different grade. She's the same age but she was held back after kindergarten.

OSFO did not want a third grader at her party.

Rasa is OSFO's best friend sort of -- she lives on the first floor of their apartment building. She has the most annoying little brother in the world but she and OSFO are really good friends anyway.

OSFO's mom was all weird about the fact that OSFO didn't invite Rasa. That's another example of her mom's bad listening. OSFO told her that she didn't want to invite Rasa but she kept saying: why don't you invite Rasa, why don't you invite Rasa?

Truth is, OSFO didn' t invite Rasa because it makes her uncomfortable to be with her around my school friends.

She's just different from them and it stresses OSFO out to have to worry about her. But that's too much information to tell her mom. She'd want to fix the problem. "Don't worry about Rasa. She can take care of herself," she might say.

OSFO thinks she was mostly worried about hurting Mrs. K's feelings.

SM worries way to much about what other people think. Even at the party she kept saying "We should we get a Fluffy Bear for Rasa. And OSFO kept saying no.

Come on. OSFO didn't want to make a big deal about the fact that Rasa wasn't nvited. Okay?

The party was at Fluffy Bear the most magical store in the whole wide world (DO's thinks it's stupid, too). You pick out a bear or a dog, or a monkey and they stuff it full of filling, put a heart inside, you name it, and create a birth certificate, pick out clothing for it.

OSFO could spend all her time at Fluffy Bear. Her most favorite animals in the world, Spot, TK, Dimples and my monkey, Cubby, are from that store.

At least stuffed animals they listen, they don't get anything wrong. They don't have to be shusshed all the time.

The trouble with looking forward to your birthday for so long is that it's very disappointing when it's over. It's even a little bit disappointng while it's going on. During the party, OSFO kept thinking: everything is happening so fast. It was like watching a movie of my party -- like I'm not really here.

OSFO almost felt sick from not wanting her party to end. She wanted time to stand still so she couls be the birthday girl forever. Last night, OSFO couldn't help but thinkthat's it's going to be a whole year until her birthday again. Everything happened so quickly.

It's over now. And it's such a long wait for the next one.