Brd, when it's YOUR birthday, you have to be a little more insistent! I believe that we should do whatever the birthday boy/girl wants to do, not impose on them what is convenient for us.
For my husband's last birthday, I had my step-daughter fly in from New Orleans to surprise him. We had dinner in his favorite restaurant that night. Then she watched the kids for an evening while we went to see a show that he really, really wanted to see. He was SO happy.
"Be on your guard! Jerks on the loose!"
http://www.roches.com/television/ss83kod.html
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"If any relationship involves a flow chart, get out of it...FAST!"
~ Best12Bars