It has been a while………I couldn’t not wait any longer…..
I had to write to you all after reading your comments and birthday wishes.
I have never before received over 100 birthday wishes in English, Spanish and even my own language. A poem, songs and so much more.
Thank you!
My birthday started with my mum walking up the stairs and into my room singing “Lang zal ze leven” which is the Dutch version of Happy Birthday. I still have my own room in the house which is on the top floor and as my mum walks the stairs like an elephant (don’t worry, she knows, I tell her all the time) I normally wake up just before she knocks on the door.
It has been a long time tradition in our family that on your birthday you get breakfast in bed and then you open all your cards before you get up and get ready for the day.
Even my 4-year-old niece, Sara, did the same when she turned four on April 4. (Her birthday is 04-04-04.)
This time tough, we had breakfast downstairs in the kitchen with so many cards to open and mum had all my favorite things for breakfast ready and a fresh cup of coffee and some juice.
The phone started ringing at 8:30am. My uncle sang Happy Birthday for me and just after that John’s mum and dad called and sang Happy Birthday for me in Dutch, which John had taught them. It was perfect and made me think how John’s Dutch has improved over the years as he is now teaching himself……I better watch out as I am sure he understands more than he lets me believe…
Anyway, my brother called and I spoke to my niece, she starts talking really well now and loves talking to you on the phone for a veeeeeeery long time. She always asks where Uncle “Sjonnie” is. My brother and his family came to see me the day before, on the Sunday as Monday is a day of work and school etc. We all had dinner together, my brother and his two boys Max and Luc watched their team Feyenoord (the Rotterdam soccer team) win the Cup Final, my mum, sister in law and Sara sat in the garden playing games. It was the perfect day.
The Monday, my actual birthday, mum and I spent the day together. Friends called, e-mailed and sent text messages but I didn’t feel like a big celebration. With John being in L.A. and not having my dad here I just wanted it to be mum and I and we had a nice time, unfortunately the weather wasn’t too great but who cares….the cake still tasted good!
I suppose, when you get older birthdays are not the same as when you are little. You can’t sleep the night before, wondering what presents you will get. Days before you make lists of all the things that you would want for presents, you have to think of who you do and do not want to come to your party, think of the games you want to play and what to have for dinner.
When I was 10 years old, I had nine children in my class. Out of the nine children, there was one girl who I really didn’t like…..her name was Natalie. When my mum and I were making invitations for me party I left out her name and my mum told me I had forgotten Natalie. When I told her I didn’t want her to come to my party, mum answered with the words “If you won’t invite Natalie, there won’t be a party.” Tough words then….but now I understand and would do the exact same thing if it was my daughter…
So, Natalie was invited, my dad rented a van for the day and we went to the woods where we played all kinds of games and after that we went to a restaurant for my birthday dinner. Natalie and I never became the best of friends but it was a lesson learned.
And now its 25 years later……(ouch, I just gave away my age)…….and I received more birthday wishes than on any of my birthdays.
Thank you also to Stephanie, for the special post and thank you for leaving out my age, I really appreciate it Steph!
Two more days I will fly back home to the U.K. John and I will then start a well-deserved 3-week vacation before we fly to Italy to join our new home, the Carnival Splendor, in Genoa.
After our trip around Europe, (you will love these ports) John went to Southampton for his special visit and then on to L.A. So, after he gets rid of his jet lag we can enjoy some free time together, let’s hope the English weather will be nice and we can work on our suntans…. (I am not too certain and visited the sunbed center here a few times called “Sunny Side Up”).
Thank you again for all your kind words, I can’t wait to see you all either on the Carnival Splendor or on the second Bloggers cruise.
Your friend,
Heidi
Filed under: Heidi's Post | Tagged: Heidi's Post
Heidi,
Thank you so much for blogging to us again! We have missed you and your spin on things! You are most welcome for the birthday wishes and I am so glad to hear that you and your mum had a special day together! I am sure that it was one you or your mum will never forget. Enjoy your 3 week vacation with John–we know that he has missed you something fierce, as we can read between the lines in some of his comments. Thanks again for the blog, and try not to wait so long before the next one.
Sheryl
So glad you had such a nice birthday Heidi, and by the way you don’t look a day over 29! Our secret ok? See you Thanksgiving week on the Splendor when we sail along with Empress Bee of the High Seas and her hubby Prince Charlie. Really looking forward to it. Just got back from the BEAUTIFUL Liberty, just loved that ship! Also looking forward to the DREAM when it comes out in 2009 and its home port will be Port Canaveral, only 20 minutes from us. Take Care, Linda & Mike
Heidi,
Glad you had such a nice birthday. Enjoy your time in the UK with John. Best to your family.
Kevin
Hi Heidi:
Great to hear from you and thank you for posting.
I bet you’re looking forward to seeing John all over again.
Hope everything else is going well.
Looking forward to hearing from you again soon.
Take care!
David
Heidi,
I really enjoyed your post. Sounds like you had a great day. I can hardly wait for actual pictures from the Splendor. It is hard to wait…only 74 more days!
Take care and enjoy yourself in Italy. Jim and I loved Italy last summer. We are doing the Mediterrean run next summer because he wants to return to Rome and Tuscany….not to mention Istanbul with the Blue Mosque.
Look forward to seeing pictures soon!
Ruth
Heidi, sounds like you had a wonderful birthday with your mom. It’s hard when the ones you love can’t be with you.
I saw your wonderful country on tv this morning on The Today Show. The sun was shining brightly and the flowers looked lovely. I can’t wait to visit on July 24th on the Splendor.
Barb
Heidi~
Thanks so much for the blog! It sounds like you had a lovely b-day even if it was without John. I hope he gets you something nice from CA and you enjoy your vacation before Splendor. I have been trying to figure out when Charlie and I will be able to afford the Europe trip, but it won’t be until next year or 2010. It will be well worth the wait though as everything that you have shown us is beautiful.
Enjoy your vacation!
Deanna
Heidi, you don’t need to thank us. It’s us that needs to Thank You for all that time we took from you and John. All the time that used to be YOUR time that John now spends with us in this blog thingy. For the vacation time that used to be all YOURS and you now have to share with us, we Thank You. For all those things from your private lives that John has shared with us, we Thank You (and we all pray for the day the smiley stick will be grinning from ear to ear). Heidi we all love you and THANK YOU.
BIG ED and the whole Blogger Family
Heidi,
It’s so good to hear from you. Glad to hear you had such a nice birthday weekend. Your family sounds really special. It’s wonderful you got to spend the time with them even though John couldn’t be with you.
Happy to hear you two will be able to have some time off for rest and relaxation before you start your next journey on the Splendor.
Look forward to seeing you in February for Blogger’s 2.
Take care,
The Kilmartin
Hi Heidi!
I can relate with your mother’s walking. My mother walks the same way that my cup of water shakes like in the Jurassic Park movie. I remember being woken up by the footsteps rather than the knocking at the door.
I’m glad that you had a great birthday! Hope John got you something very nice. A tanning salon called “Sunny Side Up”… that’s funny but cute.
I may not be on the Splendor nor the Blogger’s Cruise, but I hope to meet you and John in the near future! Great to hear from you, Heidi!
Have a great day!
Cheers,
Alex G.
Hi Heidi, I’m glad you had a nice birthday celebration with your Mum and family. Your niece sounds precious. I bet you spoil her.
Your best gift will be when John gets home and you can celebrate together, even if it is a belated celebration.
Hope you enjoy your 3 weeks vacation you have both earned it. Maybe John will leave Mr Murphy in the states and he won’t interfere.
Can’t wait to see you both on the bloggers cruise. I hope you will also be on the Splendor when Don and I and Sue and Larry sail on Nov 29th.
Don and Carolyn
let us hear from you more often
Heidi,
I am happy you had a nice birthday but am sorry John was not there to share it with you. Hopefully, he will being home a nice sparking birthday gift for you from California. I look forward to finally meeting you on the second boogger’s cruise.
How wonderful to hear from you, Heidi! It’s been a while.
I’m thrilled to hear that you and your mum had such a nice day for your birthday. You, both of you, deserve it. It had to be doubly difficult for you and it sounds as though you made the best of it. Good for you.
Here’s hoping that you and John have a wonderful vacation.
Ciao!
GregB
Hi Heidi,
I guess I should proof read before I hit “submit”.
That should have been Bloggers Cruise. LOL
Heidi…
It was our pleasure to wish you happiness and many more birthdays to come, since John couldn’t be there in person to do this!!!
I just want to know how he will pay… jewelry, dinner, special date… what plans will you have him do for you??? Ahhhh, just being together again will be plan enough???! Yes???
Please accept our love and best wishes for you!
(And a special thank you to Stephanie for creating a place to do this!!!)
Lambie
Heidi, so good to hear from you once again. I’m so glad that your birthday was everything you could have wanted, even with an elephant in the room.
I must say, I am totally impressed by your command of the English language. As a college professor, one of my biggest challenges is students who do not possess even a rudimentary knowledge of their own language, much less a foreign language. I must say that although we love your husband dearly, warts and all, your use of English far exceeds his own, and is an accomplishment of which you should be truly proud.
Please write again soon, as we miss hearing from the “other” side of the Heald clan. I am working up a little surprise for you and John on the web–can’t say what, but it involves a doghouse. I’ll let you know when it’s ready.
Much love to you and John, and to Stephanie for all she does,
Rus Franklin
Heidi,
Sounds like you had a fantastic time with your mum.
Hello there! I’m glad you enjoyed your _ _th birthday
Enjoy the next three weeks of relaxation before heading out again to your new floating home on the Splendor….
Mark
The Flying Dutchman
Heidi,
Thanks so much for your beautiful “Thank You” blog post. I’m glad you had such a wonderful birthday. And I’ll never tell your age to a soul!
Hope you and John have a joyous reunion and a most relaxing and rejuvenating vacation.
Your poet,
Myra
Sounds like John’s perfect lady had a perfect day! YEA!!
Thanks for posting Heidi! It’s always a treat to hear from you. Glad your birthday was fun, even without John
Thanks Heidi, its fun to see others traditions. I remember one silly tradition from my childhood, whereas when ever the birthday person had their piece of cake, they couldnt say anything or laugh, or else they’d have to eat it under the rest of it under the table. (not sure where we came up with this) but it was fun trying to get the birthday person to crack up laughing.
Thanks for the post, Heidi. It has been too long since your last one.
Hmmm, 10 plus 25 equals … well, I won’t do the math but I don’t know what you are trying to hide – you are still a baby! I have shirts that are older than that (I’m just waiting for them to come back into style).
“Sunny Side Up” – that’s a cute name for a tanning salon. Just be careful you don’t get “fried” or worse, “hard-boiled”.
Hello Heidi,
So nice to hear from you again! And I’m so glad you had such a good birthday. We can’t wait to meet you on the Blogger’s Cruise.
It is so interesting how others celebrate birthdays! Thanks for sharing your day with us. Hope you enjoy your 3 weeks in the UK, and the weather shines on you. By the way, loved that tanning salon name!
Jan
May all your wishes come true friend!!
love,
Nanni
Heidi, I am so glad you had a nice birthday with your mum. I’m sure John found time in his busy California schedule to buy you a wonderful birthday present. John, you have to share with us what you bought your beautiful and well-deserving wife for her birthday.
Cheers,
Cindy
Good evening Heidi. Thank you for this beautiful post. You seem to forget that it is you who make our day. One smile from your lovely face makes the sun shine bright for even the darkest rain filled day. I’ve said many a time that Mr. Heald has to be the luckiest man in the world. Once again, “Happy Birthday ” Heidi. Ciao.
Paul F. Pietrangelo
How wonderful to hear from you, Heidi! I think I know now where John gets some of his story telling technique. See you on the Bloggers Cruise!
Heidi!
So glad to hear from you at last. I am happy that you were able to share your special day with your Mum. I know you would have preferred for John to be there, but it shows what how unselfish you are.
I agree with Big Ed, it is to you that we have to say Thanks. You have given so much of yourself to us in all the time John has spent on the blog thingy for us. We (I hope I can speak for all) do so appreciate your tolerance of all the time he has spent giving us the updates and laughs over the past year or so.
I hope you can enjoy your 3 weeks off before it’s back to the grindstone of work. I am hoping that you and John will be on the Splendor on Nov. 29 when myself, my husband Larry (You called him CruisinBill….lol), Don and Carolyn sail on her. Also, I am so looking forward to the Blogger cruise V2 and meeting the rest of Big Ed’s Evil Krewe. What have I gotten myself into there? LOL Take care and enjoy your time off. Give my best to John.
Gloria aka Sue
Heidi -
Enjoy your time off.
Jon & Kathy
Hello Heidi,
Glad to read your post again, and it is Thank you to you for sharing John with us. Enjoy your vacation and tell John to skip a day or so of posting and spend more time with you
Papanh
Hi Heidi
I know it was a difficult decision to spend your birthday apart from John, but I know you had a special day with your Mum and made wonderful memories.
I’m delighted to hear that you and John will have 3 weeks at home to rest and spend time together before boarding your new home. I look forward to the day I get to meet both of you, on the Bloggers cruise!
Hi Heidi !!! Nice to see you writing on the Blog…Catie and Amanda and I send our best Birthday wishes to you and hope to see you and John again real soon !! Enjoy your vacation !!
Mark C….from Alabama
Hello Heidi!
So glad you had such a nice birthday celebration with your Mum, and all the extra wishes were more than deserved. You and John give so much of yourselves. Please enjoy some quality time with John, during your vacation and hide his Raspberry thingy and his lap top for at least 24 hours (or more if you are having a really good time) and we will understand!
It was really nice hearing from you…. please don’t wait so long to blog again! We enjoy your blogs as much as Johns!
Hi Heidi,
I’m so glad you had a wonderful birthday with your family. I went to my grand-nephew’s birthday party (for family) on Sunday – he just turned 2. He is such a sweetie, doesn’t sit still for a minute and completely understands everything you’re telling him.
I know you can’t wait to see John and I hope you have a peaceful 3 weeks before joining the Splendor. Hopefully I’ll finally get to meet you and see John again on the Dream in 2009.
Enjoy,
Carol
Heidi:
Happy 29th Birthday….again! LOL
It sounds like you got lots of treasures of your special day!!
Linda
Your birthday sounded marvelous. Family traditions make the day don’t they? Enjoy your three week vacation with John. Jeri & Larry
Heidi, you are most welcome! We always love hearing from you, sweetie. I’ll share an age trick a friend uses…her age is always ‘plenty nine!’
Hugs,
Duchess Sandy
Hello Heidi!! It’s so nice to hear from you. And thank you for sharing your day with us. It sounds like it was lovely. We are looking forward to boarding The Splendor in (oh my gosh) less than 100 days now!! Hopefully we’ll have the pleasure of meeting you both.
Take care and enjoy your holiday with John!
Chris
Heidi,
Glad you had a very happy birthday! You don’t want to hear me sing in any language so I’ll spare you. The package and picture of us I sent from the Imagination just came back to me marked “NOB” which is “Not On Board” for anyone who has ever tried to send a package to a cruise ship. AAARRRGGHHH! I’ll get that picture to you yet!
well you are only 1 year yonger than I am, and April is still the best month for birthdays!
post again soon
Glad you had a nice quiet birthday with your mum, I is always good to see you post as you are very imoprtant to all us blogger as we know you are John’s greatest strength and you keep him in line …
the one
and only 1
Heidi-Beth
Hi Heidi,
Happy belated birthday to you! Glad you had a nice celebration. I look forward to meeting you and John on the blogger’s cruise in February.
On the weekends that I don’t work, I usually take breakfast (around noon) to my daughter if she’s still in bed and not at work. I sing her “Happy Breakfast to you…”. Same tune as Happy Birthday. Anyways, on her 17th birthday earlier this month, I was bringing her breakfast in bed and singing my usual song when she stopped me and told me I could sing a different song today…”Oh yeah”, I said and then changed it to the birthday song.
Yea! A post from Heidi!! Great to hear about your day & how you celebrated. Love the story about Natalie. It’s a good lesson to share. Thanks!
We’d like to hear from you MORE often if it wouldn’t be too much of an imposition. We’d be interested to hear your viewpoint during all of your travels.
Then again, wait and enjoy your 3 weeks and rest.
We look forward to meeting you and John on the Bloggers Cruise and hearing from you again soon.
Andrea (and her mom, Janet)
John:
New to your blog, but very excited to hear that you will be on the Splendor!
Just booked the Dec 20th XMASS cruise. Will you and Hedi still be on board?
HOPE SO!
Glad to hear you had a special day – you deserved every minute of it. Enjoy your time off! I’ll be looking forward to more posts from you in the future – they are such a pleasure to read.
Hugs,
Lori
Heidi,
Glad to hear you had a great birthday in reunion with your family. Hope to meet you if you are on the Splendor on 15 Nov 08. Take care and may you celebrate many, many more. God Bless!
Luis & Maria
Thank you. I just want to say a big “THANK YOU!” for setting up a room for us for our Cruise. We are cruising May 11th on the Conquest! It was a sucha great jesture for you to set up a room for us. You have a big heart and we do appreciate it.