This glass half empty version of Karina’s birthday is the Debbie Downer version of events that lead to a surprising wonderful final result.

Before I even begin about the drama surrounding her party, my first birthday dilema was having to make cupcakes for the 23 children in Karina’s class plus the 4 teachers. We have a gas oven, which I just can’t get the hang of cooking in, and an electric toaster oven that isn’t wide enough for my aluminum cupcake pan. Neither will hold at a continuous temperature and I can only make 12 at a time in either one. I was also making two batches of cupcakes from scratch because one batch wasn’t going to quite give me enough. Of course I decided to try a different flour than normal and then decided to use my time wisely and make the second batch while the first 12 were baking. Many minutes past when they should have been done, I finally pulled the pan out and watched in horror as all 12 cupcakes deflated as soon as I moved them. Thinking this was just a temperature or time issue, I tried again with the next 12 only for those to not come out as well. This now meant I had no usable cupcakes ready and an entire other batch of mix that I realized wasn’t going to work. I also gave myself a 2nd degree burn.

In the end, I threw in some of my regular flour into the first mix and then made an entire new mix with a different set of directions. I eventually got enough to send to class and at that point I really didn’t care what they tasted like, as I threw some delicious homemade buttercream icing on them and figured this was the part the kids would lick off anyway.

The real birthday drama revolved around Karina’s party. Because we rely on public transportation to get around, we knew it would make our lives so much easier to have a party out back in our common area. We could make multiple trips to walk things down and we could have the bathroom there for our guests to use. I started messaging our building administration in the early part of April and it took forever for a response. It took so long in fact that I did not get permission to use the space until the Tuesday night before Karina’s birthday. It was too late at night for me to start working on plans and the next day I frantically tried to plan a last minute party for the upcoming weekend while Karina was at school so I could actually spend her birthday with her later in the day. Being that it was such late notice, all of the companies I contacted about an inflatable didn’t have availability for Saturday so we made the party for Sunday and apologetically invited people throughout Wednesday and Thursday.

Friday morning I braved the large farmer’s market to buy fruits and vegetables and was in a taxi on my way to pick up Karina when I received an email from the administration. They were sorry, but their approval for the use of the space was only for if the party was on a Saturday, as Sundays are days of rest. WHAT?!?!?! I am now sitting with the food, we have paid a deposit for an inflatable and invited the guests but because they failed to mention this detail in our previous correspondences I am out of luck? I quickly got on my phone and messaged my neighbor, who is a building representative, and she said she would talk to the building council who could override the administration decision.

Saturday I still prepared the food and tried to think of a plan b while I did so. By Saturday night I had started to re envision the party at our small local playground. We would be crowded but at least Karina would still get her wish of having everyone sing to her. Saturday night I asked my neighbor if there had been any word from the council and she said she couldn’t get ahold of the president. She did tell me however that she would support me and thought that I should just continue with my plans to have it outback on Sunday even if I had been told no because she didn’t think the administration was being fair.

Sunday morning we still had yet to hear back from the council and it was now less than 4 hours before our guests would arrive. Our awesome friend called to asked if we needed any help setting up and then kindly responded to my message about what a mess we were currently in. She graciously was thinking of possible alternatives and offering to help us transport things to a new location. The inflatable company had just responded to my message to inform me they do not set up their products in public spaces, like if we were to change the party location to the little playground on the back street. I was just getting ready to message them back that we then needed to cancel our inflatable when someone knocked on the door and my neighbor told me the president of the building council was coming to talk to me. She arrived just then and let me know that the council, in light of myriad communication issues between the administration and them and the administration with me, they would make an exception and our party could continue as planned. Whew!

And wouldn’t it of been great if that’s where our issues ended.

The inflatable company was late and the trampoline, which we had also ordered, was missing a piece and actually never ended up being able to be used, even after they left to find its missing pieces. Once the inflatable was up, a neighbor came storming out of her apartment to berate me that I might have had the council’s exceptional permission to use the common area but I did not have her permission and I should have also confirmed our plans with her because she had a first floor apartment that looks directly onto the common area. She of course also had a sick daughter trying to rest and she herself was being bothered by the noise.

I apologized and offered to move the generator as far away as possible, which we did. This really bothered me during the start of the party and then I was thinking of how many complaints they would have about me at the next commitee meeting if all the neighbors felt this way. In order to alleviate some of the negativity I thought my fellow building members could possible harbor, I was overly nice to every person that walked through the common area. We invited the few kids we saw to join us and I offered cupcakes to every passerby as well. I was looking to build up supporters for my cause who could refute whatever the angry neighbor could claim at the next building meeting and I am pretty sure my mouth hurt from all the over the edge pleasantries I was bestowing.

After I had tried to charm the rest of the building, I went to the door of the combative neighbor at the end of the party to again apologize for whatever noise we caused and offer a cupcake. She had a much different attitude during this interaction and apologized for her previous actions because she realized she had overreacted. She did have a good point that she wishes the administration would tell her in advance when someone requests to use the common area because she said she would then plan to leave her apartment and go to the mall where she wouldn’t have to be bothered. I was thinking this wouldn’t have been possible this time around because she had told me she had a sick child at home but lo and behold come to find out this poor sick kid was her 30 something year old daughter. I smiled a big fake smile and offered for her to take a cupcake for her too.

And then….I know, what could possible happen now? By this point it was dark and time for Karina to start getting ready for bed. However, the inflatable company had yet to show up to get the slide even though I had called an hour ago to remind them the party ended at 7:30. It wouldn’t be until another 45 minutes later that they finally came. They apologized for their delay, they had had a busy day.

Once I could lock the gate my own busy day finally came to an end and it would be a week before I attempted to start clearing out the pile of party things accumulated in our front hallway. I am thankful however that these aren’t the memories I think about when I think about Karina’s special day and that even with all of the background distractions, it ended up being a success!