This year, for the first time in my life (as far as I remember anyway), my birthday is going to be on Good Friday. I always used to get jealous of people who get long weekends or public holidays for their birthdays, and I had never heard of Easter being this early so as to coincide with mine.

I actually discovered this back in 2004 when I was working at Workplace Services (now Safe Work SA). I was managing the website and intranet, and had to enter all the public holidays for the next four years. I don’t know why they needed to know so far ahead… I didn’t ask. I remember thinking at the time that I would be 31 in 2008 when I would get a public holiday for my birthday… I think I even joked to a co-worker that I would probably need one by then, since I’d be so damn old. Kind of insensitive really, since I was the youngest in my team by a good 15 years.

What I didn’t know at the time was that I would be in Norway for this birthday, meaning I would actually get a 5 day weekend; over here the Thursday is also a holiday. Woo! I looked it up online, and the holiday is for Maundy Thursday. I’m sure the Christians out there will know the significance. I, however, do not and despite the remote possibility of being struck by lightning for it, I’m just glad to have another day off. I’m sure I’m not alone there.

So what else makes this birthday extra cool? It’s that Chris and I have just booked a 4 day trip to a beach-side health spa resort in J?rmala, Latvia. J?rmala is a short trip from the Latvian capital, Riga. As part of our package we receive daily buffet breakfasts, spa treatments every day and three lunches or dinners in the hotel restaurant. So we have already booked in our detox treatments, spa capsule massages, a session in the Russian/Turkish bath area and a milk and honey bath. Mmm. I also hope to add a few birthday indulgences outside of the package deal.