Tim’s birthday (Part 3)

It’s here – the third and final installment of the Festival of Tim’s 30th Birthday! You can read the other parts of the story here:

Part 1
Part 2

I began working on Tim’s birthday presents months before the big event. I got a little carried away with the round-number birthday and decided that he would need 30 presents to mark the occasion. It didn’t sound like a big deal when I began, but it was really hard to get so many presents that he would genuinely enjoy!

I did a lot of my shopping online, and had everything delivered to work so that they were away from prying eyes. By the time everything had arrived I had the beginnings of my own shop front!

01. A robot pencil sharpener, which winds up and walks when you turn the pencil, and a robot USB stick
02. Origami post-it notes, key caps and a mini clock
03. A luggage tag, plus instructions to pack his suitcase for 3 days
04. Our trip away, exploring the wineries of Clare Valley
05. A bottle of wine
06. Lunch at Skillogalee
07. Dinner on the Restaurant Tram
08. A mug printed with 1979: An American Classic (which makes sense if you know that Tim is American), and chocolate-coated coffee beans
09. USB speakers (for his laptop, which has crappy volume)
10. Movie vouchers
11. The Culture Secrets: Melbourne card pack
12. A homemade CD of songs from 1979
13. Dominos and playing cards, in beautiful wooden boxes
14. A Borders voucher
15. A book of cocktail recipes, and a shaker
16. A poker set
17. Desktop boyfriend and girlfriend (The very best that $3 can buy!)
18. Magnetic Superhero kit
19. A 3D, glow-in-the-dark Spiderman puzzle that now hangs proudly in our spare room

20. A personalised Spiderman DVD
21. A personalised book, in which Tim plays for the Red Sox
22. Melbourne Design Guide
23. Cologne
24. 30 x instant scratchies
25. A Waterman pen
26. A book, entitled I <3 U Baby (it’s better than it sounds)
27. Another book, entitled Art Out of Time: Unknown Comics Visionaries 1900-1969
28. A mag light
29. An Eckersleys voucher, for art supplies
30. A short course in drawing at Swinburne University, and a miniature painting

It took him about an hour and a half to unwrap everything, and by the end there was an endless sea of paper and ribbon all over the floor. It was a great way to end the birthday weekend.

Plus, it was nice to be able to do this for him now – you know, before the arthritis sets in!

(For Christmas, Tim is getting a card.)