Bilbo? Quien es Bilbo?

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Every year I go through the same thing. Every year it cracks me up. Every year I am reminded of what an Uber-geek I am when it comes to this Lord of the Rings stuff.

Ever since we've been throwing these parties for Bilbo's (and Frodo's) birthday, we have to get a cake. Ok, some years we just bake a cake. But I tend to veto the home-made cake part because I LOVE the idea of buying a cake and having the bakery person write on it. I LOVE sharing that part of my Uber-geekness with people. "Oh, yes, of course we get a cake every year! And we ALWAYS have them write on it!"

The BEST part of all of it, though, is the face of the bakery person. It starts sort of confused and then morphs into a look of awe.

"BEEL-boh?"

Yes, Bilbo.

"One-one-one?"

Yes, one-hundred and eleven.

"WOW! That is amazing!"

At this point I just smile, why ruin the person's excitement with a trivial fact like Bilbo is a fictional character from a novel written over 50 years ago?

As I walk through the store to the checkout I get more looks of awe and wonder as people see that I am carrying a cake for someone who is turning 111 years old. Don't hate me, but I revel in it.

I can only imagine what their faces would look like if they knew the truth . . . ;-)