So You Say It's Your Birthday

My birthday week is nearing an end. I had assumed that my birthday would become a non-event now that Adam is around to steal the limelight, but it was actually a lot of fun. Either that or I've become simple in my pleasures.

I took the day off work, a vital step in increasing one's enjoyment. Marni and I met at the pool in the morning for an ill-fated water aerobics class. Before we left the locker room, one of the staff came by to let us know that the pool had been "contaminated," and the class would be starting late.

Contaminated? Hang on - there are a bunch of kids filing back in from the pool area. Smallish kids. I'm not gonna think about it, I'm not gonna think about it, I'm not gonna think about -- Damn! Ew.

But we stuck it out. If you think about it, the chlorine is going to kill anything nasty right away, and it was really hot that day - the idea of being immersed in water was too compelling. We sat on the bleachers and watched a man vacuum out the pool, and saw nary a floating anything.

The class did finally start, and we all piled into the pool. You have to wrap a floaty thing around your waist, since the class is in the deep end. It was odd, staying upright with my head bobbing around on top of the water, and not having to put any effort into it. I did have a tendency to drift off in various directions; I suppose you figure out how to keep still once you've been doing it longer.

According to Marni, the instructor was pretty bad. It was hard to hear her, and she didn't illustrate the moves very well, but since I'd never done any water aerobics before, I assumed that was just how it worked. Marni says we should go to a different pool and try again. I didn't really care - the water kept me cool, which was all I was after.

After the class, we went out to lunch at California Pizza Kitchen. I don't go there much, because it's a bit overpriced, so it felt all decadent and birthday-ish. I drank lots of iced tea, and discovered that their bathroom is not composed of right angles. I'm not sure why they built it that way, buit it's a bit disorienting when you look up at the ceiling.

After lunch, we stopped by Value Village for 99 cent day. I almost bought an ugly red sweater in an angora/wool blend to from, but after ripping out the mohair last month, I'm a bit skittish of fuzzy yarns. Even though I left empty-handed, Marni got a pile of clothes. Hooray for recycling!

It was late afternoon when I got home, and there was a big package of fabric waiting for me on the porch, as well as my fabulous new cone adapter for my sewing machine. I'm very excited.

I sprawled on the sofa and read until Matt and Adam got home - I'm reading The Secret History by Donna Tartt, which Renee at work lent me. It's incredibly compelling, and all the Greek references make me feel smart.

Matt brought me chocolate truffles, and we all headed out for sushi. (Adam had cheerios and a piece of tofu.) It was pretty good sushi - it turns out there's a restaurant jsut a few blocks from us. We got the chef's choice, so I'm not entirely sure what it was. The spicy tuna rolls were excellent, and the nameless fish bits were tasty, too. I'm so glad I'm not pregnant anymore, and can eat as much sushi as I want.

Once we got home, Sally called to offer to watch Adam for a couple hours (it's not as out of the blue as it sounds - I'd called her earlier). So we carted him over there and went to an honest-to-G-d bar, where I had two mojitos, and discovered that my tolerance for alcohol has gone way down. Whee, I'm a cheap date!

And that was that - a pretty good day, if you ask me. Stay tuned for part two: What the Birthday Gnomes Brought.

Bloggy Nonsense

You Belong in Rome

You're a big city girl with a small town heart Which is why you're attracted to the romance of Rome Strolling down picture perfect streets, cappuccino in hand And gorgeous Italian men - could life get any better?

What City Do You Belong In?

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A meme stolen from Wrap and Turn:

Your Movie Star Name
grandfather/grandmother on your father's side, your favorite sweet/lolly)
Charlotte Truffle

Your Fly Girl/Guy Name
first initial of first name followed by "izzle", first two or three letters of your last name followed by "dizzle"
Sizzle Kredizzle

Your Detective Name
favourite color, favourite animal
Blue Monkey

Your Star Wars Name
first 3 letters of your name-last 3 letters of mother's maiden name, first 3 letters of your pet's name repeated twice
Sarmen Sidsid

Your Superhero Name
"The", your favourite color, the automobile you drive
The Blue Golf

Tag, you're it!

Bibliophilia Meets OCD

I love Library Thing.

It's all about books! And lists! Lists of books! Cross-referenced lists of books!

Pardon me. I was momentarily under the misapprehension that I'm being paid by the exclamation point.

Point being: books, lists, tags. Recommendations of more books. Teeny-tiny pictures of book covers. Did I mention books?

I'll slowly be putting in my library. Then I may move on to Adam's. If I finish that, I suppose I'll have to move on to Matt's. Once I've finished with that, I'll export them all to an Excel file and color-code them or something.

This is way better than grocery lists.

Someday...

Laudry encrusted with urine/feces/vomit will be the exception, rather than the rule. Even excessive amounts of drool will be unusual, limited to the pillowcases I've been napping with.

My keys will remailn on their hook be the front door, rather than being flung around violently and hidden under furniture.

I will experience a peaceful 24-hour period in which no one attempts to break my nose with his head.

No one will try to climb into my lap while I'm peeing.

My Irony Meter Just Exploded

I was listening to NPR on the way in to work this morning, and discovered that Bush is urging Israel to avoid civilian casualties in Lebanon. Also, he'll be meeting with human rights groups this weekend in St. Petersburg.