Life is good

I've had a fun birthday weekend. On Friday, my actual birthday, I met King V and Queen S for lunch at a local Indian restaurant that does a nice buffet. Two of my friends joined us and brought along their niece who entertained the entire table with her blond curls and innocence. And by poking her finger into the cheese of a cheese-and-cracker combo she was snacking from and attempting to rub the cheese on her face. Ah, to be two again.

King V and Queen S gave me a bunch of presents at lunch, including a beautiful fuchsia shirt that I've worn to a couple different events this weekend. My friends gave me an adorable clay pig that came from Chile. I've named him Hector.

I got paid on Friday and was able to reconnect my phone service, which had been out for almost two weeks. (Damn unemployment bastards with their withholding of funds.) Hopefully that mess will be sorted out soon and I can stop worrying about stretching my dollar bills until Washington begs for mercy. Better yet, I'd like a j-o-b. I think things are starting to turn around. I'm actually hearing back from people at places I've applied. I can't remember if I mentioned it, but I sent up a prayer/wish/request/whatever to the Goddess that I have a full-time job with benefits by the end of 2009. That's another six weeks, which will hopefully be plenty of time for something I've applied for to come through. I told King V that this unemployment debacle could be well-timed. If my benefits are 'released' in the next couple of weeks (which they could be as today marks the beginning of the fourth week of the potentially four-to-six week determination process), I told him it was going to be a good Christmas. If the benefits are held up, I told him everyone was getting socks. I was half-joking and trying to make light of the whole situation but his face and voice softened and he said, "I love the things you make me." O...kay. Missed the point and the joke, but still... King V for the win.

After lunch and bill paying, I drove around a while and enjoyed the beautiful 60-degree day we were having. I couldn't really decide what to do. I was tempted to go to a movie -- I'm interested in seeing The Blind Side -- but ended up visiting Vanessa during her shift at Starbucks and playing on Facebook. After hanging out there a couple hours and drinking a death chai tea latte (made with half-and-half instead of a lower-calorie milk), I met four friends for dinner at a local Greek place I tend to frequent on my birthday. I think I've been there for at least five of my last six birthdays. Yahoo Sushi! won out one year but, for the most part, it's been a woot woot chugga chugga ride on the hummus train. Dinner was fabulous -- the service was stellar, the food was divine, and the company outstanding. Believe it or not, one of the people at dinner was The Date, a woman I was very, very, VERY into a few years ago. Time has healed old wounds and I was glad that she and her now-partner were able to join me and my other friends for dinner.

I was back home around 9:30 p.m. and watched an episode of Monk from a DVD collection that King V and Queen S got me. I'm going to miss that show, but it's probably good that it's ending after eight seasons. The mysteries are starting to falter a bit and it's better that the show go out mostly on top instead of ceasing to be funny like Scrubs, which is inexplicably STILL on the air.

I lazed around most of Saturday and met Vanessa and company in the evening to celebrate early HER birthday. We went to Dave and Buster's and sat around drinking while most of the people were off playing arcade games. It was a nice evening and our server/manager was both friendly and efficient, but MAN, that place is loud. One of the party attendees half-shouted across the table that she liked my goddess necklace and wanted to know the story behind it. Not wanting to shout back -- or move closer -- I said it was called the Healer and left it at that.

Today has included a birthday brunch with a friend on whom I have a crush (groan) and Sasha and Nicole, the friends I visited in St. Louis last month. I'm now hanging out at King V and Queen S' house and awaiting birthday cake, which I have not yet eaten this weekend. Apparently the cake hasn't even been purchased. I told Queen S that I didn't want carrot cake, though I like it, or an ice cream cake. The former is King V's favorite and it showed up at my birthday celebrations several years in a row. I finally broke him of the habit, I believe, and requested a chocolate cake but NOT an ice cream cake. Queen S, on the phone, paused and said, "Do you want to just buy the cake and bring us the receipt?" Sure. Here's the receipt. The cake cost a million dollars. Get the forks.