Wicked early in the morning, Maureen and I flew to Seattle, Washington to see our brother, Kevin. He’s finishing his second month of training before being deployed to Iraq. He had this weekend free, but the Army wouldn’t let him leave the state to come see me.
I promise I would have given him back!
It couldn’t be helped, though, so Mo and I went to see him for the day. He had to be back on base by 10p.m. (or 2200, as he and his troop called it).
This was the big day. The 26th. My birthday.
Mo and I had planned a big party, and I invited a ton of people. Day of prep went a little slower than desired. I expect things to run late. Fortunately my friends tend to run late, too. The ones that show up on time are generally sweet enough to pitch in.
The party went really well, once it got going. It was hard to figure out when to wedge in the entertainment. A bigger description and pictures are after the cut.
I almost missed blowing out the candles! I have some weird kind of phone karma that has people calling me at awkward times. It struck right before Mo brought out the cake. I went outside to answer it. I also apparently stink at getting people off the phone. I swear I tried, but after I heard them start to sing, I essentially had to hang up on him. Everyone laughed.
The rest of the evening went well. I was sorry that I got such a small chance to talk to everyone. I’m told that’s the sign of a good party.
Good.
I needed to run a ton of errands, but by noon I felt a migraine coming on. I hoped food would help, so I had a lovely lunch with my Sweet. Sadly it didn’t, so I fled home as fast as I could. I managed to get the pork in the pot (easy). I emailed the producer of the TV show I was to help on that evening to let him know of my headache. Then I collapsed for four hours. Ugh.
When I finally woke up, Maureen’s date for the weekend, Rory, had just shown up. They went out for dinner. Keith went somewhere for something else. I’m zombie-ing around the kitchen, fussing over the pork, when I hear screeching. I look up and my DUMB yellow cat walks in from the rain with a bedraggled, but alive, bird in his mouth! I follow him around until he lets it go and snatch it up. It’s warm, alive, and very unhappy. I wish someone else with a working brain had been there. I puttered around the living room for five minutes or so wondering what to do. Finally I decide to call Stacie. She has a brain and is wise about animal stuff. She says to take it to the Humane Society, so I do. I’m not sure driving was the greatest thing for me to be doing, but traffic was light. The bird was admitted and I filled out forms and returned home. Of course, everyone had returned while I was out and was worried about me.
The rest of the evening was spent socializing with Rory and watching him and Mo drink a bit much. Rory knows a ton of jokes. He also brought a game called Set, which I turned out to be good at, even in zombie form. Then we went to bed.
Today I feel: Like a chicken with its head cut off. More than usual, anyway. My head is too full of stuff. I have to figure out how to focus on something.
Today I did: Checked “My eBay” status at least 8 times already. Labeled around 50 PRP bottles. Checked Facebook. Looked at my eVite at least 5 times already. I’ve started, but not finished, the first section in my online Election Officer training.
TV I’m watching: Project Runway. Naruto. How It’s Made. But not lots of any of it.
One thing from last year I didn’t blog about: I made a fanclub group for “Keith Explains!” on Facebook. It’s worked quite well.
I luv Facebook: I feel in little ways it connects me to more people than those I actively have time to hang out with. However, I dislike this new trend Flixter has of automatically challenging all your friends to movie quizzes. Opt in, not opt out, people.
Today I feel: Hung over. Last night I went with Maureen to see a band that one of her co-workers is in. Maria, Shiaw-Ling, David, and Victoria came, too. The band, which has a clever, but not memorable, name has a full horn section. It was great! I danced a lot more than I thought I would. I drank many martinis and made what I’ll call “dance floor friends.” These are people I may never see again, but were fun and friendly on the dance floor. It’s an experience worth repeating.
Today I feel: Like there’s something I forgot. I was sad yesterday after Dan and Lois left. Weird, I know. I think they were a human representation of being on vacation, which is over.
Today I did: Set up the sewing area in the library now that the ‘rents are gone. Tested and cut epaulets for the dolls. Moved the now-dry short boxes of manga back into the library. Friday morning, Lois and Dan discovered one of the skylights leak. Keith kindly extracated wet comic boxes (only short boxes) and threw a tarp over the others. No comics appear to be damaged. Looked up what alli is on the internet. Scary. It’s like it turns the fats you eat into olestra. Remember olestra? It’s the fat substitute that makes your ass leak oil.
Yesterday I did: We took Keith’s ‘rents to the airport. Dan wanted to eat at IHOP, but the wait was too long, so we went to Specialty’s Bakery and Cafe. I was not impressed. I understand that eggs are not their forté, but even the cinnamon roll was not great. Afterwards, I went home and moped a while at the rain.
TV I’m watching: Eureka. We have a lot of this SciFi channel series saved up, since we often only have one night a week, maybe, that the three of us watch a show together. Before the writers’ strike, we watched Heroes. Now that everything is on hold, we can go back into the TiVo list and watch Eureka this season. We really like Eureka, even when it gets a bit silly.
One thing from last year I didn’t blog about: The Cinequest Film Festival. We had folks from Cinequest on “What’s Up Wit’ That?” and got press passes to cover the event. I saw a lot of great films, including, but not limited to: Outsourced; Blood Car; and Indestructible.
I luv Facebook: The application Flixter does a reasonable job of comparing your movie taste with your friends across a reasonable spectrum. Sadly, most of the people well compatible with my taste are either far away, or awkward to see films with.
Today I feel: Sleepy. Nervous about the strong winds with the rainstorm.
Today I’ll do: Laundry (for reals this time), working on my doll project, getting my computer from the shop. Type up my Crimbo Cookie Contest results to email to my clan leader.
Yesterday I did: A lot of running around. Lois and I exchanged clothes at the Catherine’s in Hayward. I had lunch with Shiaw-Ling <3. I went to We Fix Macs to find out why my computer wasn’t done after 1 week! They said they were still testing. By watching a DVD in the computer. :^( I suggested something more strenuous like burning a disc.
Then I went home to prepare for “Keith Explains!” Taping went well, although I had trouble focussing after the frustrations of the day. Keith was quite funny and the show flowed well.
TV I’m watching: Late Show with David Letterman. I think he must have dressed up as Santa over the break with that beard. ;^D I hope this puts pressure on more producers to give the WGA what they deserve. Wednesday I started catching up my friend Joanne on “Project Runway.” Shiaw-Ling says there’s one I haven’t seen yet.
One thing from last year I didn’t blog about: Joining the fun that is Techshop. Techshop is like a gym, but for makers/crafters. It has every power tool you ever wanted but didn’t have money or space for. AND they teach you how to use them, even if you’re not a member!
I luv Facebook: Techshop finally made a fan page, which I joined. One more person joined my “I Want to Help You Vote Better!” group. Another one of my friends invited me to another annoying application that I ignored, as usual. I wrote a summary for yesterday’s “Keith Explains!” taping.
Today I feel: Sad that my computer isn’t fixed yet. Very frustrated that the TechShop hasn’t fixed the embroidery machine or serger yet. C’mon, it’s been 2 months already!
Today I’m doing: Laundry (in theory), shredding the big pile o’ documents from 7 years ago and before. Sorting through the pile on my desk.
TV I’m watching: I’ve been watching assorted archived shows on the TV as I sew the dolls I’m working on: CSI, Iron Chef America, Dirty Jobs, Hello Restaurant, NHK News. At some point I’ll run out and start watching old Survivor episodes whether Keith wants me to or not.
The latest movie I saw: The Golden Compass. I really liked it. It had good action, a steady plot. Yes, the story seems fantasy adventure formulaic, but how many stories are there anyway? 17, I think. It did make me think that there have been a number of movies lately where the theme is the resistance to authoritarian systems of rule. V for Vendetta, for example. It may well be my own personal perception, however. Science fiction and fantasy are rife with this theme.
One thing from last year I didn’t blog about: I went to Kauai, Hawaii last summer with Keith.
I love Facebook. I’ve been preferring to use that to connect to people rather than this blog, but I’ll endeavor to return to this. The blog will probably remain formulaic to ease the process. Come befriend me on Facebook.