So I turned 45 years old today.
Who could’ve seen THAT coming 10 years ago, huh?
In terms of birthdays, it wasn’t half bad. Chris and I spent the day together, beginning with watching the entire Tournament of Roses parade – something neither of us had ever done previously. After that, we went to a diner in Duluth that I’ve been meaning to try, and – while not someplace that I’ll rush back to – it was okay. I had a meatloaf sandwich, she had a basket of fried shrimp, and then the two of us went to Dave and Busters, which is a sort of upscale arcade.
I’ve been to D&B’s a few times – the last time about 6 years ago. It’s a relatively expensive playroom for grown-ups, and I was hoping to be able to play some pinball there. Alas, they had no pinball machines. Chris, however, is a pretty good pool player and I’ve been trying to find someplace for us to play for a while now; and D&B has pool tables.
Game on!
So….after she beat me in pool (3 games to 1), I decided that pool is a stupid game. We decided to up the ante and play skee-ball, which I’ve never done before. Basically, you roll balls up a ramp and try to make them jump into holes worth x-number of points. How hard could THAT be, huh? It’s like bowling for uncoordinated dorky people.
She beat me at that, too. Something like 4 games to 0.
So we tried an electronic shooting game, wherein one uses a plastic rifle to shoot invisible beams at targets mounted on a wall about 30 feet away. Now, I’m a good shot with a gun. I really am. Ask anybody. I am what is commonly referred to as “a crack shot.”
Chris, shooting while holding the butt of the gun against her chin, rather than on her shoulder (note – don’t attempt this with a real gun), summarily destroyed me at that game as well. I don’t even know what the score was, but it wasn’t close.
Any jerk can shoot with a plastic gun. It means nothing, dammit! And I AM NOT OLD!
Next up was basketball.
Ha! I beat her! Two games to ZERO, baby! Who da man?
Sure, she was probably letting me win. Stroking my aged ego, as it were. Doesn’t matter. I’ll take what I can get at this point. That being the case, as soon as I’d actually won at something, I decided that it was pretty late and she needed to go home, which she did.
The birthday was WAY better before that happened, by the way, and I naturally missed her before her car was out of the driveway. Hopefully we’ll be able to do something together later this week.
At any rate, after saying goodbye to Chris, I sat down and watched the Rose Bowl, in which tiny Texas Christian University knocked off the U. of Wisconsin.
And people still think college football doesn’t need a playoff system at its highest level…
In terms of birthday loot, I got a few presents. Always a good thing. Chris gave me a book by Christopher Moore called Lamb. She’s been talking about it for a couple of years, and I’ve been meaning to get it for myself, so I’m looking forward to starting it later tonight. Andi and Herb also gave me a book called Brain Droppings by the late George Carlin.
I did resolve to read more this year, right?
Dad came through with a new index for the cookbook that Mom distributed to all of her children several years ago (and which I use quite often). Hopefully the new index will help me to find some of those recipes that I remember from childhood.
Jenny got me a beer from a brewery in Greenville (which I didn’t know existed). I polished that off yesterday at lunch, and it was quite good.
I’m currently sitting in my bed (it’s 9 o’clock at night, but I’m 45 now. I need 12 hours of sleep daily), half watching Oklahoma destroy Connecticut in the Fiesta Bowl.
No pictures in this entry. I’ll try to either find some or take some before I write again. Just wanted to let everybody know that I had a really nice birthday and I hope great things happen in 2011.
TWD