Yesterday

Yesterday was my birthday. I could have posted all about myself yesterday on the actual birthday, but instead I did other things during the day, and then got ready to go out for dinner with Hub. I spoke to some family members and friends on the phone and via email. It was a lovely sunny day, dry and not too warm.

On the day I was born there was a big storm and many panes of glass were broken at Assiniboine Park's Conservatory. Today at the crack of midnight the final Harry Potter book was released at the Conservatory, because there wasn't room enough at the bookstore in the mall. I haven't read any of the Harry Potter books, although I will eventually. No doubt I will start by reading them to my children (tag team with Hub) and then become interested enough to continue reading the series.

When I was in Grade Five our teacher, Mrs. Lupyrypa, read The Hobbit to us. The story was amazing, and the experience inspired me to perfect my oral reading skills. You never know when you might have to read aloud to someone and make it interesting.

I had my first and last birthday party with friends when I turned ten. Two friends came over, Colleen and Barbara, and we played a few games and mostly did not too much for an afternoon. My mum made a cake and we sat at a table by the window in the front room and ate it. My birthday being in the middle of July and living in the country didn't contribute to many birthday parties.

Last year on my birthday I was very thin, having spent a year in a frantic state of overwork and stress. None of my dressup clothes fit quite right but I found something to wear. Prior to leaving Hub made me a big martini, which I drank gratefully. The week before I had driving from the east coast to southern Ontario in 24 hours, Katie riding shotgun in a hot little Corolla (i.e. sans air conditioning). The day after my birthday I was supposed to get on a plane to Honolulu to go to a conference. I wasn't really packed, and my talk wasn't quite ready.

Prior to dinner then, I was less "on edge" than I had been. We arrived at the restaurant, where I had a glass of champagne. We ordered a bottle of wine. We ate a lot of food, and quite frankly I didn't think I was drunk until after dinner and I stood up. I didn't quite fall down. It was late when we got home, after 11:00, and there was no way I was going to finish packing, so I emailed some people and chatted with "my boys" back in the lab, and fell into bed.

Up at 6:00, chatting to the porcelain gods this time, I dragged myself around, tossed things into the suitcase and was more or less ready by the time the car came to pick me up to go to the airport. The one crucial thing I couldn't find was the gravol. I knew I would need it, and it was nowhere to be found. To be fair, our stuff had just arrived from the east coast, it was all in a jumble, and there hadn't been time to remember gravol prior to leaving. We had to head across town to pick up someone else, and in my immediate future I'm seeing a lot of dry heaving. There is no way to describe the gratitude that I felt when she said that yes, she had lots of anti-nauseant and certainly I could have two or three of the little pills. I passed out before we hit the highway.

When I was a kid we always had "Family Sunday Birthday" regardless of which day of the week your birthday actually fell upon. We would go to Grandma's house on Sunday, eat lunch, have cake, argue, and go home.

My mother always made Jeannie's Cake for birthdays. Jeannie's Bakery is in the north end, and they make these layer cakes with a shortcake bottom and butter icing. I'm not a huge fan of butter icing, but my mum's cakes never weighed you down or anything like that. Sometimes we actually would buy cakes from Jeannie's if it was a big occasion, but otherwise my mum would make the cake herself. I did one this year for Hub's birthday and it was a big hit.

Lots of people don't pay any attention to their birthdays. I do not understand this way of thinking.