Birthday Loot (Part 1)

Yes, yesterday was my birthday. And it was a good day. I got to sleep in a little due to my first period class being a planning period. When I got out of the shower, I found that Nancy had made me breakfast. French toast and eggs—yum! She also had two presents for me: new shirts! The one I wore yesterday is a burgundy color with thin white stripes. The one I'll be wearing to Saturday's activities is a pale yellow with white and navy blue stripes. They both look great.

After breakfast I was off to school. I had only one period yesterday, during which we reviewed for today's test over the immune system, disease, sanitation, and eating healthy foods. One of the students made up the test she missed last week and got a 25%, about which I've already written. Knowing there's another test in class today, I doubt I'm going to see her again until sometime next week.

After class, I put some gas in the car. Even at the club store, gas is up to $3.129 per gallon. Good thing I've got something to drive these days besides the Dreadnought! Then a quick jaunt downtown took me to my usual monthly barber shop visit. Twenty minutes and $7 later (including a $2 tip), I was freshly shorn and ready for lunch.

Nancy and I are both on the mailing list for Noodles & Company, and they sent me a coupon for a free entree for my birthday. I had my usual favorite, the whole grain Tuscan fetuccini alfredo with chicken, and Nancy had the Chinese chop salad with chicken. Both dishes were delicious. And at lunch Nancy told me what we were doing that evening: dinner and a show at the Desert Star Playhouse. I was excited. She's so thoughtful.

On the way home I stopped and bought myself a birthday present, what Nancy and her family call a "To me, from me, aren't I thoughtful?" gift:

It's the one Enya CD (besides the Christmas one) that I didn't have. And it's quite good. We listened to it on the way to and from dinner. It's a little different sound for her, but I like it.

I got home hoping to get a short nap, but that never happened. As I was reading and responding to birthday wishes by e-mail, my brother Sam called to wish me a happy birthday, and we talked for 40 minutes or so. Then my Mom called, and that was another 30 or 35 minutes. By then it was almost time for Nancy to get home and for us to head to the play.

For those unfamiliar with the Desert Star, they perform comedies, especially of the satire and farce varieties. They make fun not only of the plays they mimic, but of anything and anyone they can work into the script. They focus a lot on Utah 'culture' and poke fun at both sides of the political aisle. Some of their play titles include "My Big Fat Utah Wedding", "Seven Bribes for Olympic Brothers", and "Less Miserables". Last night's play was "Phantom of the Grand Old Opry", where a deformed, scary-looking 'Opry Ghost' (who turned out to be Kenny Rogers after his recent plastic surgery) haunts the Opry and tries to get rid of stars Wynona Jugg and Billy Bob Cyprus in favor of his young protege, Christine Die-ay (or something like that, everyone in the cast pronounces her last name differently). We laughed all the way through.

After the play was over, there were some announcements and recognitions. The audience sang Happy Birthday to me and to a kid who was turning 15. (Nancy set it up when she ordered the tickets. She told them it was my birthday when she ordered the tickets, but thankfully neglected to mention which one.) We sang Let Me Call You Sweetheart to two couple who were celebrating their 34th and 17th anniversaries respectively. And the MC told a few jokes and played Q&A with the crowd. Then the cast came back onstage and did a short (15 minutes or so) program of 'updated' Broadway showtunes. One was "Oh! Tooele!", a rousing takeoff of "Oklahoma" that talked about the joys of living in a community supported by a nuclear waste processing facility. The other crowd favorite was a takeoff of an "Evita" song for the mayor of Salt Lake City, "Rockita". The final chorus went something like this:

Don't cry for me, Salt Lake City
The truth is, I never liked you
I've been a big jerk
A great big weenie
I'll bet you miss Dee-
Dee Corradini...

We got home and I discovered to my considerable surprise that Nancy had two more presents for me:


I used to own this collection, but I made the mistake a few years ago of lending it to a co-worker who got fired while I was in an appointment with a client and took it with him when he cleaned out his office. I read Nancy a couple of passages from the first part of the book. It's good to have a little Douglas Adams in the house again.



This is the new Rush CD, released May 1st. Lord Mhoram and I and our wives are going to see the group in concert in August. It's the first real rock concert I've been to in decades. I'm pretty excited. One of the songs on this CD is called "The Larger Bowl (A Pantoum)." The lyrics are very interesting, structurally. The song has five verses of four lines each. In each verse, the second and fourth lines become the first and third lines of the next verse. And the final line of the final verse is the same as the first line of the first verse. Very cyclical, and very interesting to listen to if you're paying attention.

And that's pretty much my birthday. Like I said, a really good day. Nancy takes great care of me. Being with her was the best part of the day. I couldn't ask for more on my birthday—or any other day.