Birthday Report

I attempted to play birthday photo-journalist, to create a day-long report of my birthday activities.  My best-laid plan has ended in a pile of Instagram photos scattered randomly-in triplicate-all over the internet, a whole series of cool activities I forgot to document, and I didn't even OPEN my blog account! 


Apparently, my birthday has been a landslide of awesome that can only be seen with the imagination. YAY! I WIN AT BIRTHDAYS!


7:30- I waked up happy.  In the quiet I popped a can of "whompum" cinnamon rolls, so named because you have to whomp the can on the counter. I do not have to feel guilty about eating preservative-laden instant food when it is my birthday.  



8:15: Soul #2 stirred and emerged from his lair with a energy-less blegh. 
#2: "What's up mom?" 
Me: "~*~ Me, I'M UP!~*~" (To be fair, it was my birthday.) 
#2: "Ugh." *rolls eyes in hormone-induced disgust*



Well, good morning to you, too, my little ray of sunshine. 




8:30: My husband completes the set, stumbling into the living room like a toddler.  
Who is covered in tattoos and loves to cuddle?  This guy.


They ceremonially produce home-made birthday cards, which makes them extra special.  





We eat the cinnamon rolls. I did not pre-heat the oven, and I baked them in a round bowl.  This method leaves one really doughy one in the middle, which I have automatic dibs on, because it is my birthday.
















Exhausted from the first 40 minutes of hectic birthday mania, I decided that I might not make it through the rest of the day without a half coffee/half Nestle-quick chocolate milk to sip on and a lazy rest.



Roxie immediately cleared her schedule, and offered her support.  She's a giver.




My friend Heidi texted me, and I asked her to join us at 206 Front St. for their very excellent brunch.  Not only did she accept, she showed up cute as a button, with red high heels and twirly hair and everything.  Heidi gave me a gorgeous card with one of her paintings on it, and a cute pin, which I forgot to snap a picture of because I was so excited and happy.   
Heidi has the most adorable New Orleans accent.  "It's like we'h on a double date!"


  

I handed Sohbi my phone, and he took this.  His pictures of us are always good; either he is a gifted photographer, or we are most photogenic when we are looking at him. 

It was around this time that someone handed me steak and eggs, and my photojournalism momentum faded. People like Mark Mann and Scott Street and Meagan May started showing up, along with other people who probably don't have alliterated names, but I didn't know their names.  Everyone started cross-talking.  Heidi and Tate split 2-for-1 Bloody Marys, which gave me a little contact buzz even though I only had soft drinks. I never have understood that. Must be contagious energy. 


"Green Fire" was being shown on campus at USM.  We had been lounging at 206 for what felt like hours when we realized that we only had ten minutes to get there.  Heidi had to go home ("Oh," she said, "I cay-ant, I got so much paintin' to do!") and we said of course and we know how that is, and then we said goodbyes and dashed off to campus.    


"Green Fire" is the biographical documentary of Aldo Leopold's life.  He wrote "A Sand County Almanac" and is considered the first nature ecologist, the father of "land ethics."  True community-based economic development is based on the principles of natural ecology, which is what Tate does.  Oddly, neither of us knew that when I decided to study development.  Anyway, that's a story for another day.


http://www.aldoleopold.org/AldoLeopold/landethic.shtml 


After the movie we went to the twisty/tasty place that I never can remember the name, and ate make-your-own yogurt sundaes while we worked our way back home.  

I took a picture of the cute little brooch Heidi gave me- 

a paper revolver that fits in the palm of your hand. 

There was lots of other cool stuff that happened today, but in spite of myself, I guess I was just too busy to take pictures of it.  

I guess you had to be there.