if you thought my birthday coudn't get any better.....

You were dead wrong!

Brian is taking me to New York City for the weekend. We leave on Saturday morning! Our hotel is right near Times Square and we're going to go to a couple of broadway shows. I'm so frickin' excited!
I have to thank Brian's dad for the idea. He sent us an email that JetBlue was doing trips to NYC for $79 each way. But when we went to book it, that fare wasn't available. But good old Expedia came through with an awesome deal.
I'm excited. I can't wait to go shopping in Soho, and do a long run in Central Park :-) Wooohooooo!

In other news, I just completed 12 grueling miles of running in the rain. No walking, no water stops, no whining. I'm glad to be done. Brian went out to do another 8 or 10. Brian hates to run in the rain, and he also hates the cold, so todays run is a huge character building exercise for him! I'm so proud of him for his tenacity.

Best Birthday Ever!

Ok, maybe not ever, but as much as I can remember. And because I'm old, the ones I can remember are becoming fewer. Anyway, this was a wonderful birthday despite the rocky day I had the day before.

I woke up with quite a bit of soreness from the accident, but nothing too bad that a couple of Ibuprofen and the heat pad couldn't handle. I did, however, choose to work from home from the comfort of my couch because I needed to de-stress, and not sit in my uncomfortable office chair all day. I had lunch with Brian and his friend Ben at Sushi Sake, which is my favourite restaurant of all time. Ben brought me a small white birthday cake. How sweet! We didn't get to eat it right away because Ben had to run, I had some when I got home and it is damn near the best cake I've ever tasted.

My mum called me to wish me a happy birthday and to see if I got her flowers yet, which had not yet arrived. Later in the day I got two deliveries of flowers! one from mum and dad and one from my sisters, Sheila and Paula.

At 6, Brian picked me up and took me to Freda's Seafood Grille, which is a place I've been dying to try. Brian had reserved the private room and as luck would have it, it was the restaurant's 3rd anniversary and they were giving out free champaign! wooo! The food at Freda's was wonderful. We all tried many different appetizers and some of us ordered dinner. I had a wonderful time surrounded by all of my friends. So many people came to celebrate with me and I was completely touched. I have such a great group of friends. I won't get all sappy but I feel truly lucky. While I ran to the bathroom with the girls, Brian brought in a cake and when I got back there were candles all over a cake with a Union Jack on it! it was AWESOME! and the frosting on the cake was my favourite, so I ate my frosting, Brian's, and Barbies! Jen has a picture of me with blue frosting all over my teeth. hehe!

After dinner/appetizers we said our goodbyes to those who had to leave, and a big group of us went to Shenanigan's, which is a local hole in the wall bar, where we spent the evening dominating the kareoke. Andi did Prince's "Kiss" and it was by far the best performance of the night. I sang Holiday by Madonna, and Andi and I did a duet of Elton John and Kiki Dee's "don't go breakin' my heart". Emma and Paul did the Partridge Family "I think I love you", which was SO cute! Eric did Devo's "Whip it", and Reba did that "old time rock and roll" and it totally ROCKED! I did Evanescense's "Bring me to life", and I was so thrilled that I impressed Andi, my rock star friend :-). Andi and Renee did the Shoop song by Salt and Peppa, and Renee nailed it! she was a total rock star! And the icing on the cake? Jen sang "We are family" with me, despite her tremendous stage fright. I had no idea she had such a beautiful voice.

We got home shortly after midnight and ate a little more birthday cake. Brian did the most wonderful job of making my birthday so special. And of course he had a lot of help from Barbie, who advised Brian on how to plan a party ;-)

So a big fat thank you to all of my friends who made my Birthday so very special. You can view pictures by clicking here.

Pre-birthday trauma

Yesterday was a crappy day all round. I had my yearly review from my old manager, and got a rating that was less than I was hoping for. I expressed my disappointment to him and sent an e-mail to him asking for more explaination. In the afternoon I took Brian to pick up his car from Honda, where it was getting a service and inspection. On my way home, and only 2 miles from the house, I got rear-ended by a guy going quite a bit faster than me. I was doing about 30 because someone ahead of me made a right turn, but the guy behind me never slowed down, and was going about 55 or so.

I was on the phone to Daz at the time and it came as a complete surprise to me. It knocked the phone out of my hands, and whipped my head forward then back quite violently. We both stopped and I realized we were in major traffic so I gestured for the guy who hit me to follow me to a side street, which he did. As I got out of the car I was shaking so bad. I checked that he was ok, and actually found myself thanking him for stopping! I guess my lack of faith in humanity has jaded me into thinking that most people would have just drove off.

We assessed the damage to our cars and exchanged insurance information. A police officer was at the gas station nearby and he came over to ask if we had called the police. We said no and he said he didn't think it would be necessary because we had exchanged information. After I left the scene I went home and immediately called my insurance company, then made a claim on his insurance.

And then I sat down and just got totally overwhelmed by my crappy day and by the time Brian got home I was a big snotty, bug-eyed, sobbing wreck. Poor Brian. He looked mortified when he saw me and his mind immediately went to the animals, thinking that something happened to one of the cats or the fish. Thankfully it was something easily fixed. I wasn't upset about the car. It's just stuff and it will get fixed. I guess I was just stressed out from a bad day that got worse.

After I had calmed down we went for a run, and all the negative energy from my day manifested itself into a great run.

When we got back Daz called to check on me. I guess it's pretty scary to be talking to someone on the phone and hear them get into an accident. Anyway, thanks, Daz, for calling. That's a record! 2 calls in one day. It's almost like it's my birthday or something ;-)

Anyway, we called Joan (Brian's mum) for some advice on what to do next and she was very helpful. Then we went to Papasito's for margaritas and fajitas and I tried to forget the stress of the day.

Today I woke up with back and neck pain, which was expected. Though it's not really bad, and I can it's just muscular pain. I am uncomfortable, though. Right now I'm sitting on the couch with a heat pad on my back.

I'm hoping that my bad day yesterday was karma's way of ending my year by flushing out the bad things that could happen to me and clearing the plate for a great year full of good karma.

On the bright side of things, althoug poor Ruby Sue (my car) is a bit mangled, at least I'll get the bumper fixed from that time that stupid woman backed into me in the Target parking lot!

Well, happy birthday to me.

Honorable mention

Just a quick note to say "Hello" to my friend Wassim in Canada. I hope you're enjoying that cheesecake! ;-)

Staring down the barrel....

Less than a week! I'm once again staring down the barrel of the birthday cannon. Last year I promised that I would celebrate every birthday like it was my last. So with that in mind, I'm thorougly looking forward to this year's birthday! Those of you who know me know how old I'll be, and for those of you who don't know, well, I'm as old as you think I am :-P.

In the spirit of celebrating like it's your last, I'm issuing a blanket pardon to those who have wronged me in the past. It hurts my heart to feel badly about people who used to be close to me. You know who you are, and let's face it we both know you're reading this. And I want you to know that although you've acted in a manner that has hurt me deeply, I want to forgive you.

And finally, as I'm at such a wise old age, I feel it's appropriate to dispense a few pearls of wisdom that I've learned over the past year. And here they are:

• Surround yourself with people who are important to you.
  
• Take care of your skin. Don't cheap out on a good moisturizer and ALWAYS wear at least SPF 8.
  
• Drink lots of water. You may think you drink enough, but you don't.
  
• No matter how close a friend you are, honesty is not always the best thing.
• If it's important for you to express yourself, then express yourself. Don't invalidate your own feelings by dismissing them as silly, and don't tolerate others invalidating your feelings.
• Pets help relieve stress. If you are in the market for a pet, ensure that you adopt from a local shelter.
  
• Make every effort to stay in contact with your friends who are far away. Distance shouldn't be a hinderance with true friends.
  
• If you think you're too fat, stop whining about it and get your ass to the gym our out for a run. If you don't do either of these and you still complain, make sure it's not to me.
  
• Make time for yourself and keep your commitments to yourself.
  
• Don't stress out about minor details. Keep a little perspective.
  

So here's to another great year! Happy Frickin' Birthday to me! ;-)

Engagement pictures

Brian and I found a photographer to do our engagement pictures. I know it's a little after the fact, but I'm a procrastinator, so it's not surprising. Anyway, we have an appointment at the end of this month.

I'm a huge art fan, and I have some great creative ideas for what I want, and very distinct ideas on what I don't want. I've been to hundreds of photographer's web sites and seen thousands of engagement pictures and it's completely UNDERWHELMING. I'm looking for an amazing piece of art in which Brian and I are the subject, and the setting/background is completely irrelevant. So we're going to do it in a studio, rather than out at some garden or on location. After I spoke to the photographer I'm very excited. He said he had some great ideas, and instructed us to bring several changes of clothes, something vibrant, and something just plain black should be included. He said he always uses music during his shoot and we can bring whatever we want to listen to, though he has an extensive library.

This is going to be SO MUCH FUN! WOOO!

Handy hubby

Brian's becoming SO handy! Over the weekend he used his xmas present to change the oil in my car. This is the first time he's done mine, he usually changes his own oil in the Honda. The new jack and safety stands I got him for xmas worked like a charm and we save lots of money on the oil change. Of course, it'll be a few years worth of oil changes before it offsets the cost of the equipment, but it makes him happy, and that's what matters.

In other news, this evening we're having Andi, Mike, and Cameron, Jenn, Ethan and Steve over for dinner. I'm trying out a new dish. Pasta with pesto and feta cheese, with chicken, feta, and spinnich sausage. MMMMMM! I'll post the recipe to my recipe page if it's good.

Busy weekend!

So Jenn found me the perfect hairdo for our wedding. It won't be a traditional up-do like most brides, but then I'm not a traditional bride ;-). So thanks, Jenn, for being so helpful. I had a hair appointment on Friday afternoon and got a trim, mostly took out some of the bulk around the bottom and hopefully my hair can grow about 2.5 inches by May to pull off this style.

Friday evening we met Tara, Mike, Tiff, and Brett at Mesa Rosa for happy hour, then went to Sushi Sake with Tiff and Brett. They are as enthusiastic about sushi as me! afterwards, Brian and I headed down town to meet Andi, Barbie, Scott, Michelle and Brian at Cedar Street to watch Andi's husband, Mike's band play. They were really good! It was a bit cool because Cedar Street's stage is outside, but they do have heaters outside.

On Saturday morning Brian went an played soccer at Zilker and I hung out around the house and watched The Learning Channel, which is my Saturday morning ritual, then I headed to the mall to find some hair jewels that would go with my wedding dress. I found them at a little cart in the mall, though I'm not sure how they will stay in my hair unless I rat it up a bit. We'll see.

Saturday evening we went over to Mike and Tara's for an impromtu BBQ. It was a pretty good turn out of people, too. We grilled steaks and drank wine/beer and the boys played some pool.

On Sunday Brian and I went to Town Lake for our weekly long run. Brian ran 17 miles and I ran 10. After we had showered we went to Costco to pick up some necessities, then headed home and relaxed for most of the day. Sunday evening we had Eric and Reba over for dinner. I made Chicken Parmesan and Reba made a pecan pie for dessert.

A great weekend full of close friends. What more can we ask for?

Mystery smell

We've been having the weirdest problem with out new fish tank. So after we set it up on New Year's eve, and put the fish in, we went about our business as usual. A couple of days later we came home from running errands and Oh-My-God the house STUNK like cat pee. So of course we accuse the cats and start sniffing around, but no... it wasn't the cats. It was THE FISH! I am serious when I say that the water in the fish tank smelled like cat pee so bad that it burned our eyes. So I took a sample of the water to Petsmart, where they tested it and said there was technically nothing wrong with the water, except the nitrate levels were a little elevated, but they did smell it. In fact when she took the lid off the water bottle she almost fainted.

.... so we set up their old tank, put them back in and I cleaned out the new tank and all the accessories with bleach water, per their instructions at Petsmart. After thoroughly rinsing out all the bleach water we set it back up, put water in it, ran the filter for a day, and returned the fish to their new tank.

Oh you think it's all over? no. 2 dyas later, deja vu. The smell is BACK! WTF? So we did a partial water change but it didn't really help.

I called an aquarium shop and the guy said it might be plastic eating bacteria from the accessories sitting in a closet for years, and to get rid of all the plastic plants, ornaments, etc.

So again, we set up the old aquarium, and we transfer the fish. And I dispose of everything from the new tank, except the gravel, which I rinsed thoroughly with hot water. We then put the gravel back in, and all the water, and are now letting the filter run for a few days. However, this morning, there was a faint smell again. I'm going to see if it gets worse over the next few days. If the smell does come back, the only conclusion I can draw at this point is that the bag of gravel we got from Petsmart is causing it!

Poor William and Harry. This morning when I went to feed them they were completely uninterested and just cuddled up together at the bottom of the tank. They have no plants and no big rock house to hide in and I'm sure they're completely freaked out. If the smell is back tomorrow, I guess I'll have to buy new gravel and set it all back up again!... that is, if William and Harry don't die first. :-(

I'm frustrated, and I'm afraid that my boys might not make it because I wanted to give them a bigger house, which will cause me enormous guilt. Even though they're just fish. I can't stand to think that I killed them.

wedding hair woes

I just have no idea what to do with my hair for our wedding. It's inbetween medium and short at the moment, and won't curl, or stay up in any kind of hair holdy-up-thingy, because it's too "glassy" (as described my numerous hair stylists). Am I doomed to have my usual hair do? do I just slap a veil on and go with it? I tried a veil/tiara combo and it looks ridiculous. Bah!

Note to Self:

Eat (more) fruit. At least one piece of fruit a day. Don't think about it, just do it.

Hello 2006!

New year's eve was awesome!
We started off the day with a long run on Town Lake. Brian did 14 miles and I did 11. Then we spent the afternoon setting up the fish tank that Brian's parents had given us.

I had called my parents at 6pm to wish them a happy new year, listen to Big Ben, and listen to my mum describe the fireworks in London as I desperately tried to find a new station that would show it. I was disappointed to find that nobody aired it. Mum did a great job with her description, though.

My one requirement for New Year's Eve was to be surrounded by my real friends. Mission accomplished (only a couple of people were missing).

It was a gathering of about 15 or so people, all of whom are very special to me. We ate yummy appetizers, including some that Brian made on our badass new grill, drank beer, wine, apple martinis, and of course, champagne. Mike and Tara had been saving a good bottle of champagne for a special occasion, and so had I (it turns out we had the same one). This seemed to be a good time to crack 'em open. We toasted in the new year and I got some smooches from my man, who said to me "welcome to the year that you become my wife" (or something very close to that). Awh!

I'm happy to report that, although I had consumed my fair share of booze, I was not hung over the next day. We ran some errands on New Year's Day, and went to the gym, then spent a low-key evening watching movies and making dinner. A great start to 2006.