The Birthday Report
Thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday! Yeah, I had a great time at Pancho’s on Sunday night. If you live in Perth and you’re after a good Mexican feed, we definitely recommend Pancho’s. And don’t forget to print off a coupon to get yourself a free margarita or corona.
As promised, Sangeeta, here’s the rundown of my day and the booty I got.
Although yesterday was my actual birthday, it was kind of inconvenient to do much celebrating. Being a Monday, I had to go to uni and Jac had to go to work. We are extremely busy at our respective workplaces, so there was no way either of us could take the day off. I got home around 6:15pm yesterday, and she got home around 8pm as she had hockey training.
So I went to uni as usual. I had bus station fried rice and a cup of tea for breakfast at my desk. When MK got in, she had a lovely present for me – a really cool Astro Boy bag, which will be my new town/shopping bag. The main compartment zips up and it has two other separate zippable compartments, one inside the main compartment, and one in a sneaky side position. There’s also a front pocket which will be perfect for a water bottle or paperback book (I tested this out yesterday on the journey home), and the inside of the bag is lined with what appears to be water-proof lining.
Luckily uni was relatively uneventful. MK and I went along to a tutors’ meeting, did a stack of photocopying for our classes and attended the weekly lecture. I finished off my latest round of marking and did a teensy bit of work on my thesis. I had chicken curry and rice for lunch (sorry, no photo), and worked all day listening to Indigo Girls and Kylie Minogue (strange combination, I know!).
Because I leave the house by 6:15am on uni days and it’s much too early for Jac (she is NOT a morning person AT ALL) I got a sleepy kiss and “Happy Birthday” before I left for the day, along with fervent promise that I’d get my presents in the evening. When I got home the mail was on my desk, waiting to be opened. In addition there was a package and an envelope on which was written “For Mummy” and “Open now”.
Following the instructions, I opened the envelope labeled “Mummy” and “Open now” and had a chuckle when I saw the card inside. It was from the cats! Heeheehee!
The card “To the Best Mummy”, and the message in the card was “So enjoy it while you can, Tomorrow it’s back to WE RULE again”. Hee hee. The card was signed “Love Pixel and Billy Lee” with lots of hugs, kisses and paw prints. The package was also from the cats. It was a grey zip-up jumper and a water-proof torch light, which will be perfect for camping.
Still chuckling, I moved onto the mail. First was a birthday card from my sister CW and her hubby M. It’s one of the coolest cards I’ve ever received, in the shape and likeness of a vintage girls’ story book. There was a JB voucher in the card too – now I have the pleasure of deciding what to spend it on.
Next was a birthday card from my parents and grandma. Earlier in the day, my Mum had emailed me to wish me a happy birthday and to let me know that my present from her and Dad is the Fame TV Series Season 1 Boxset. As you know, Grandma took me and Jac out to lunch last weekend. Woo hoo! I loved this series when I was a kid. We even had a cassette of “The Kids from Fame”, and I still remember most of the songs, including “Mannequin”, “Desdemona”, “Life is a Celebration”, “We got the Power”, “It’s Gonna be a Long Night”, “Be my Music”… does anyone else out there remember?!!
When Jac came home, she gave me this card:
The message in the card says “…and don’t forget who gave you the idea! Happy Birthday!”. Heheheh.
From Jac, I got a couple of pairs of sports shorts, which I’ve really needed for some time, a black Bonds long-sleeved top, a which is the perfect replacement for my black long-sleeved Cotton On top which is faded and has a tiny hole on the right breast, and BEST of all, a custom-made inkstamp with my name and mobile number, which I’ve wanted for aaaaaages, for labeling my books with. I tested it out on my Two Fat Ladies Full Throttle cook book. Looks great, much better than my most careful and painstakingly neatest handwriting. Oh, and I also got a packet of garlic roasted peanuts (YUM) and a Choc-Bar with hazelnuts (which is apparently, according to the label, wheat free, gluten free, dairy free, no added cane sugar, egg free, yeast free, vegan)! Jac likes to get me little edible treats or snacks, which is no surprise really!
And this morning, since I wasn’t going into uni, Jac got up early just to cook me breakfast. This was a real treat: pancakes with maple syrup and bacon! The maple syrup is real Canadian “Camp” 100% maple syrup. The last time I ate pancakes with maple syrup and bacon was in my pre-food pornographer days, when my younger sister Juji and I celebrated me becoming a PhD candidate and her getting into her Fine Arts uni course (that was way, way back, at the beginning of 2003!)with a breakfast smorgasbord at Miss Maud in the city. Breakfast this morning was delicious! I love that combination of sweet syrup with salty bacon. I must say real maple syrup is so much better than imitation syrup – it’s not as sickly sweet. The kitchen smells beautiful, and I have a plate of pancakes leftover for snacking on during the day.
Jac has said she will do more “nice things” for my birthday this week. I feel very lucky! She has gone to work now, and I’m about to sink into another day of brain-melting with my latest chapter. Thanks again to everyone for the cards, pressies and wishes! EDIT: For those interested, the full birthday photo set with friend and family-only pics as well as the food and booty pics is here at flickr. I’ll add more photos to it as more birthday-related stuff occurs.