Birthdays, Through Fine Wine Colored Glasses

I turned 26 last month. One guy asked me, "What's so great about turning 26? That's not one of the good birthdays, right?" WRONG. Not everyone agrees with me that turning 26 is super exciting. Some of us really don't want to get older and according to many of my friends when we start pushing thirty we're really reaching the "scary age". Wrong again, I say. Our mission, should we choose to accept it, is to look at birthdays not through rose-colored glasses but through fine wine-colored glasses. Why, you ask? Because, my friend, like a fine wine we just get better with age.

Now this year started off a bit slow. I came back from Christmas vacation with a frown on my face because I really didn't want to be working and I really didn't want to have to leave Tulsa before the siblings did. Alas, I had little choice in the matter. I dove back into work with a fervor only matched by the very least eager of turtles. Work certainly wasn't slow, but it was hard to get back into the swing of things when I really wasn't in the mood to do so. Luckily, with the inauguration of Prez Obama, I got a nice little 4-day weekend smack dab in the middle of the month. And I did what any sensible DC-er would do in that situation, I yelled "deuces!" to this gin joint. I busted out of this popsicle stand. I threw the peace sign...oh well, you get the picture. I went to Des Moines, Iowa, to visit my Trinity friend, Sarah. It was cold and quite snowy, but I had a great time. I went to a hockey game, a Rascal Flatts concert, and watched an entire season of Will & Grace on DVD. Score!
Sarah and I have similar outlooks on vacations: nothing is better than sleeping late, eating Goldfish, and watching lots of movies. So we did quite a bit of that and it was delightful. I reunited with my old roommate, Petrie (he's a dog), too, so that was good. Saturday through Tuesday (Jan. 20th) I spent in Iowa, then I flew back to DC to work for two days before my birthday. Now THAT'S what I call a good work week!

My birthday was on a Friday. Naturally, I felt compelled to take the day off work so I could celebrate properly. Another Trinity darling, Julie, came to visit me that weekend and help me kick off my 27th year in style.
And we did! Don't act like we went sight seeing and exhausted ourselves doing DC things all day. Nay. We saw a movie, ate some lunch, took naps, watched some Friends on DVD, made desserts, ate some cheesecake, watched some more movies, and laughed our faces off with my roommates. It was glorious! The very first picture on the post is of me, three of my roommates and Julie at the Cheesecake Factory on the night of the 23rd. I had all kinds of plans to go somewhere local and unique for dinner that night, but then Thursday at work I started craving birthday cheesecake and nothing else would satisfy me. Ergo...
That's a Lemon Raspberry Cream Cheesecake right there. Delish. I'll have you know that I absolutely love celebrating my birthday. Luckily, my friends really helped me out there. They told everyone within earshot that it was my birthday no matter where we went, so I got lots of good wishes and was able, in turn, to wish many others a very Merry Unbirthday. I think they appreciated it. Hey, we even saw this DC band after dinner and the band members wished me a happy birthday from stage. Now that's how you celebrate a birthday! Solid effort, everyone.

Sadly, I had to say goodbye to Julie on the 25th and send her back to Texas. Ahead of me was a week full of 5 days of work, yuck. And was that week (last week) the longest ever. Yeesh! I realized that this entire month has been pretty hectic at work and I finished the month out with a solid 5 days of hard core Smithsonian productivity. I'm hoping now that things won't be so super busy. I feel like I haven't been able to catch up on all the things I have to do, and it's time to check tasks off that list.

I have started with the checking-things-off thing, actually. First of all, I jumped through all the hoops to get my car titled and registered in Virginia this week. Blerg! I had to get it inspected, emissions tested, fixed up a wee bit, and stickered and stuff. I even had to buy two new screws for it because now I have to have a plate affixed to the front of my car as well as the back. Too much! I'm not entirely finished with this project, though, because I don't have my local/county sticker yet. Ugh, need to get that done asap. More on my progress, though...I did set up an eye appointment for this Tuesday to make sure I haven't been entirely blinded from working at a computer all day for the last 8 months. Wow, I've been working at SI for over 8 months now. That is impressive. And I still like it! Shocking! Well, generally, you know.

On another note, I was really hoping for a snow day or two this past week because we got a teaser of a winter storm - but no dice. I had to report to work on time everyday. BORING! Maybe next week. I am looking forward to spring, though. I'm tired of having to wear coats and gloves and earmuffs. I'm ready for sun and green grass and flowers. Spring approacheth!

Anyway, I am slowly but surely getting more involved and planted in the DC area. I feel that getting my car registered was a step in the right direction. I found a new church this year and signed up for a small group this morning. One of my roommates and I are going to take salsa lessons starting next week (I think). I'm still doing the orchestra thing. In fact, we have our first 2009 concert in one week. Yipes! I did practice today before rehearsal, so that's a plus. So yay all around. God is good.

Well, I'm off to pretend to watch the Super Bowl whilst really reading my new favorite stories about a butler named Jeeves. P.G. Wodehouse is hilarious. The narrator in his stories is always going on about how "corking" things are and how "rummy" bad things make him feel and spouting all sorts of other wildly amusing British-isms. I love it. In fact, I'm going to go read it aloud to myself in a horrid British accent.

Welcome to Feburary, my friends. It may be the "Tuesday" of the month, but don't despair, March is in the offing!

New Year, New You

New You? New Me? Maybe not, but it has a nice flow to it. Look at those pretty fireworks. Aren't they nice? I didn't take that picture. In fact, those aren't even New Year's Eve (NYE) fireworks, they're 4th of July fireworks. I didn't even see fireworks on NYE. Yes, I was in the city of Washington, District of Columbia, but I was indoors and quite comfortable, too comfortable to go downtown for anything NYE related. Though I can appreciate a good crowd now and again, I tend to avoid large numbers of people when they inconvenience me. Take NYE, for example. Yes, it would have been so exciting to go downtown and party with all the crazies, ringing in the New Year with lots of "woos" and "woot woots". However, I chose to avoid the mess and stay home, bidding 2008 farewell from my comfy couch, all bundled up in my sweats/fleece ensemble.

You know what other crowd I'm going to avoid? The Inauguration crowd. Hey hey hey, I don't want to hear it! Historical day blah blah blah my big toe. If you feel so strongly about it, YOU come down here and share a port-a-potty with 4,038 other people. Yes, I heard estimates that there will be at least that many people per port-a-potty. Not awesome. Most of my colleagues are avoiding the area as well, so there. I was walking across the mall yesterday, heading to the Natural History museum, when I was stopped by some news reporter and her camera man. Don't worry, I was not filmed. She just wanted to know how my coworkers and I were getting to the Castle on Inauguration day. "Oh no," I said, "I'll be out of town that weekend. I'm not dealing with the crowds." "So you're non-essential staff" she asked. "Yes," I replied, "and most of the other non-essential staff I know are heading out of town." As she thanked me and I walked away I heard her camera man exclaim, "Who goes out of town on the most important day?!..." I laughed. I looked over my shoulder, made eye contact with the dear people and laughed right out loud. Let them judge. I stand by my decision. I hug my decision. I give my decision a rub on the belly whilst patting my decision on the top of the head.

So back to 2009. It's here. It's happening. What do you think this year will be like? Any good predictions? I feel it's going to be great. Two weeks from this very day I will turn 26. My 27th year is just going to be the best one yet. I'm older, I'm wiser, and I have plans. Some might call them resolutions, but I reject this word. Plans/resolutions for 2009:

1) Do more stuff in the city. Vague enough for you? So I've been here almost 8 months. On January 17th it will be 8 months to the day that I've lived in DC. I've had time to get adjusted and get a feel for the area. I think I pretty well have the hang of my job, I'm able to get around pretty well. It's starting to feel more like a place I live than a place I'm just kind of hanging out in for a bit. Hence, now I want to start delving more. I want to delve. I want to attend some lectures, some classes, shows, stuffs. I want to try new restaurants, find new bookstores, visit more museums, revisit old museums. Now, here's the problem. I'm very good at making lists of all these things I want to do...not as good at following through. Check this out...washingtonpost.com allows users to make "Going Out Lists", public or private, for all the places that you've been or want to go to or whatever. Brilliant! So yesterday I spent hours just searching for different restaurants and lounges and jazz clubs that I want to visit. I made three lists of places to go. I wrote comments on why I want to visit these joints, arranged them, etc. etc. etc. But I guarantee you it will take me more than a year to get to them all. We'll see! Hopefully I'll get at least one crossed off by next weekend. It's in the works. Then another one or two crossed off by after my birthday. Yes, it will happen. Google has given me a couple sites with all sorts of things to do in DC (culturecapital.com looks good), so I'm getting the ball rolling. Luckily, my roommate Bridget has a similar plan/resolution, so she will be my partner in crime as I explore the city. On to the next plan...

2) I want to do a 5K. Yes, you heard me. No, I don't run regularly. No, I couldn't just do one now on account of I can't even run a mile. Stupid slowing metabolism/energy/youth. And no, I won't just do any 5K. It has to have a great t-shirt. I'd rather get a long sleeved one that short sleeved, so if I'm for real about that I'm going to have to look at winter races...um, December 2009 maybe??? But I've decided I want to. Mainly cause of the t-shirt thing. I just really really like long sleeve t's. And, by the way, this is NOT a resolution to work out more. Yucky. This is NOT a resolution to "get in shape." Gag me with a spoon. This is just a goal. 5K. Simple. I'll let you know in a year if I've done it.

So there. That's that. Hmmm, new years and holidays are a lot different now. This is not the first time I've gone home to visit for Christmas or spent NYE someplace other than home, but this is the first time I really feel like I've gone back to my home after the holidays. Every other time I was in school, whether undergrad or grad, so I was in a very transient place. Now it's different. I live here for the foreseeable future. It's weird to me. Very weird. Don't get me wrong, Tulsa is homey home-home homerson. I love it. But this time when I left I wasn't going back to school, I was going back...to be all adult. I only had so many vacation days because of my job. I couldn't spend NYE in Tulsa because I had to be back for work. Amazing how adult life is so based around those 40+ hours a week we spend in the office. It's something I'll have to get used to, I suppose. I'm not there yet. I call home almost every day to talk to Laurel and Barron as they drive about, visiting friends, getting haircuts, and writing cheesy techno songs. I attempt to fight the procrastination instinct at work so my time back here isn't utterly useless :-). It's a challenge.

Nonetheless, I feel good about this year. I know a little bit of what it will bring, God willing: friends' weddings, friends' babies, visits to friends, visits from friends, visits to family, Barron's senior piano recital, my one year anniversary at work, my first work conference. There will be more, much more. Looking back now I never anticipated 2008 would end up the way it did. I thought I'd be in Texas or Florida or Chicago or something - never imagined I'd be in DC. But that's exciting. 2009 can only bring more adventure, right? That's the good stuff, the unexpected stuff. The only thing I really want this year is to laugh, a lot. Doesn't matter what else happens, I just want to have lots of opportunities for good rich belly laughs.