SURPRISE!!!

So I was lying in my bed this morning, doing the Samurai Sudoku and watching TV online, when my doorbell rang. I thought, "My pizza's already been delivered so who could that be? Must be someone selling something. I won't answer. Wait--maybe someone sent me something for my birthday, I'll answer it." I ran down the stairs, looked out the door and saw...BARRON!!! WHAT???? WHAAAAAAAAT????!!!!!! That's right! He surprised me with a visit to the greater DC area! My birthday weekend just got 80 million times better, y'all! WOOOOO!

AnticipAsh NAsh

Pronunciation guide - the title of this post is comprised of abbreviations or abreevs, if you will. I noted the phonetic "long A" sound with a capital 'A' in an unexpected place. I don't know how else to explain this. If you don't get it, I can't help you.

Moving on.

So back to my old ways, I see. It's been exactly one month since my last confession--I mean post. A lot has happened in that month and I will summarize it for thee before delving into the meat of this post. So meaty.

In summAsh:

To Tulsa town I went, I went

On winged plane, did fly

The Christmas cheer was gamely spent

The dreary moods did die

I saw this one and I saw that

We hugged, we laughed, we cried

And yet I was a-forced to go

Back to the land of pride (what?)

The New Year was a high affair

I spent it cleaning up

A backed up sewage line downstairs

It smelled like yuck and yuck

This January month has flown

It's been a busy time

I long for warmer weather and

Perchance another clime (-ate. climate, k?)

I've fiddled, and I've tickled chins

I've churched, I've worked, I've slept

Two thousand ten, hi!, here you are

I'm getting all farklempt.

Don't ask for a deeper meaning. There is none. And I'm not farklempt. I just like that expression and it kind of rhymed. If you have any questions regarding my activities over the past month, feel free to ask. I think I summed it up pretty well in that epic poem. Not epic as in long, just epic as in really really really important. Oh, another thing I did this month that didn't make it into the poem - I saw the eye doctor. Got my eyes dilated. That's why I'm wearing funky glasses in the picture above. Roomie K and I went to the eye doctor the same day and both drove around Virginia (is for lovers) looking like loons. I am now sporting funky fresh new glasses and have switched to monthly contacts instead of quarterly. Now if that's not what you wanted to read, I don't know what is!

Alright, here's the meat, the juice, the real 4-1-1. My birthday's in two days. YESSSSS!!! I will be 27 and this is going to be my best year yet. I'm not sure why, but I'm really pumped about being 27. I really like that number. It's a good age, and what better year to be 27 than 2010? I mean, seriously. Be serious about this, peeps. (See? Another abreev.) I'm now in my late 20s, love it, and I'm starting what some people like to call a new decade (they're incorrect) in what I've determined is my golden year. I don't know exactly why it will be golden, but I just anticipate good things. Maybe a new job, Lord willing, maybe a new city (no promises!)...I mean, heck, I might just get an iPhone or something. No, I'm not going to shake on it.

Here's the rub, though. Motivation. MotivAsh. I've mentioned this before. We 20-somethings really have to motivate ourselves to do stuff, or at least I do, and in order to make this year truly golden I'm going to have to do stuff. You know? If I want this year to be truly awesome I'll have to do something about it. Actually go to the gym, actually join a small group at church, actually plan activities on the weekend instead of sleeping till noon...nope, I'd rather sleep.

A new year just brings on all these thoughts. And turning a new age about the same time just doubles those "what ifs" and "what do I want for this year/age" questions. Kind of overwhelming, now that I'm putting it all in writing. Yipes!

So there. As for now, I'm going to celebrate my birthday for days on end. I'm going to keep up the posts in better time than I have been (no promises). I'm going to party like it's 1999.

The Real World: Happy Birthday!!!

Here's a shout out for another Real Worlder (as of 4 months ago) who turns 22 today. Happy Birthday, Brother! I luh you, boo. Welcome to birthdays that are awesome just cause they happen - not because you get a new privilege that comes with age or anything, but just because you're older and wiser and know more about who you are as a person. It's sweet. None of this no-more-exciting-birthdays mumbo jumbo. Every birthday in your 20s is exciting and I am PUMPED that you get to start your 23rd year in style, adult-style. Have a brewsky. Smoke a ciggy. Okay, don't do that. That's gross. Instead, rent a car. No, wait...not yet.

To sum up, enjoy it! You're only 22 once. And your first post-collegiate birthday will be the best one yet. Do what you want, go wild, let loose! Or not, your call. Just bear in mind all the live long day that I am singing ridiculously melisma-filled renditions of "Happy Birthday" to you. I mean, like really bad Whitney Houston impression-type versions. Yay yay yay yay YAAAAAAYYY!!!!! :-)

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!