ces cadeaux || these gifts

I hate birthdays. Just mine. Everyone else's is fine. Well, ok, I don't absolutely loathe them, I suppose. I just don't like to make a big deal of them. I don't like to make a big deal out of myself.

However, I actually found myself looking forward to this one. My family was out of town all weekend and it would be just myself and my two best friends romping about and having free run of my house. What more can you ask for? Well, other things, but they would all just be icing on the no-pun-intended-cake. (Really, I didn't plan that out.)

So we kicked things off on Friday by seeing the news Pirates of the Caribbean movie. The movie was alright; I must admit, I was a tad disappointed. I had expected them to do more with the whole merging of the pirate lords deal, which really didn't amount to much. And I'm sorry, but the ending for Will and Elizabeth... I won't give anything away, but seriously? Seriously? I think my favorite was actually Barbosa. Sparrow was alright; but seemed off from his older self. Anyways, not a bad movie, but the first one still remains a far favorite.

But the best part of the movie was the viewing experience itself. My friends and I decided to sacrifice ourselves to our crappy cinema here in town in order to save a buck or two on tickets from the nicer theatre (not to mention, gas money) since it's in St. Louis. The screening room we were in was so hot, and since it had been cold and rainy all day long, I was wearing more than enough layers (as I always do). Halfway through the movie, Nick turns me and says, "Did you feel that?" I was about to answer "no" when I felt something wet smack against my neck. I instantly whirled around, expecting to see some jr. high punk with a straw full of spit wads. Nothing. I turned around only to have it happen twice more. A few minutes later, Nick and I deduced the source of our problem-- the ceiling was dripping directly onto the back of my seat and it was splashing on us. We lost it. I mean, we busted out into silent laughter. Heather, on my other side kept asking what was so funny, but we were too far gone to even answer. A minute or two later she whirls on me and whispers loudly, "Did you just spit on me?", assuming that was the reason why were laughing. This in turn, only suceeded in Nick and I laughing even harder. So I spent the movie getting the immersion experience; it rained on the screen... it rained on my head. But it was worth it, because it was rather hysterical when Heather offered me her umbrella during the movie. The looks I would have gotten...

On Sunday, we went to the zoo. Rain was in the forecast all day, so we were caught from time to time by showers. Still, it was enjoyable. At one point, a bunch of us had gathered under a pavillion to avoid the rain. As did a peacock. It snuck up on this lady and freaked the hell out of her. But it was great. I'd never been so close to a wild peacock before.

Afterwards, we dined at the Pasta House-- my favorite restaurant in the world! Really. Their lasagna is my love. I like eating there because it makes me feel classier than a McDonald's-eating poor college student. And I love lasagna.

The food was good, the waiters cute, and there was "the incident" as it will later come to be known. The three of us were deep in conversation about non-existant dreams of starring in a direct-to-video movie when I noticed the manager standing a foot away from the table watching us. He just kept staring and Heather kept talking. Nick noticed a man standing an inch away on him and hunched close to his salmon fillet. Our conversation hit a lull and the man pardoned himself for the "interuption" and asked how the food was. Of course, I had no idea what he had actually said... I just heard "mmfhgjdod". I'm thankful Heather understood him and gave an answer or else the awkward would have really been prolonged. Nick had no idea what the man had said either, and he was probably closest. After he left, we all had a nice good laugh. I was still chuckling 10 minutes later after everyone had moved on. It was just funny because it was so awkward and none of us knew what was going on.

The best part was the drive home. I'd been driving all day and was getting rather tired of the road, especially after having gotten horribly lost while trying to get back from the zoo and winding up in a completely different city. We had actually reached our own city limits around 9:30pm and were almost back into town. I was just driving as normal and noticed a car in the turn lane that wanted to turn in front of us in order to get to a neighborhood across our two lanes. I watched it as we got a bit closer, half-expecting them to pull out in front of me. I was also half-wondering if there had always been a turn line up this far. That's when I realized it. The car wasn't in a turn lane.... it was in our lane. Coming directly at us.

Instinct kicked in (I'm not sure, but I think it was before the shouting-- I know Heather screamed after I swerved the car over). Fortunately, there was no one in the other lane and I was able to act quick. But the hilarious part is the car kept going. I don't know if they even realized they were on the wrong side. Checking my mirror and seeing several cars coming behind us, I wished I had laid on the horn, but my thoughts had been focused on getting us out of the way. I don't how far the car kept going until they realized their rather critical error.

So it was a weekend of excitement to be sure. I've toasted to a grand new year with a bottle of Welch's red sparking grape juice-- hey, it makes me feel special. 2 more years....

So here's to another year of great times, great people, and God only knows what else. Because it's these things, these little "gifits" that make each year worth living to see the next one.