Birthday Wishes

Today I woke up a total grumpster on my birthday. For some reason, I opened my eyes, discovered that I was hungry, slept funny and my neck hurt, and realized oh shit, yeah, I'm 29 today -- as in the last year of my twenties. The end of my life as we know it. Somehow I managed to throw all that we've accomplished in the past six months out the window and focused on my dreary mood. It was a bad birthday choice.

Yes, the drama was high before 11am when Jesse finally came in the bedroom/office to figure out just why I had been behaving like a troll all morning. I then burst into tears, gushing why my life was ending because I'm unemployed, I have more visible white hair up front (thus making me into a troll), and that I might as well make a living under a bridge and collect tolls like in the Billy Goats Gruff. Everything about our move has been slower than expected -- settling in took a while, finding a steady job has been really trying, and all of the things that I thought would happen by now just haven't. (In reality, we're doing just fine. I just need a new game plan that involves more consulting work and less stress over not having a full-time job.)

Thankfully, I had to go and do some research this afternoon at the Oregon Historical Society and distracted my thoughts of gloom for several hours. I sifted through microfilm for ages (which makes me feel car sick) and was done around 4pm when I decided to pack up and take the streetcar home. Nauseous, I called Jesse on my way back to let him know I'd be home for dinner and zoned out for a bit in the rain.

When I came back, I found the apartment totally tidy and snacks, beer, flowers, and a present waiting for me. It was such a nice birthday surprise and totally turned the day around.

For the past week, we have been trying to detox from the holidays with a strict ban on alcohol and I have been making a few recipes from my new vegetarian cookbook by Mark Bittman. Tonight, we threw detox to the wind and ordered a giant, meaty pizza that was delicious. We sampled a couple of new Belgian beers and now we're off to spend the rest of the night playing games and trying to distract me from my troll-like existence.

Thanks to all of my friends and family for the warm birthday wishes. It turned out to be a great one after all!