Small Cakes, New Desks, Peanuts, and Pinochle: My Birthday.

The new desk, where all this magic comes from.

Happy Monday internet people! I've been loving Mondays lately. I don't have to be at work til noon, I work a five hour shift, I always have my evenings free (Teen Wolf is on you know). Most people hate Monday for being the start of the work week but I am excited for them because I usually work all weekend.

But not this past weekend: this past weekend I went home to West Virginia for my birthday. The fact that I'm telling you this is uncharacteristic because normally I don't care about my birthday. I'm not being a grump or a scrooge, I just don't get festive or excited about it.

It's not like I've had really sad or tragic birthdays as a child, I just never seemed to get into it as much as everyone else did. Now that I'm in my mid twenties (I'm twenty-five, I'm not saying 'late twenties' til next year) I really don't care much for them. And yes, I know I'm in the minority. I know people that celebrate their birthday the whole week of the date and I just don't understand it. There are approximately 7.146 billion people on this planet. Divide that by 365 days a year and on any given day an average of 19,500,000 are having a birthday (yeah I looked this up). So I don't feel like I'm particularly special on that day What if everyone just took the week off for their birthday? Society would crumble!

However this year was a pretty solid birthday time, especially when compared to last year when I had a very bad cold and a bedbug infestation. There were no big plans to any unique locations or a big party. But nothing bad happened and in my experience qualifies as a good birthday.

First, after working my final shift for Company at the theater me and the rest of the staff were treated to leftover cakes from an event the theater held before the show. My mini cake (I think provided by Oakmont Bakery) had chocolate mousse on top, then a layer of chocolate cake, a more fudge-like layer under that, and the bottom layer was cheesecake. We all went into a diabetic coma that night, and it was a nice accidental birthday cake for me.

I took this pic mostly to show my Ma and say "And what are YOU making for me?"

Then after the show I returned home. Saturday was the day of the "party". It was a simple plan; family would come over for pizza and to play cards. And that's exactly what happened. All my relatives came, I got to see my little cousins, I drank most of a bottle of wine, and pigged out on local favorite DiCarlo's pizza. Although fun fact for you West Virginians: DiCarlo's also makes bread-sticks and they're terrible. Just an FYI if you're ever wondering.

Eventually the kids went home and the older people (I'm one of them now, you know) sat around and played cards and shot the shit. I love playing cards because in addition to the actual card game you also get to talking and sharing stories. A highlight story from my birthday night was listening to my aunts discuss how the plumbing was bad in their home growing up and they had to "flush" the toilet by using a bucket of water. "If you were nice you'd fill the bucket up for the next person." My aunt said. "We usually didn't do that."

I should also mention that we played I think four games of Pinochle on my birthday and, in the spirit of it being my birthday, I lost every one I played. I wish I could blame some of the loss on my sister but honestly I was just dealt shitty cards. Anyone my age even know what Pinochle is?

I told my family "no gifts" when I invited them over, which I think means I'm an adult now. Of course they brought cash anyway, which is perfect for me because I usually buy things I want the moment it's financially reasonable to do so. But I don't wanna seem ungrateful for all the presents I did get, so let's name them.

From my current and future roommates Mara and Gailyn I got a new computer desk (featured in the picture at the top). I'm quite thrilled with it, all though it has that "new desk smell" that makes one woozy.  We also signed a lease together, but I'll talk about that in the future.

My mother got me a beanbag chair, to replace another chair I got at Christmas and broke (I can't have anything). It's comfortable and I'm gonna do lots of sitting it in, although I thought when you got older people stopped giving you things that are difficult to get out of.

Peanuts in coke. Don't knock it. (This isn't my photo).

Nana got me a six-pack bottles of Coke and some peanuts to put in it, in honor of my Granddad who put peanuts in his Coke. I saw him do it once and thought it was so bizarre. Then I tried it and holy crap it's delicious. Puts a little salty flavoring into your drink and the peanuts are still crunchy after the soaking. Nana also funded a gift that hasn't gotten to me yet, and when it does it will be changing things up a bit on the ol' blog.

My aunts and cousins got me money mostly (and a Books a Million gift card that went towards Dance With Dragons and some comics). My cousin Lisa supplied the alcohol for the evening, shout out for that.

Oh! And my mom made a Butterfinger cake. It's a cake mix chocolate cake with a Butterfinger glaze and then a cream cheese/cool whip frosting with Butterfinger pieces on top. Impressive for a woman who doesn't cook, no?

Was that interesting? See I don't know, I don't find anyone's birthday interesting so I don't know what qualifies as a good one. But that's the rundown of my weekend. It was a fine birthday and I'm excited for February to be over, not just for the weather but because I'm looking forward to a lot of things in March.

I'll leave you with a celebrity I share a birthday with: Ellen Greene, actress best known for playing Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors. I love a distinctive voice that annoys people. Makes me feel less self-conscious. Til next time!