flag day

I started out the day by going to work. It was as stupid as ever. But, a confused looking delivery man wandered in at around 11:30 carrying a basket of roses and carnations for one Desiree . I'd never had anything delivered at work before, and now I have. That was fun. And since I'm tucked away in my corner, the proudly displayed flowers did not garner too many unwanted comments about how stupid the people at work are.

I gladly left work at 5 and got on the train to go meet Craig, apparently just before somebody fell onto the tracks, causing massive hold up. I only heard about it this morning from the people on the train after mine. So, undaunted by random train-track people (he didn't die, by the way), we continued on our merry way to food land. In this case, food land was a tiny restaurant tucked into the back of a tiny cheese shop. Because it was a cheese shop, they had fondue. I'll say it again: I love fondue. Actually, I LOOOOOVE fondue. I want all my meals served to me via fondue. But I don't want to have to buy the ingredients or prepare it myself; that is expensive and time consuming. I want someone else to do all the work for me. It basically boils down to my love of dipping some foods into other foods.

So we had fondue. And a few glasses of wine. Then we meandered back to the train station. Then we meandered back to the restaurant because someone forgot his sunglasses. My feet were unhappy for reasons I won't go into here, and I was sleepy from the wine. But that didn't stop us from going to a pastry shop for yummy dessert. Truthfully we should have stayed for chocolate fondue, but we were already quite full of cheese. My strawberry gelato did the trick just fine.

On to home and sleep. Birthdays are kind of depressing when you know it's your day but nobody else in the restaurant or on the train or on the street knows or cares. However, a friend reminded me that if we went to a restaurant where they did care, they would sing a stupid song and I would throw things at their heads. Nobody called me during dinner, which I guess is a good thing, but it made me a little sad. When we got home, both my parents had called & left messages, and many friends had sent me emails and e-cards. Nothing from my sister, though, so I will definitely have to remind her ever so politely next month when her bday rolls around.

Speaking of vengeance, the cat bit my arm because I wasn't paying enough attention to him. So I smacked him the face. We were mad at each other for a while; he for the indignation of being smacked in the face and I for the combination bruise and puncture that I still sport on my bicep. Eventually we made up, which is good because it's really his bday too. I don't know his actual bday because he's adopted, but I figured he was about 8 weeks old when I got him in August several years ago. I really should have hung out more with him, but they generally frown on cats in restaurants.

This was evidenced by the cat that was in the fondue restaurant. A small gray cat bolted into the crowded restaurant during dinner. I called him over to me, and he ran to receive a petting. He wandered in between (and under) the tables for a while until the owner of the restaurant noticed him. He tried fruitlessly to catch the tiny cat, until I called him over to me again (the cat) and the owner was able to pick him up and take him outside. I felt bad for aiding in his capture, but the kitty didn't put up a fight. He had resigned himself to an eventual discovery and removal. He was a nice cat, and he sniffed the mushroom that I had dropped on the floor earlier, but didn't eat it. Who can blame him? Cats don't like mushrooms.

As for bday gifts, I have so far received partial payment for my future tattoo(s), a means with which to purchase more books, and a chinese hello kitty-ish piggy bank (from the cat-obsessor at work who is trying to turn me into a fellow cat-obsessor. And yes, I know I just wrote quite a bit about cats, but that was because of the strangeness of the incident.). Plus, I know I have more presents coming because most of my friends & family are procastinators but have assured me that something is on the way. This gives them time to realize that they need to go buy me something and send it off. And I'm not judging; of course I do the same thing. Although my dad sent me 2 cards, and I thought that was funny. He forgot to include my gift in my actual bday card, so he went off and bought another card that said "this should have been in your other card, but I sealed it before I put it in." That was a good story.

The moral of the story is:
I love birthdays. Especially my own birthday.