Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy Birthday

Today is the day of multiple Happy Birthdays. Sharing today's spotlight:

• Jeff
• J K Rowling
• Harry Potter
• Valerie Potter, Peter's kindergarten assistant teacher!
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Happy Birthday, one and all!

Oh, HECK!

I only just realized, after posting about my veggie-perks, that today is Cindi's birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CINDI!!!!!

Two Brushes with Fame

But no combs with infamy (sorry, yesterday was long, June's been interminable, and I'm a little punchy).

So, I was a bit out of e-touch yesterday, so this morning I'm spending a lazy Sunday morning in bed catching up on Facebook, blogs, email, etc.

And I discovered that some of the folks I know are kinda famous!

First was Bruce, newly elected Moderator of the Presbyterian(USA) General Conference (I hope I got all that right -- I'm a Methodist myself), and Trina's cousin, who now has his very own Wikipedia entry (under the category 'religious leaders', no less!)

Second was Trina herself, who apparently rules Google with her webmaster self.

The funny thing about Trina's e-fame is that she blogged about the original Google search where she found her name. By the time I googled the same search, I got not only the hit for her resume, but ALSO her blog entry! So now she's double famous!

Sweet!

Reflections from a Water Park

My, isn't that an artsy-fartsy, fru-fru (or phrou-phrou?), intelligentsia sort of title?

Anyway, we FINALLY got around to having Peter's birthday party yesterday. Yes, Peter, who was born in early April, didn't get a party till late June. Sorry. What with one thing and another plans were made, they were changed, weekends worked, then they didn't, and finally we decided we'd just take a few friends to the local (ok, in Greensboro) waterpark.

Random observations based on our day:

• 10-year-olds, who are pretty much the epitome of instant gratification when it comes to most of life, will happily wait an hour in a line for a ride that takes 30 seconds
• The minimum number of electronic devices for a car trip with children is N+1, where N is the number of children in the car
• Satellite radio rocks
• There are VERY many people in this world who should NOT wear bikinis
• The water park pizza that tastes GREAT at 4pm when you've been in the sun for two hours doesn't taste so great at 9pm when you're back at home
• Stubbed toes stink as badly when they're on your child as they did on you
• Renting the cabana is a given if your group is larger than about, oh, two
• Most people, to my cynical amazement, actually follow the rules! High school boys, though, are the exception

We had a great day; no rain, tons of fun (till the stubbed toe), and Peter declared it a good birthday party!

A Big Ol' Shout Out, and Whoosh again

So, various levels of thoughts sent through the ether:

• Ecclesiatical ongrats to Bruce!
• Long-time-coming (WAY too long, IMO) Congrats to Pete and Richard
• And good karma wishes to David

And, yes, that huge time-wasting pit of doom that I downloaded earlier this week is, indeed, just that. I started playing at 4:30; I looked up and it's 8:30, I've only barely eaten, Dazzle is hungry, its the bottom of the 4th in the UNC game, and Carolina's down 2-1.

But now having mentioned both the big ol' honkin' waste of time AND the UNC game (as well as sending good thoughts to friends and family), I can tag this post tons of ways. 'Cause it's all about the tags...

Escapism at its best!

Last night was Movie Night; every month or two I get together with Kathy and 3 other friends for a pot-luck dinner, free-flowing wine, and a movie.

Sometimes Movie Night has a theme, and we try to match the food to the movie. Sometimes they're more free-form. For whatever reason, last night fell into the latter category; I don't think the movie got decided on until Wednesday, and food choices and decisions were still whirling around via email as late as Thursday or Friday.

But, as frequently happens, it all turned out beautifully! The food was definitely eclectic (baked pasta, chips and quacamole, chicken with peppers, quesadillas, and a veggie dish), but all delicious.

And the movie? The movie was a totally over-the-top Bollywood love story, with life lessons and human rights morality twists built in! It was Veer-Zaara, a story about, "A Love That Knows no Boundaries!". It was definitely Bollywood; plenty of costume changes and spontaneous breaking into song. It was also THE WORLD'S LONGEST MOVIE! As it seemed the story was starting to wind down, suddenly.....it was intermission! At that point Kathy checked the DVD case and realized that it was an over three hour movie!!!

It was a fun flick, though. Total escapism: the good guys win, wrongs are righted, lessons are learned, the bad guys get their just desserts, and in the end, true love prevails. A great end to a very long week.

Game Day

Cindi and Lynn (friends from college) drove up from Charlotte today to go to the South Carolina game. It was a fun day. They got in around 11, and we headed up to Franklin Street where, apparently, EVERY available parking space was taken. There should be a rule that the opposing team doesn't get to park until two hours before game time. We had to drive around a bit, but eventually we got a spot.

We went to Carolina Brewery to get a beer, and wound up ordering Nachos since Chapel Hill's open container laws don't allow you to order a drink at at sidewalk table without ordering food, too. Then we strolled down Franklin Street so that Cindi and Lynn could get Carolina goodies and I could get cash. Then to Top of the Hill for more beer!

Then, once Cindi got her Vanilla Coke from Suttons, it was time to head to Kenan. A brief stop at the Old Well for a photo op, then we joined the throngs heading towards the stadium.

When we got to the Old Well, Outback Steakhouse was giving away free chicken and steak, so we got that for our lunch! But no forks or napkins, for some reason. And we could never snag any cheesecake.

The game was OK; if Carolina had played in the first half the way they did in the second half, they might've won. Cindi and Lynn had to get on the road home, so we left as the 4th quarter was starting, but we were able to listen to it on the radio, and got back to my house in time to see the tail end. Carolina almost pulled out a win, but just couldn't quite do it.

A fun day with two old friends!