December 14, 2005

10:18 p.m.

Birthday Eve Eve

I tired, after long day. No write sentence. Too much fried calamari last night after show (IT WAS DELICIOUS), took away appetite today until evening. Dizzy from slight inner ear business. Also short on sleep.

Okay, I'll write like a person now. Visited Steve today; we got him a perfect Christmas tree from a local tree farm. On the way back we had lunch -- I wasn't feeling my best but managed a little cup of turkey noodle soup, which was very good, at a lakeside pub. We put the tree up on a little table near his sliding door so it can be seen from outside -- it was still pretty tall even for a table tree, higher than we could reach without a stepstool. He has a collection of dog ornaments, so we put those all up, and red lights, and tinsel. After the tree was up and finished, I took a nap on his futon sofa for a while. Little Zoe, who was his mom's dog, eventually hopped up with me and curled up behind my knees. I was way out. I roused myself about 5:00 because my arm was going to sleep (I was still in my down jacket, as his house is a little chilly even with the heat on -- one big round room, basically). We then went into town to a benefit nosh for a local restaurant that burned down last week. This says what kind of town it is -- the competing local restaurant held the benefit and provided incredible food. By this time I was genuinely hungry. It was packed, with people coming and going all the time, and donation jars all around. Of course I knew no one, and Steve as usual introduced me to everyone, and I didn't retain any of it but smiled and shook hands and acted enthusiastic even though I had nothing really to say. After an hour even he had had enough, and we went back out into the bitter cold to drive back.

And it is bitter outside. But in here I'm happy; I'm almost 47 and glad to be here, amazed to be here. Feeling very blessed. And many thanks to candoor who, in the guise of the Birthday Fairy, went to our website and bought every CD we have. Bless you for that wonderful surprise.

So, tomorrow, tomorrow, I go to Rose's house for two days, like a vacation. Steve loaned me five more DVDs we can watch, and I'll bring my few, and Rose ordered Time Bandits, and we'll have a movie and knitting fest. There are a couple of packages there for me, I'm told, and I'm hoping one of them is from Australia... !!