First, thanks to all who wished me happy birthday this past Saturday.  I appreciate it.

The lovely Kat put together an unusual method of gift-giving - a scavenger hunt. I wandered around the nature center, following her rhyming clues, hoping not to be told to put my hand in the viper cage. It was a very cool haul of presents, including a few pans to be used for various stir fry and baking needs, as well as a few books I’ve been looking at. Of course, the cocktail shaker got a good workout this weekend, making a few batches of raspberry margaritas to accompany the Serrano ham-wrapped figs.

Sunday morning we hit the lake, after applying what appears in retrospect to be insufficient amounts of sunscreen. Kayaking across 3 miles of placid water, watching for critters, and watching The Boy splash around in the water - good times.  The eventual “seen animal” list included a bevy of turtles, a flock of birds, a swarm of dragonflies, a school of jumping fish (none near the fishermen, though), and a couple water snakes. The first snake was a cottonmouth (aka water mocassin), which was swimming away from the crazy humans at a good clip. It must have been at least 4 feet long. The second slithery critter was a diamond-backed water snake of much smaller size.  It popped up and then slipped beneath the surface, never to be seen again.

We also discovered that paddling a tube is not very efficient (no bow or stern, so you tend to paddle clockwise and counter-clockwise rather than forward).  Well, The Boy discovered this, after much instruction on the proper angle of attack for the paddle.  Then, we discovered that The Boy likes to paddle the kayak.  Come back here, you little monkey!

Overall, a great birthday and good weekend. Now, if my coworkers would just stop saying, “Got some sun this weekend, eh?”  SO original.

Although I’ve been battling a cold since Sunday, yesterday was an especially good day for Us.  Kat first drove down from Lubbock to see me one year ago, on the 14th of May.  To commemorate this momentous occasion, we went for a bicycle ride to the river with The Boy, then for dinner we had fish tacos (her favorite of my cooking thus far), and knocked back a fabulous bottle of Moscat Spumante to finish up the night.  I didn’t even know that spumante was made with muscat grapes, but it was very nice - not at all dry and very very drinkable.

I’ve told her that one anniversary per year is all you get, so next year there will be no date-aversary.  Gotta hold the line somewhere…

Ham, mashed potatoes, bacon & leek dressing.  Cherry/Orange scones with whipped cream.  A cat that meows so much it must be using the sound as sonar.  Two dogs that don’t know how to sleep without people under them.  One boy who got to put up ornaments and didn’t break any.  One hot woman who gave me a new fuzzy robe to stay warm. High temperatures of 40 degrees.

And now, finally, three days late, Alice’s Restaurant Massacree.

Cheers.

My son, saving the galaxy.  Or something.

I’ll write more tomorrow, but I’m tired and have to go to work in (checks clock) 7.5 hours.

Yay for dinosaurs!

And, just to make Kat jealous:

I don’t know why, but the Boy decided that he wanted a seahorse piñata this year.  How’d we do?  He helped with the paper mache and with the tissue paper.  I think it looks like a penguin or a demented hummingbird, but he thinks it looks suitably aquatic.  I predict explaining the shape many times in two weeks. 

The guy behind me at dinner tonight seemed to complain non-stop. I was thrilled when his entree arrived, but he still didn’t let up. Some folks just need to bitch, I guess.

The Boy ate a massive amount of crab legs, as usual. Oink.

OK, since some people have actually asked, here’s my abbreviated description of my trip, with photos linked for the bandwidth challenged.

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As expected, the Boy and I watched The Last Mimzy today. The source story is very different from the movie. Spoilers ahead…
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Since I’m not much for bad beer (and what good beer would you color green?), I’ve never done the St. Pat’s thing at a bar.  We made corned beef & cabbage last night, and corned beef hash for brunch today.  Big hits, both, for the boy.  And, I’ve got some corned beef for sandwiches too!  Mmmm…

We went to the indoor air show today. That’s a trip. I guess it’s pretty cool to have a large auditorium to use for radio-controlled airplanes, since the weather doesn’t always cooperate. It was very cool, especially seeing how homemade-looking some of the planes were. Lots of styrofoam and cardboard were in evidence, with a rare airplane that looked retail. There were even a couple of planes that looked like jets, but obviously weren’t. Their propellers were just well-disguised in the wings or in front of the tail. They bill it as the first annual, and if they make good on that, I’m sure we’ll hang out there again next year. What the heck, it’s free!

West Texas. Below freezing for several days in a row. Unnatural.

Last month, sledding was done on cardboard, in shirtsleeves:

Alex actually stayed up until midnight, barely.  He was very happy to see the ball drop in New York, while snacking on cheese and crackers and sparkling grape juice.

Now, he’s slamming Hot Wheels into each other.  Good start to the year.

Kapla blocks are kind of cool - they are all identical, so you never have to look for the right block. Recently, one of the biggest importers of Kaplas started making their own in America - Keva blocks. Alex thinks they’re neat and has been begging for them since Christmas of last year. It’s amazing how 200 blocks ends up seeming like not very many. Check out the bridge.

I’m convinced that jabberjenny is some sort of magical being. How do you explain that she was at Unidad Park (not close to where she lives, but convenient to me) when we got there recently, and at the brand-new park today, which the Boy and I only discovered yesterday? She and her brood have somehow discovered a time-travel method of following us before we arrive.