Birthday Weekend

I turned thirty-six on Saturday and had a great time doing it. Saturday morning, Susan baked a quiche for breakfast and the kids presented me with presents. Morgan got me a Shamwow (“it’s a towel, a chamois and a sponge all in one!”), Mason got me a pair of Star Wars pajamas, and Susan got me a week’s worth of new polos and t-shirts. I’m hooked up!

After breakfast I headed over to Main street to get a hair cut. When I got there, Andy, Lea and Sawyer were already there, waiting for haircuts. I played with Sawyer while Andy was getting trimmed up. It was good seeing them and my birthday was already off to a good start; plus, I got the best haircut I’ve had in a while. Win/win!

For lunch, dad took all of us to Texas Roadhouse for lunch. Nothing like peanuts and rib eye steaks to kick off the weekend! Morgan greatly enjoyed opening the peanuts and tossing the shells on the floor (for those of you who haven’t been there, the restaurant endorses this). Our waiter was kind of a doofus and it took him three trips to bring out everything he forgot, but the medium rare rib eye made up for his doofusness.

On the way home from lunch we stopped by Cold Stone Creamery and picked up a dozen of the ice cream cupcakes I’ve had my eye on. The cupcakes are definitely unique. On these, the part that would normally be cake is ice cream, and the wrapper has been replaced by hard chocolate (the kind you find on a “dip cone”). The cupcakes are then topped with regular icing. They were unique, but a little messy and not great. They were a good treat, but I doubt we’ll get them again.

Saturday evening, Jeff’s family, some of Susan’s family and my mom all met up at the Winchester Drive In. Susan and I put put heads together and the last time we were at the drive-in we saw In the Line of Fire and Menace II Society, both released in 1993. In fact, it’s been so long that Susan and I both expected to still speakers on the poles (they apparently did away with those many years ago). We parked diagonally from Jeff and used the empty spot behind me and next to him to set up camp. We later realized that this was bad form and that we were taking up a parking spot, but nobody asked us to move so we stayed there. Susan brought a pitcher of alcoholic punch, an ice chest full of drinks, and a bunch of chips and dips, which we all stood around munching on until the movie started.

The Winchester was showing a triple feature (G.I.Joe, District 9 and The Ugly Truth) but we left after G.I.Joe, and even making it through that was a challenge. The kids were, at the same time, over stimulated and bored. Maddie (Jeff’s six-year-old daughter) spent most of the night climbing in and out of Jeff’s car, playing with the dome light, honking the horn and changing the radio to static. Morgan cried, tossed and turned, dumped out her popcorn and collected rocks, pebbles and broken glass from the parking lot. The boys lay in the bed of the truck, giggling at the explosions and occasionally erupting during quiet parts of the movies. The rest of use sat in the middle of all this madness silencing children, running them to the restroom, and trying to figure out what in the heck was going on in the movie (I retitled it “G.I.What-Just-Happened?”). So, the movie itself was not particularly enjoyable, but the drive-in experience was kind of fun.

I almost forgot; Jeff and his family got me the coolest present ever — a custom t-shirt advertising my Literal Music Video version of Kermit the Frog’s Rainbow Connection. I’ll have to get a picture of it online soon — it rocks! Thanks again, guys.

Most of Sunday was spent lounging around the house, swimming, and piddling. Dad picked me up three books on my want list and I spent a couple of hours between naps reading “Whatever Happened to Molly Murphy’s House of Ill Repute?”. Great read!

Dinner was spent at Luigiano’s with Mom, Jack, Linda, Doug, Griffin, Phoenix, and of course Susan, Morgan and Mason. I had the Lobster Ravioli which, truth be told, one would need a sift to find the lobster contained within. Still the food and the company were good. Everyone left full.

Mom bought me tickets for the upcoming Star Wars in Concert tour, and Susan got me tickets to go see The Melvins next Tuesday. The last time The Melvins played here, they got mad and walked off the stage while announcing their new song, “30 Minutes of Feedback” (it only lasted a few minutes before the venue cut their sound). Hopefully, Tuesday night’s show will go better.