41

So this past Tuesday was my birthday. I turned 41.

Which is not big deal. Turning 40 was pretty cool, since I got to hear alot of "Gee, you don't look 40!" And I have the added advantage of having ditched my one serious attempt at a career profession about four years ago, instead relying on the Wifey's corporate wiles to float the household, so I didn't have alot of that mid-life, am-I-where-I-ought-to-be angst alot of people end up with at my age. This year promised to be much of the same. Here's how my week went.

Let me add the caveat that I know I'm whining, and I feel doubly stupid for knowing so.

MONDAY: Nothin'. I got up, had coffee, and then just didn't feel like doing anything at all, total indolence. Very uncommon for me. I spent the ENTIRE DAY playing solitaire on the computer. OK, I went out for a sandwich a little after 1:30. Other than that . . . Nothin'.

TUESDAY: Upside: The Wifey woke me with our traditional birthday song, adopted from an old Boynton card:

Hippo, Birdy, Two Ewes

Hippo, Birdy, Two Ewes

Hippo, Birdy, Deer, Ewe

Hippo, Birdy, Two Ewes

(And Many Moooooooo)

For the record, I started it, probably on the morning of the her first birthday during our Atlanta year. Later in the day I got an idea and wrote a short story, which I think will need some fiddling with, but overall was pretty good. Downside: The Wifey was in training all day, thus was MIA, not to say incommunicado, all day long. On top of which, her group decided to go out for dinner at the end of the day, so she didn't get home until after 8. So I sat here at home, allllll day long, on my freakin' birthday, feeling like a mook.

(Upside: She brought dinner back for me, which included a pretty good chicken enchilada, some good black refritos, and a very weird carne asada. Anyways.)

WEDNESDAY: I did some pretty minor futzing around the house, watched some junk on TV, and almost had a pizza for lunch. (For whatever reason, the thing didn't cook, despite having been in the oven at the right temp for the right amount of time. So I ate half of it and tossed the rest, which gave me an opportunity to take out the trash, so that was good in its way.) Upside: met the Wifey and her co-horts for dinner at Mac's. Ate too much. We always eat too much at Mac's. It is not possible not to. (There wasn't really any downside to this day, except that it rained allllll daaaaaay loooooooooong.)

THOISDAY: (That is how I spell that word; it has to do with a one-off gag from the old Police Squad series, and you either know it or you don't.) I got up early, had coffee, showered, shaved, dressed, and went to an appointment at my dentist's, with my hygenist, whom I love. The Doc then saw me, following on the infection previous (which prompted the Darvocet/John Wayne poem nobody likes). She was astounded-- she literaly gasped!-- at how much improvement there was. Still, she recommended I see a root canal specialist. I drove home, called the specialist's office, got an appointment for a half hour later, jumped back in the car, drove back across town (at this point, at least, the rain had stopped), and went in and filled out forms. Finally they took me back, ex-rayed the tooth, and the guy came and examined me. It turns out I will be having root canal surgery on two of my lower front teeth. The rest of the day: nada. I didn't feel like doing anyting else the rest of the day. I just sat around trying not to mope. I don't want root canal surgery! WHAAAAAAAA!!!!

FRIDAY: Today looked like all upside. The sky is blue, the air is clear, I have been able to not sit around and think solely about my teeth. We're having a friend over for dinner and a movie tonight-- Chinese from Hop FegII! YAY!-- so I have spent the day cleaning house off and on. Real upside: My guitar string came from JustStrings.com, so I have a brand new set of strings for all four of my 12 string guitars. YAY! DOUBLE YAY!

Downside: While stringing up Beatrice, my oldest guitar, my Canadian Seagull 12 string, I jabbed myself with the end of a B string on the top of my right index finger just behind the nail. YOUCH. I HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE that!

Upside: the fine folks at JustStrings.com sent me a handfull of cheapo guitar picks! (Cheapo guitar picks that wear down and have to be replaced are my favorite kind. You can have all those high-tech, silicon, shing-wah alliance CRAP! guitar picks. I tried 'em all. I don't like 'em.)