My Birthday 2016

[lydamorehouse]

The wind is howling outside, but we decided to forego dinner out to stay snuggled in under the blankets.  A good choice, I think. I'd hoped for Indian, but pizza delivered was just as nice.  Especially since it meant I didn't have to go in sleet and snow.  

This morning we woke up to thunder and rain. We did venture out for breakfast at the Egg & I -- all of us. Mason had the day off school and Shawn took a vacation day.  I got my presents first thing in the morning.  All of them were EXCELLENT.  I don't think I talk about this very much, but I'm an avid stamp collector.  I'm not... a terribly fussy collector. I don't use  sleeves or the little tabs.  I stick things in an album with pre-printed pictures that I bought at a hobby store in 1973.  But, it amuses me to look though the piles of stamps we buy off eBay and put the ones I find in the right places.  I can't explain it.  It's a very relaxing hobby for me.  At any rate, Shawn bought me both US stamps and world stamps, and I spent much of the afternoon playing with those.

Mason got me stationary, which goes to another fondness of mine--writing letters.  I have, currently, three regular 'pen pals.'  A friend of mine who moved to Taiwan, a friend in Washington state and another old work-collegue of Shawn's who lives in Oregon now.  Not a lot of people write letters. I don't know if you know this, but letter writing has kind of gone out of style.  Consequentially, this also means that finding actual STATIONARY is kind of a pain in the butt.  One of the few places I still see stationary packets for sale is Barnes & Noble. Mason bought me stationary and some new pens.  I'm psyched to get writing!*

Shawn also got me a couple of fun books.  I showed her the My Drunk Kitchen once and she found the cookbook and it's hilarious.  She also bought me Hannah Hart's (the My Drunk Kitchen woman) book BUFFERING.  

So mostly I managed to have a day where I didn't think overly much about politics (which is kind of amazing.) But which also might be why I feel pretty good at the moment.


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By the way, I'm always looking for new pen pals. If you want me to write you a letter let me know.  My rules for pen pals are really not at all onerous. I don't even require you to write me back, though I do enjoy getting letters, if people feel up to them. Basically, I write once a week or so. Mostly my letters are very mundane, about as interesting as one of these blog posts.