Y'know it's funny, normally I'd be stressing about my birthday creeping up on me, but I really don't even care right now with all the wedding prep I have yet to do. I extended my To-Do list to thrice its original length and I'm still not sure everything's on there.
I guess it's not really an important birthday, that much. It's not like I'm hitting a year-based milestone, like 25 or 30, and there's not anything impressively aging-related about this year. There've been notable health changes, and changes in my family, but nothing like, say, developing early onset Alzheimer's.
That said, regardless of how I feel about it, Chris is being sweet and making a point of celebrating it. We're probably going to take advantage of the Halloween-reduced entry fee for the John Ball Zoo (the place is riddled with Charmanders in Pokemon GO, besides all the real animals!), plus he's taking me shopping at a jerky store in the area that carries bison and other unusual meats. That'll get expensive fast, so I'll probably help with the final bill. I love jerky, but it's pretty much only beef and turkey you find in grocery stores. I won't eat either of those without knowing the source is humane, so it ends up being less popular meats, or nothing. Usually nothing. But there's much less call for, say, ostrich, or alligator, or even bison, so my chances of consuming factory-farmed, miserable animals are much less.
I already had a friend get dibs on my first birthday present for the year: a fancy subscription to Spotify, which is a music-streaming service. I haven't gotten to play around with it a ton yet, but it seems to have a very respectable Classical section, plus some electronica I'll probably enjoy, and various popular artists. It should make for a much nicer car ride to CT. My own musical collection is extensive, but it's also unwieldy and somewhat unorganized. Spotify is very simple: pick a genre and hit play, or search more specifically if you wish. There are mood music categories as well, such as soft and relaxing piano music section I'm fond of. In addition, the gift-giver also sent me a custom playlist of chant music, which he'd put together on his own. Overall, pretty cool.
Another bonus to this year's horrendous 13-hour one-way ordeal in the car...
If you're wondering if you're looking at a one gallon thermos, the answer is yes.
This was not a birthday present, but we did find it for a very good price and almost immediately realized that it's ideal for carrying icewater on road trips. Or gatorade, I suppose, but I'd rather not clean sugar-residue out of the nozzle. When I was much younger, my mother would painstakingly pack water bottles, sandwiches, and healthy snacks into a rectangular cooler for the 20 hour trip between the twin cities area of Minnesota and the far side of Detroit, where my grandparents lived. We had to be careful about opening the cooler, though, because once the cold was gone, it was gone. Chris and I aren't so good about the healthy snacks and sandwiches, but we do very much like having cold water along. This particular cooler isn't the biggest cooler I've ever seen, but it will keep its innards cold for a literal 24 hours. We have several smaller versions of this brand, so I can safely say that's not a marketing exaggeration. And admittedly, if we ever have a party or something here, instead of having guests have to pour out of the water filter-pitcher, I could just direct them to the silly cooler.
I wouldn't say I'm looking forward to the 13+ hours in the car, but I would say they'll be much less misery-inducing hours than previous years. Chris and I are both already looking forward to the vacation at the end of November, though.
I guess it's not really an important birthday, that much. It's not like I'm hitting a year-based milestone, like 25 or 30, and there's not anything impressively aging-related about this year. There've been notable health changes, and changes in my family, but nothing like, say, developing early onset Alzheimer's.
That said, regardless of how I feel about it, Chris is being sweet and making a point of celebrating it. We're probably going to take advantage of the Halloween-reduced entry fee for the John Ball Zoo (the place is riddled with Charmanders in Pokemon GO, besides all the real animals!), plus he's taking me shopping at a jerky store in the area that carries bison and other unusual meats. That'll get expensive fast, so I'll probably help with the final bill. I love jerky, but it's pretty much only beef and turkey you find in grocery stores. I won't eat either of those without knowing the source is humane, so it ends up being less popular meats, or nothing. Usually nothing. But there's much less call for, say, ostrich, or alligator, or even bison, so my chances of consuming factory-farmed, miserable animals are much less.
I already had a friend get dibs on my first birthday present for the year: a fancy subscription to Spotify, which is a music-streaming service. I haven't gotten to play around with it a ton yet, but it seems to have a very respectable Classical section, plus some electronica I'll probably enjoy, and various popular artists. It should make for a much nicer car ride to CT. My own musical collection is extensive, but it's also unwieldy and somewhat unorganized. Spotify is very simple: pick a genre and hit play, or search more specifically if you wish. There are mood music categories as well, such as soft and relaxing piano music section I'm fond of. In addition, the gift-giver also sent me a custom playlist of chant music, which he'd put together on his own. Overall, pretty cool.
Another bonus to this year's horrendous 13-hour one-way ordeal in the car...
This was not a birthday present, but we did find it for a very good price and almost immediately realized that it's ideal for carrying icewater on road trips. Or gatorade, I suppose, but I'd rather not clean sugar-residue out of the nozzle. When I was much younger, my mother would painstakingly pack water bottles, sandwiches, and healthy snacks into a rectangular cooler for the 20 hour trip between the twin cities area of Minnesota and the far side of Detroit, where my grandparents lived. We had to be careful about opening the cooler, though, because once the cold was gone, it was gone. Chris and I aren't so good about the healthy snacks and sandwiches, but we do very much like having cold water along. This particular cooler isn't the biggest cooler I've ever seen, but it will keep its innards cold for a literal 24 hours. We have several smaller versions of this brand, so I can safely say that's not a marketing exaggeration. And admittedly, if we ever have a party or something here, instead of having guests have to pour out of the water filter-pitcher, I could just direct them to the silly cooler.
I wouldn't say I'm looking forward to the 13+ hours in the car, but I would say they'll be much less misery-inducing hours than previous years. Chris and I are both already looking forward to the vacation at the end of November, though.
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