Birthdays come and birthdays go. Mine was a quiet affair, but with tons of friendly greetings from all over the country. I got cards from Pennsylvania and Maine, singing phone calls from Delaware and Alabama, and Facebook wishes from as far away as Florida. Michael took me to Thomas's Gardens on the Eastern Shore of Virginia and bought me a beautiful Japanese red maple, the kind with the lacy leaves. It's going to be put in the side yard next to the driveway and will grow slowly over the next few years until it becomes a large living bonsai.(I know all bonsais are living, but we're not going to stunt the growth of this one.) We were told that it will not get very tall, but that it will be quite large eventually.
The birthday brought with it overeating: we had a healthy breakfast of cantaloupe, Jimmy Dean D-Lite breakfast sandwiches, and coffee. Sadly, everything went downhill from there. We went to Sonic in Oak Hall for lunch before we picked up the tree. I had a quarter-pound foot-long chili Coney dog and a diet Cherry lime-aid. Michael had two Chicago-style hot dogs, onion rings, and a cherry lime-aid chiller--whipped up ice cream and whipped cream on top.Then after we got home and did all our chores, we went out to Famous Dave's. I had the brisket platter with cole slaw and fries, Ben had the rib and brisket combo with fries and mac and cheese, and Michael had the XXL ribs with cole slaw and beans. Ben and I had bottles of Yuengling and Michael had iced tea--BECAUSE THEY NO LONGER CARRY YUENGLING ON DRAFT! Sons of bitches! We were stuffed, but what else is new? Michael and Ben got carry-out boxes for their leftover ribs.
After dinner, I got a free hot fudge sundae because it was my birthday, but I wanted a root beer float. I assumed it would be one of their mini sundaes since it was free, so I ordered the float, too.
OMG!!
The sundae was delivered in a soup plate with three spoons. It had three large scoops of vanilla ice cream, three equally large scoops of whipped cream, and gooey fudge sauce strewn all over the whole thing. Ben didn't want any, and Michael didn't really either, but he forced himself, leaving two thirds of it there. I had to take care of the float all by myself. It, of course, was a giant sundae glass with about four scoops of vanilla ice cream accompanied by a carafe of root beer, at least twenty ounces, easily more, to pour in as I wanted. It was delicious, exactly the perfect end to my birthday--had I eaten nothing else all day.
The hangover from too much food is worse than from too much booze. The guilt, the stomach-wrenching agony, the late night trips to the bathroom, the belching and farting--well, I guess it's actually the same as any other hangover.
But today I'm in a post-birthday torpor. I just watched Satisfaction, not a great film by any stretch, but an interesting look at the early work of Julia Roberts and Liam Neeson, as well as the "sliding-down-into-my-last-work" efforts of Justine Bateman and Trini Alvarez. The sound track wasn't great either, but it was better than the movie.
My next decision is whether to take a shower now or later. It's 1:40 in the afternoon and I'm still in my PJs because I can be. There is probably something I should do today, but I can't think of what it is. So I'll stop thinking.
Have a great day!
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