Happy birthday to me

I had quite a nice birthday yesterday.

When I got to work in the morning, there was a card on my desk from Amity and Amanda (the editorial interns who are my only companions at work on the weekends). They ran over and put a plastic crown on my head and presented me with a sour cream cake.

After work, I drove up to Huntsville to gather my tax figures from Haven. I had expected to visit with Josh, but while I was there, Damon, Lamarr, Davis, Jeff, Jeremy, and Andy all stopped by as well. It was so good to finally see the faces from Haven again. I really miss hanging out there. I have yet to find a comparable spot in Birmingham. But then, we never really thought there was one in Huntsville — that's why we created it. I'm also pleased that the store looks much better than reports had led me to believe. Unfortunately, I had no way to retrieve the data I needed from the computer, so I didn't get the tax info I was seeking. I did pick up a stack of graphic novels, though.

When I got home, Misty had a present waiting for me on the kitchen table. She'd bought me a shirt and a couple of books. We relaxed on the couch for a few minutes, sharing the details of our day's activities and then headed out for dinner.

All week, we'd been planning to eat at P.F. Chang's. Misty doesn't care for Chinese food much, but it's among my favorites, so this was going to be a rare occurrence for us. Upon arriving at the restaurant, however, we were told that the wait was estimated at three hours. Maybe people had delayed their Valentine's outings by a week or maybe P.F. Chang's was catching overflow from the Cheesecake Factory across the street. Either way, we weren't prepared to wait three hours.

Instead, we went to Bahama Breeze where we got to stare at a 2-month-old baby while we waited for a table. Our mostly absent waiter was somewhat of a nitwit. He knelt down and "explained" the different parts of the menu to us and most of the selections in each. Basically, that meant he told us what appetizers and entrees were and he read us the menu listings for each one. It was a good thing, too, because while we were waiting to be seated Misty and I had both forgotten how to read. At least we avoided having him do the same with the drinks, as I stopped him, pointing out that Misty was eight months pregnant. We enjoyed making fun of him while he was away, though. Misty was sure that when he took her debit card to pay for dinner he'd drive out to Compass Bank with it to make a withdrawl from the ATM instead of just swiping it through the machine in the restaurant. Anyway, my dinner of seabass, scalloped potatoes, and squash was delightfully filling.

The only downside to yesterday was that when we finally got home, I was so worn out from the day's activities that I could barely stand up. Nevertheless, I managed to get the dogs out and back upstairs before colapsing into bed.