Capt. Mondo's World o' Mondo-ness

Annie's 8th Birthday Party

We held Annie's birthday party today -- well over a month before her actual birthday since we've discovered that it is hard to get ahold of her friends for anything outside of the school year. It was a relatively small affair this year: a sleepover with three young friends invited (only one of whom ended up staying the night).

Cake was courtesy of Dufflet Pastry, from a gift certificate Annie won in a contest earlier in the year. Vanilla cake with chocolate icing - yum!

It was a rainy day all day, and having promised the kids attending that they could expect to go in Annie's jumping castle, we actually managed to set the thing up in the living room. All possible breakables were moved away, and everything worked as expected, Annie's friends working off their sugar intake a bit in the process.

Labels: Annie, birthday

Erika's Birthday

Today Erika turns the big four-zero. My brief week-and-a-half period of two year's difference (and being a "cradle robber") was over. ;-)

Treated Erika and the girls (sans Mother) to a dinner at Whitlocks, a place we haven't dined at for years (not since Annie was a baby).

I had a couple of gifts for her: a box set of creams and gels from The Body Shop (just in time to replenish her supply) and the piece de resistance from us: a card giving her the opportunity to do a parachute jump, something she's been wanting to do for years. The ticket is open, and she has said she wants to do it when the weather gets warmer, so it will likely happen sometime in late May, after our trip to France.

Of course Erika's big birthday bash comes up in a couple of weeks when we head to France, where her father is throwing her a party at the Chateau. Very much looking forward to that.

I love the way in which Annie is confused about her mother wanting to jump out of an airplane. She's no so much concerned about the fact that she wants to jump out of an airplane (thought to be fair we all have some trepidation with that idea) but the fact that it breaks with her concept that planes go from place A to destination B. Jumping out of an airplane means that you don't actually get to destination B, and it took a while to convince her that destination B was for the airplane to get high enough for her mother to jump out of it.

Labels: birthday, parachute jump, Whitlocks

41

Today I took a step past nominal middle age. 41.

Both girls whipped up breakfast in bed for me, along with a hand-made birthday card that had spent time on the day before. Vanessa made me a small illustrated book on the misadventures of a family of tickle-monsters, and I got a toy car from Annie that she thought I would like. Love my girls.

For my present Erika offered to by me a new chair for my home office, to replace the broken one with zero back support. (Glenn k.o.-ed it while he was a tenant with us and though he promised to fix/replace but somehow never got around to actually doing so). So we went to to he local office depot and ended up making it a real shopping excursion: I also came away with a new ergonomic keyboard (to replace the one I spilled some tea on earlier in the week), and Erika picked up a new PalmPilot to replace her old one which had long ago turned wonky (she had to squeeze her old one in a certain way so that it would work).

Erika treated us all out to dinner at Sauvignon, our favourite very local (on the same block we live on) restaurant. Erika's mother came along too, as it had been her birthday recently as well. Couldn't help but think she was horning in on my birthday, but then it's not all about me. Had my usual spicy orecchiette (yum!) and everyone was happy with what they received.

Not a bad way to start into my 40s in earnest.

Labels: birthday, chair, orecchiette, PalmPilot, Sauvignon

First Day of Being 35
Birthdays are such a great excuse to go out and have some fun. Erika volunteered to stay with Vanessa all day today, giving me the opportunity to go "play" with Bill. So I met Bill at his place, where we chatted for a bit, and played a few games of Quarto -- which I had picked up for him for his 35th birthday a couple of weeks ago. Then he gave me his presents to me: DVD copies of Thunderbirds (Vol.1), and Space: 1999 (also Vol.1). This is a man who knows me all too well -- and who probably also knows I wouldn't normally have picked up such a thing for myself. What can I say? I gave the big lug a hug -- and then we commenced our "sluggy" day together. It started with a trip to Playdium, which is a short walk from Bill's place. Ended up having the most fun playing some vintage games located there, and having an air-hockey grudge match (Bill won the tournament, though only just). Wanted to try Mech Warrior 4, but the whole game set was down, presumably (and notably) because half of the Microsoft joysticks were broken on the game units. After that, we went to Hooters, which is just down the street from Playdium. My first time there, suggested primarily out of curiosity, and well in keeping with the "sluggy" theme. Basically, it's young, cute-to-vavavoom!-looking women in outfits at least one size too tight for them. Everyone sits at rough wooden tables, napkins come from a roll of paper towels, and some miscellaneous sports channel showed stock car racing from a half-dozen TVs. All deliberately tacky. Food came in generous portions, and seriously watered-down beer (had a Hooter burger with the works, plus a side order of curly fries and poutine; a heart-attack special). In between furtive glances at the waitresses Bill and I chatted, and had copious amounts of artery-clogging food. Eating there was fun in an adolescent sort of way, though I felt guilty for being in a place which is ultimately degrading to women, and conflicted for enjoying it, leavened by its hokeyness. Headed to the Chapters store just up the street (all of the places Bill and I went to are located on a single block), where we both browsed, found a copy of my CSS book still around in the computer section, looked for a book I couldn't find, and ultimately just got a copy of the latest KMT, an Egyptology magazine I like. We then headed out for Bay Video on a DVD hunt, ultimately frustrated by lack of parking spaces due to numerous film crew trucks and trailers taking up available free spots. Settled for a well-stocked Jumbo video instead, where I was tempted by the Criterion release of Life of Brian, but $63.99 is just too much for a single DVD. Ended up getting a cheap, used copy of Bless the Child instead (more of that later). Headed home, and found Erika and Vanessa both sound asleep, having a mid-afternoon nap. Soon after Erika woke up, I went upstairs to stir a groggy Vanessa, who gave me a tired hug and kiss, and then woke up at the idea of decorating the dining room for my birthday. With a "come on, Daddy", she dragged me downstairs, and we started making decorations while Erika made dinner. The meal was great, and the cake was both chocolate and insanely high in calories. Yum! While the time "gallivanting" with Bill was fun, I only really felt whole and happy when I was with my family. I guess I really am 35, after all. ;-)

Labels: birthday, Bless the Child, Chapters, DVDs, Hooters, KMT, Playdium, Space: 1999, Thunderbirds