Spring Break Part II: Fresh Air, Orridians and the Weekend That Was My Birthday

Well, folks, I’ve just returned from up north (L-town to be more precise) where I spent the first half of my second spring break. The extended weekend became four and a half days of enjoying unpolluted, crisp air, sunshine, reunions, delicious dinners, Harry Potter and the general lounging around that comes with not having to work.

The break also overlapped with my 23rd birthday, and because of everyone’s varied schedules, I “celebrated” my birthday on four different occasions. And in all honesty (and despite my constant inquiries about my presents, I just find that amusing more than actually wanting to know what I got before I open my presents), I don’t like making a big deal about my birthday. And since turning 21, birthdays don’t hold the milestones that they used to. 23 doesn’t feel a whole lot different than 22, and I have a feeling that 24 won’t feel much different either. Having said that, I think my sister J’s new ritual of celebrating her birthday over a period of several days (as we did this past September, and trust me, this isn’t a complaint), has now rubbed off on me.

Saturday: After spending the majority of afternoon with P and some other friends in the mountains fishing, we went out to dinner with a large group of our former coworkers. At the end of each semester our staff would go out to dinner together; these meals usually involved side splitting laughter and someone was always surprised with a birthday song and complimentary dessert, even though it was never anyone’s birthday. Almost a year has passed since our last staff meal, and a lot things have changed. The group was smaller, as not everyone lives in L-town anymore, or people had prior engagements. Some social circles no longer overlap, while news ones have intertwined and formed. Yet, despite these changes, we laughed just as hard as we did last year and I think it was decided that the birthday song and dance is only funny when it’s no one’s birthday (fine by me, no sombrero wearing for this birthday girl!)

Sunday: P and I returned to the Cajun restaurant where we had our “first date.” We had the entire place to ourselves for most of the meal and I was able to open my gift from P in private. As we enjoyed our dessert, in walked a table that included one of P’s former residents. At this point we decided that with our combined years as live-in-staffers, as long as we’re in Wyoming, we’ll be running into our former residents for a very long time. Maybe we shouldn’t restrict these encounters to Wyoming. When my two good friends D and S (and who were also live-in-staffers), came to visit me this summer, D struck up a conversation with two college-aged kids on the train ride back to the suburbs from downtown. As it turns out, both of them used to hang out with residents from the floor D and I were in charge of one year. Apparently run-ins aren’t just for small towns anymore.

Tuesday: Since this was actually my birthday, P and I went out to a bit more casual dinner where he dined on the thai chicken that inspired the recipe from his Mom that I made at the week that was Thanksgiving. P not only had to go to work that day, but he also had to prepare for a two-day job fair; dinner was a great beginning to the cap on our day.

Later that Night: A made birthday cake. She also agreed to cover work for P so we could go out to dinner, so we enjoyed cake with her, D and any other live-in-staffers who happened to be around. I was already pretty full by the time we started eating the cake and I didn’t make it too far into my chunk of dessert. I also didn’t make it very far into Elizabethtown before passing out from yet another food coma.

P and I did manage to watch 1 ½ Harry Potter movies (hooray for birthday presents from boyfriends!) and I did my best not to geek out. But P kept asking questions and I really had to restrain myself from not spouting off everything that is in the books and not the movies. I had almost forgotten how big of a Harry Potter fan I am, and how excited I am about the seventh book coming out, even though it’s probably still over a year away.

I’m back in Denver now, and I don’t plan on doing a whole heck of a lot for the rest of my vacation. My former landlords are planning something to celebrate my birthday this weekend. So, I’ll spend the next couple days recovering (mainly from food consumed) from the previous couple of days of celebration. Hopefully by then I’ll be ready to face the weekend.

Hooray for birthdays!