Happy Birthday to Me!

As a child growing up in a household with a dog, I knew what a veterinarian was. I did not understand what a veteran was. And so I thought that November 11th was Veterinarians Day. I remember the conversation when my mother explained the difference between veterinarians and veterans. Veterans Day was, and is, an important day in my life. Not because it's Veterans Day but because it is also my birthday.

Because my birthday is a holiday I have almost always had the day off from school and work. (There was one year when the government decided to make Veterans Day a Monday holiday at the end of October, but I digress.) My current place of business does not give us Veterans Day off. We get the Friday after Thanksgiving instead. However, I do get generous vacation time. So I was able to take both Monday and Tuesday off to play.

I spent most of Monday in my woodshop, working on a project for Hiker Boy. (I haven't posted about it yet, but will soon on elf business.) And I installed the car rack on my new car .

Yesterday, I headed off early for a paddle. I'll post about that tomorrow. My timing was perfect. The morning, when I was on the river, was full of sun and clear blue skies. By the time I had the kayak and all it's equipment put away it was gray and threatening to rain. I spent the afternoon watching a movie (Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day - recommended).

After dinner out at our favorite Chinese Restaurant, we returned home for cake, complete with squiggly candles.


In addition to the new ipod, which goes with the new car (there's a connector so the ipod can be played through the car audio system), I also got the way cool bumper sticker from my sister-out-law, Shelley (who will be getting a proper thank you). It now holds a place of honor on my car.