Birthday!
As some of you might be aware, I had a birthday yesterday. The celebration actually started on Friday because my sister, apple_piye had told us that she had to work on Sunday and wouldn't be able to see us then. So we arranged to go out for a meal on Friday night instead. We went out to a Mexican restaurant for a change. I'd been there before and thought it was very nice, and although my mother doesn't like spicy food at all, she's rather partial to fajitas so I thought she'd be okay.
The menu was rather extensive! My mother did order the classic chicken fajitas and was amazed by the amount of food she got. She certainly didn't have any problems putting it all away! Apple went for the barbecue rack of ribs which also seemed to be a huge portion but that disappeared quite rapidly too. I'd decided to go forego my favourite enchiladas and decided to have the chimigangas instead. Unfortunately, when it arrived, it was a burrito so the waiter had to take it away and refold it. It took ages for it to come back and I managed to fill up rather on my drink while I was waiting so when it did finally arrive, I wasn't able to eat it all. I'm not sure I would have been able to anyway because there were two chimichangas and they weren't small by any means. They were seriously yummy though and I managed to eat one and a half. I wished I could get it boxed like in America and my mother said I should ask for a doggie bag. So when the waiter came to clear away the plates, I did, preparing to die of embarrassment (it's such a terminal disease in England). He didn't bat an eyelid and just said, "I can sort that out for you". A few minutes later he came back with it in a small plastic tray and he'd even put in the guacamole, salsa and sour cream too! I was well impressed. Except with the guacamole because I don't like it. We had to decide whether we had room for any pudding then. I wasn't sure I had but as it turned out, by the time the waiter came back, I'd got a little space so I ordered some churros and shared them with Apple. They were very nice indeed, the chocolate fudge dipping sauce that came with them was so good.
Nothing much of note happened on the Saturday really, and then the main event was on Sunday. I made American pancakes from scratch for breakfast and they were very yummy indeed. I didn't make them as thick as I have in the past so they were much nicer, and not so doughy in the middle. I spent the rest of the morning playing Guitar Hero 5. I unlocked Johnny Cash and decided to see what it was like to play as him. I played Under Pressure which was weird enough, but it was even more weird to see the Man In Black singing and dancing along to it. I was showing my mother because she's a huge Cash fan and she said it wasn't right at all! He never moved when he performed! That probably explains the uncomfortable look on his face all the way through.
Mid-afternoon, I was just getting ready to catch up on my webcomics and all the fun stuff in Google Reader when my cousin arrived with the munchkins. I thought they'd just come to drop off birthday cards but they ended up staying for about 2 hours. My cousin said that he'd booked a table for the whole family at a local pub because my mother and I were intending on going out for tea. However, my sister had now decided she was able to come and see us on Sunday after all and so we didn't have any reason to go out again. Plus it would have ended up costing us about £100 for two meals in two days so we decided we would stay at home instead. As it turned out, I ended up with a banging headache anyway so that was not fun. When Apple arrived, we had tea and birthday cake. I got a Scalextric cake this year! It was very amusing. And yummy.
Then, FINALLY, it was present time. I'd got my mother a Powerball as she has polymyalgia rheumatica and I hope it might help a bit. I got the most amazing presents this year. And here are some photos for proof.
Firstly, Apple gave me a dragon mirror. I'd happened to find out about it when hobbitblue showed me the one she'd just got and I immediately told Apple that I wanted one. And she managed to order one! I love dragons a lot but even so, it really is an awesome mirror.
Look at the detail there! It's so amazing. You really should click for the bigger version to see it better.
ftmichael sent me a T-shirt from Dunkin' Donuts that I'd recently happened to drop a large hint about and how it had great suitability as a birthday present.
It's a shame that no one over here will really appreciate it (except for the occasional misplaced American), but the slogan amuses me anyway, even without the Dunkies love.
And then! The most unexpected and therefore the most amazingest present ever came from polkadotsquared. When I opened the box, this is what I found:
I was a little baffled, I'd asked for a Seal of Rassilon badge, but I wasn't expecting two. Then I took one out of the box.
Yep. Those are cufflinks. Seal of Rassilon cufflinks. I know, you're jealous. I was speechless with how awesome they are. I had no idea such things even existed! Jill, you are officially awesome, thank you so much!
So that was my birthday! I believe I still have one present en route, so hopefully that will arrive soon. I don't mind it being late, I'm just pleased that there are people who want to send me such brilliant presents :)
The menu was rather extensive! My mother did order the classic chicken fajitas and was amazed by the amount of food she got. She certainly didn't have any problems putting it all away! Apple went for the barbecue rack of ribs which also seemed to be a huge portion but that disappeared quite rapidly too. I'd decided to go forego my favourite enchiladas and decided to have the chimigangas instead. Unfortunately, when it arrived, it was a burrito so the waiter had to take it away and refold it. It took ages for it to come back and I managed to fill up rather on my drink while I was waiting so when it did finally arrive, I wasn't able to eat it all. I'm not sure I would have been able to anyway because there were two chimichangas and they weren't small by any means. They were seriously yummy though and I managed to eat one and a half. I wished I could get it boxed like in America and my mother said I should ask for a doggie bag. So when the waiter came to clear away the plates, I did, preparing to die of embarrassment (it's such a terminal disease in England). He didn't bat an eyelid and just said, "I can sort that out for you". A few minutes later he came back with it in a small plastic tray and he'd even put in the guacamole, salsa and sour cream too! I was well impressed. Except with the guacamole because I don't like it. We had to decide whether we had room for any pudding then. I wasn't sure I had but as it turned out, by the time the waiter came back, I'd got a little space so I ordered some churros and shared them with Apple. They were very nice indeed, the chocolate fudge dipping sauce that came with them was so good.
Nothing much of note happened on the Saturday really, and then the main event was on Sunday. I made American pancakes from scratch for breakfast and they were very yummy indeed. I didn't make them as thick as I have in the past so they were much nicer, and not so doughy in the middle. I spent the rest of the morning playing Guitar Hero 5. I unlocked Johnny Cash and decided to see what it was like to play as him. I played Under Pressure which was weird enough, but it was even more weird to see the Man In Black singing and dancing along to it. I was showing my mother because she's a huge Cash fan and she said it wasn't right at all! He never moved when he performed! That probably explains the uncomfortable look on his face all the way through.
Mid-afternoon, I was just getting ready to catch up on my webcomics and all the fun stuff in Google Reader when my cousin arrived with the munchkins. I thought they'd just come to drop off birthday cards but they ended up staying for about 2 hours. My cousin said that he'd booked a table for the whole family at a local pub because my mother and I were intending on going out for tea. However, my sister had now decided she was able to come and see us on Sunday after all and so we didn't have any reason to go out again. Plus it would have ended up costing us about £100 for two meals in two days so we decided we would stay at home instead. As it turned out, I ended up with a banging headache anyway so that was not fun. When Apple arrived, we had tea and birthday cake. I got a Scalextric cake this year! It was very amusing. And yummy.
Then, FINALLY, it was present time. I'd got my mother a Powerball as she has polymyalgia rheumatica and I hope it might help a bit. I got the most amazing presents this year. And here are some photos for proof.
Firstly, Apple gave me a dragon mirror. I'd happened to find out about it when hobbitblue showed me the one she'd just got and I immediately told Apple that I wanted one. And she managed to order one! I love dragons a lot but even so, it really is an awesome mirror.
Look at the detail there! It's so amazing. You really should click for the bigger version to see it better.
ftmichael sent me a T-shirt from Dunkin' Donuts that I'd recently happened to drop a large hint about and how it had great suitability as a birthday present.
It's a shame that no one over here will really appreciate it (except for the occasional misplaced American), but the slogan amuses me anyway, even without the Dunkies love.
And then! The most unexpected and therefore the most amazingest present ever came from polkadotsquared. When I opened the box, this is what I found:
I was a little baffled, I'd asked for a Seal of Rassilon badge, but I wasn't expecting two. Then I took one out of the box.
Yep. Those are cufflinks. Seal of Rassilon cufflinks. I know, you're jealous. I was speechless with how awesome they are. I had no idea such things even existed! Jill, you are officially awesome, thank you so much!
So that was my birthday! I believe I still have one present en route, so hopefully that will arrive soon. I don't mind it being late, I'm just pleased that there are people who want to send me such brilliant presents :)