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Time just won’t let me go. This was a bittersweet three-day weekend complete with its very own compliment of ups and downs. Which colors to dab from the palette of my infant senility first? Excellent question. As I’m sure there were thousands, likely millions, of other birthdays that transpired over the last three days, two of them happened to belong to friends of mine. When I landed in Houston after my brief stay in Louisiana over the last two workdays of the week, I was so exhausted that no matter how badly I wanted to stay up and visit with my mother (still in town from sitting the grandkids), I needed to sleep. I never seem to sleep very long these days, but Saturday I must have been completely out until nearly one in the afternoon. My mom was tired of waiting for the pieces of me to gather themselves to consciousness, so she headed home early after feeding the pitter patter paws in the house… no doubt contributing to my uninterrupted slumber. I don’t remember much of Saturday between coming out of the coma and heading to Ted and Jenny’s for her thirtieth birthday bash. They had been preparing trays upon trays of jello shots all day along with snacky food to go with the catered sandwich trays and general party necessities… beer, booze, wine, and lots of it. Most of the guest list by volume consisted of Jenny’s coworkers who, although outwardly pleasant, were at times a bit pretentious. I never intend to pick up on stuff like that because I don’t want to be judgmental, but it was like an arthritic joint before a big storm… little tells. The point where I actually laughed was when there was a small group arguing over who could bill the most per hour. I had reality television unfolding before my very eyes. Although they made up the largest numbers, the longevity award goes to the non-work friends that seemed to linger through the evening after the others faded into the sunset. Ted, bless his heart, burned out fast like a dynamite fuse… I think he found a soft place to lay down and was dead to the world by 9:30. Miranda and I pitched in and bought Jen a Wii. It was sorta an inside joke because every time they would all get together and play Mario Kart on the old Nintendo system while drinking, Jenny would lean into every turn to the point of almost falling over. Given the Wii encourages this sort of flailing about, it seems obvious. I think I left around 1:30 or so for the house. Sunday came too quickly as I was hoping to drag the 3 days into at least 5. No such luck. Anyhoo, the Houston premier of SPAMalot was where I spent my early afternoon. It was fantastic… so much fun. I should get out to more theater. After the play, I had an evening of options and none of them happened the way I wanted. There is a story there, but not for today. I had standing invites to meet Barrett, Jennifer, and Georgia for movies and drinks or meet up at in the aftermath of Jen’s party and break in the new Wii with her, Ted, and Miranda. In retrospect, although my evening was… interesting, I should have just gone home early and gone to sleep. Even after a full day of doing much of nothing on Monday, I am still tired. I miss the gym, but I’ve just not been motivated to do anything. My father-in-law called me yesterday to catch up and discuss my thoughts on running a spot in the local paper in EL’s home town on her birthday (which is only a couple of weeks away). It was a good conversation, but deeply heart wrenching. The pain is just as intense, but I layer so much shit around it that I avoid thinking about it most of the time. Situations like that are like peeling back the dressing and pouring alcohol on the wound. After I hung up, I just sat and cried until there was no other option but to get up and do something else. I think most of my evening was spent playing video games because I could shut my mind off completely. Netherwing faction quests. Rinse and repeat. I have been battling this flea problem even still. I am going to have to order some special IGR (insect growth inhibitor) for the yard since the over the counter stuff doesn’t seem to effect these mutant bastards. When I finally could relax enough to attempt sleep, I tossed and turned most of the night and dragged myself to work feeling like I just landed Friday evening. It is the curse of the weekend, no? I have a laundry list of schtuff to accomplish this morning.

Random thoughts as I sip my coffee: The new White Stripes tune, Icky Thump, is nifty… as is Supermassive Black Hole by Muse. I wish I had a toasted wheat bagel with some cream cheese and smoked salmon right now. I like to take naps in the warmth of the sun, but burn entrely too easily for that to be realistic. Heath Ledger is looking like a wicked Joker in the new Batman installment.