Monday, September 30 2019

Dear Journal,

Good morning, everyone! Hope you're having a calm and collected morning. This is my first post as a twenty-nine year old, so if everything went as planned, today's entry should feel just slightly wiser than all the others.

Yesterday, I rolled out of bed after eight and got breakfast ready. Letting everyone else sleep in, I was able to clean the kitchen, which puts me in a great mood and primes me to relax. When Marissa and Rodney got up, I pulled the dutch baby out of the oven and we chatted about our Birthday plans over breakfast. As a treat, I also picked up some hand-squeezed orange juice from the market, and we were breaking it out for birthday brunch. As we wrapped up eating, I read the family's card and opened their gifts. They did well this year, I'm a happy man. Marissa and Rod got me a very comfy Bears hoodie and a lineup of new hot sauces. Marissa laughed because the first two bottles of hot sauce I opened were the least appealing of this year's Hot Ones lineup, so I was relieved to find out there were more. We sampled some of them on taco chips.

After breakfast, Rodney and Marissa snuggled on the couch and watched a movie. I poured another cup of coffee and decided to sit outside. It was cold & rainy, but relaxing. I just drank coffee and stared up through the wet umbrella at the grey sky.

I took a long birthday shower, then Marissa, Rod, and I mounted up and went for a walk. We stopped at a place that Rod and I eat at a lot in Atwood. In a bit of an oversight, we forgot to bring toys for Rod, and they were pretty busy, so things got kind of interesting. But we managed, and before long we were venturing out toward the grocery store to go shopping. We picked up some bratwursts, chips, onions, and some cheap beer.

We made the long trek home from Jenny Street. Rod went down for a nap, and I simmered the brats in beer and quartered onions before setting them aside in the fridge for later. I turned on the Bears game. Marissa was busy getting an art shipment together, but she happily watched the game with me while she worked.

The game had an odd start. Mitch Trubisky was injured early in the first quarter and walked off field, being relieved by backup QB Chase Daniel. But before I could sit with my worry for very long, he scored on the first drive. It was a perplexing game. Maybe Daniel was fired up because this was the first time he was starting this season, but he played amazingly well. He was calm, accurate, and he made it look like our offense was carrying the defense for once. The Bears would go on to beat the Vikings. It was no surprise - we had a lot of luck going for us. It was my birthday, and was wearing my new Bears hoodie - of course we won.

As the game winded down, I cooked dinner. I seared the brats in ripping hot olive oil before adding a bunch of chopped onions to the party. We ate dinner on the couch and watched the fourth quarter.

After the game, Marissa needed to go to Home Depot, and Rodney and I tagged along. Walking around Home Depot is a fun errand, and after being cooped up watching the game all afternoon it felt to get out of the house one last time.

After we got home, we decided to break out the dessert. At Jenny Street earlier that morning, we grabbed some desserts from the bakery. We had a slice of chocolate cheese cake, a slice of berry mascarpone cake, and a salted caramel pretzel and chocolate brownie. Rod went to bed, then I tidied up the kitchen and worked on some code on the couch. I spruced up my blog build scripts, and finally got it to the point where it immediately posts to slack after a new entry. It made me happy finally getting to delete the crummy IFTTT integration that would sometimes take hours to complete.

Marissa continued working on the shipment, and I packed the laptop away for the night. By the time she joined me on the couch, I decided to make a mini hot sauce sampler with the new bottles I opened this morning. We carefully tried each sauce again.

We concluded the night by watching the rest of Blade Runner 2049. I was grateful that Marissa gave me a summary the night before - I would have been totally lost otherwise.

I had a great birthday. It was pretty much the perfect day, and I felt loved, appreciated, and relaxed. I've never made a big deal out of my birthday, but it goes without saying that I'm grateful for the people that do on my behalf.

The only birthday wish left unfulfilled was a new Kanye album. The album never dropped - Kanye, you ruined my golden birthday. It's not true, but it's fun to say. I'm looking forward to the new album, but sometimes waiting for a new Kanye album is just as fun as getting one. All weekend I've been chuckling at the Internet drama, gossip, and jokes surrounding this release.

I had a wonderful birthday, but I can't help but think about everyone else out there who had a normal rainy late September weekend. I hope you got to relax too.

This morning I'm working from home in the morning, then heading into the office after lunch. I have a short week ahead - after Wednesday the family will be in wedding mode, so that leaves us with three days to get things in order before hitting the road.

Let's have a Monday! Here's to hot sauce, the Bears, birthdays and weddings! Oh, and if any of you happen to run into Kanye West, let him know that he ruined my golden birthday.