Friday, July 10, 2009

Birthday week

Swirly clouds for my birthday


Well, I am another year older (that's not very gleeful) and I've been having a fun week of celebrations. Tomorrow I head off on the Wagons West Birthday Extravaganza Road Trip Down Memory Lane. Hurrah!

On Wednesday night I went to see the Circus Oz show Barely Contained. In keeping with my decision to just do stuff on my own rather than miss out for lack of someone to accompany me, I went to the circus solo. I managed to time it just right so that I wasn't hanging around looking like Freddy No-Friends (I might be going places on my own, but it still feels funny).

The bonus of going alone was that I was able to get a great seat. I plugged a single-seat-sized gap in the second row.

The show was fun - cheesy, but I'm not against cheese. There was a tap dancing lady midget and it felt weird being allowed to stare. They certainly are a talented bunch and the men are a buff lot. My only complaint is that I would have liked to have seen more of the guys with their shirts off, but there was still some impressive biceps and shoulders on display.

Thursday was my actual birthday and it was a beautiful, relatively mild sunshiney day. It was nice to get lots of messages and emails from friends and family throughout the day and little presents from friends at work.

I had lunch and a glass of wine with a friend at a little restaurant down a laneway near my work and there was birthday cake (flourless orange - yum!) with candles and a rendition of Happy Birthday back at work in the afternoon.

Last night I returned to Bridie O'Reilly's with my friend Kirstyn to feast on corned beef with mashed spuds, cabbage, bacon and mustard sauce. Kirstyn ordered it too and was similarly impressed. We rhapsodised about it afterwards. I hadn't seen Kirstyn since earlier in the year so it was good to catch up for a natter and a laugh.

Today a solicitor at work told me she assumed I was her age - 27! I love her. I'm 37 if I haven't mentioned that anywhere. That's what staying out of the sun can do for you.

And tomorrow - I'm off sojourning to the south-west of Victoria to revisit places from my youth and, of course, stalk...I mean, see Wagons play in Hamilton. The whales have arrived in Warrnambool in time for our visit too. There's one whale with a calf and one pregnant whale in the bay. Hopefully they will be close to shore.

It's going to be a chilly weekend - maximums of around 10-12 degrees celsius, with wind, rain and possible storms but pah! I'm not daunted by bad weather. We'll be in the car a lot of the time anyway and my new parka is super, super cosy.

I'll see you after the weekend!

8 comments:

Ludwig said...

I've been doing stuff on my own for years. Once I came to the same conclusion, do I put my life on hold because I have no one to accompany me, or do I just go and do what I would really like to do, and stop holding my breath waiting?

The funny thing is, I'm so used to it now, that I rarely even notice that I'm supposed to be 'friended' at all my events - it's no problem to always say 'hello' to the person right next to you, and also, that people rarely notice, and certainly don't point out "ooooohhh - look at her! She's alone!" It's all fictitous in our minds. I look at it this way - it's not the Queen's Ball, it's not a formal occasion or anything, it's usually just a pub, a show, an event, a party - who really cares and what's the big deal whether I come with one beside me, or turn up on my ownsome? It's way better that just sitting wistfully at home.

Anonymous said...

Oh, you gotta ease up on the singles schtick. Nothing wrong with solo adventures, even though most people who tell you this say so because they are 'coping', I mean it. Who wants to run adult day care? Now, tell me girl!

Leo said...

Hello Jayne -- wow, not only do we share a love of the shampoo mohawk, for Dr Seuss, we were born on the same day (decades apart of course, and on different continents). Happy Birthday!

Jayne said...

Happy birthday and I hope your weekend is good to you ! :)

Anonymous said...

Happy belated birthday! :)

Jayne said...

Hi Ludwig. I agree. I decided...I think it was late last year to just get out and do what I want on my own (night time stuff, I mean) and I'm hoping that the more I do it, the less funny I will feel about it. You're right, it is all in my mind that people are looking at me and thinking I'm a loser. They're probably not paying me any attention at all.

Hmm. Hello Anonymous...your comment makes me assume we 'know' each other from somewhere else - Myspace? Twitter? Both pehaps? - because I don't mention my single status on this blog often enough to prompt anyone to use the term "singles schtick". I hardly mention it at all.

The fact that I decided to start doing stuff on my own would suggest I don't actually think there is anything wrong with solo adventures (even if I'm still getting used to them) so I'm not sure why you're pressing the point.

In any case, this is my personal blog and I'll employ any schtick I like, dagnammit!

Hello Leo. Happy birthday to you too, fellow Seuss/Shampoo mohawk fan. I hope you had a splendiferous day. (PS Teehee on Three Rotten Things!)

Thanks Jayne and Becca for your birthday wishes.

Surendra said...

Very informative blog.Bet you had a great time. Waiting for part II.

Unknown said...

I've had such a hard time getting around to blogs lately and ... here I've missed your birthday (which is very close to mine ... July 5th).

Anyway, I want to wish you a belated Happy Birthday! I hope this year brings you magic, joy and surprises around every corner. And, of course ... happiness!

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

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