Happy?

The Warden made me write. It’s my birthday today. I should be able to do whatever I want, right? I should be able to vegetate in front of the tube. But here I am.

So what does one say on one’s birthday? One could wax eloquent about the passing of time or maturity or wisdom or the gift of life. But if I wrote about birthdays, I would probably fixate on cake or ice cream. And that’s fattening and not good for the waistline or blood sugar, so nix on that idea.

Instead, I will formally say good-bye to Mai. She boarded a Northwest jet this afternoon to fly non-stop from Minneapolis to Tokyo. She’s probably gazing down on some Eskimos right now as I write. It was a good, but too short, re-acquaintance.

After dropping her off, the family headed down the road to the Mall of America where Mai spent two of her short ten days here. During one visit the Warden stumbled upon a relatively new-to-the-Mall restaurant, the Magic Pan. This chain restaurant (which had left the Twin Cities market for about 20 years) was a favorite place of ours during our early days of marriage. So we treated ourselves to crepes for an early supper tonight.

And then it was off to spend my birthday money. A new game store has recently opened across the hall from Magic Pan, so that was our first stop. I don’t know if I’ve purchased a new game since our Thai exchange student (and game aficionado) Noh left about two years ago. But today I shelled out some ching for three new games: a French game, Abalone; an Asian-sounding game, Dao; and a Russian-sounding game, Xactika. All three are Mensa-approved, so we need not worry about our minds going to waist or waste or wayst.

The family has tested two of the three games and they receive thumbs up. I would probably still be playing, but I feared receiving a demerit from the Warden if I didn’t give her something to read, a present for her on my birthday. I hope you learned something deep and significant from me tonight, honey.

If not, you can count out the forty-six candles that I needed this year and use them as a down payment for the ones you will need on your birthday. Smile. I couldn’t resist. Sorry. It’s my way of dealing with that extra candle on my cake this year. Yes, I really am another year older. So there! I’m too old to stay up any later. Zzzzzzzzzz . . .