So today I turn 28... so it's been 28 years since the doctor smacked my ass and handed me to my mother in some room on some floor of Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital in Santa Rosa, CA, over 3,200 miles away.
I was celebrating yesterday. I mean, September 20 is the only day my brother-in-law, John, is 2 years older than me. And he'll reach the big 3-0 366 days before I will. I like to remind him of this fact.
It's been a great couple days. Yesterday I was to see the doctor (another doctor, not the one I mentioned above) about the wart; last week she was so sure she'd use the liquid nitrogen to take it off. The anticipation was kicking my ass. I knew it was going to make me better, but I fear needles and knives, at least when they're to be used on me. And I figured after freezing the wart, the doctor was going to take a scalpel (sanitized, of course) and dig away at it, leaving a bloody gaping hole in my foot, stuffing it with gauze, and telling me I'd be off my feet the next few weeks.
So Jen told me she'd take half the day off and be there with me. What's more, she'd take me out, anywhere I choose. Oh, that was easy. I've been craving good burgers, so we went to Fuddrucker's. That place is amazing. It's a damn shame Santa Rosa doesn't have one. If you have a chance, check one out. They rock. I got my 2/3 cheeseburger, with three cheeses, add bacon, put the toppings on myself, made fry sauce (a Pacific Northwest thing, basically 2 parts mayo to 1 part ketchup) for my fries, and got a strawberry shake. That's the kind of meal that, as a memory, makes me smile in remembrance and cry that it's passed.
OK, so we leave Fudd's, we go to Sheetz for some coffee. Not only is there a big crowd in there (popular place), they're out of coffee. I was about to say Eff it when I realized, hey, Kangaroo is just across the street and I've never tried their coffee. So we scoot over across the street, I go in there with my cup. They have less selection, but they have what I want, and they're not out. I put a packet of the French Vanilla creamer in my cup, you know the kind, same container as your typical Half-n-Half, and I see a kind I've never seen before. Shot of caffeine, limit 2 per day, must be 18 or older. Oh hell yeah. Two of those went in. Woulda been 3-5, but I'd never had them before, didn't wanna tempt fate. Next time, at least 4 are going in. And the refill was 63¢, 22¢ cheaper than at Sheetz! I thanked the lady, told her Sheetz was out - she wasn't surprised at all. Well, see if I get coffee from Sheetz ever again.
I call John, somewhere in all this mess, wish him a happy birthday, ask him what he's doing. Getting drunk, having some friends over. OK, I'm there. Jen and I stop at a Food Lion, pick up a 6 pack of Bud Ice, and on her way to work, she drops me off there. None of his friends show, so it's just me, him, my sister-in-law, and their two boys (7 and 4). Not what you'd call a party, but we had fun. Two beers and I was wasted. Having a low tolerance for alcohol is great, but damn, that's almost pathetic. Not that I endorse drinking, you know, but I had a ride, and it was a special occasion. I've made an effort not to drink regularly, just for my health, but a birthday only comes once a year. And mine happens to be the next day. But I haven't got a ride tonight, so I'm not drinking tonight. Or I might have one if I'm gonna be there a few hours. Smackdown's on tonight, so I'll show up. Beats hanging out here alone.
But I'm getting ahead of myself, which as you know if you read these posts, I do a lot. So this morning, I read on MySpace that Jen says we can do anything today before she has to go to work. I tell her I want biscuits and gravy, sausage and blueberry pancakes for my birthday dinner, and I remind her that there's really only once place to go for that. Cracker Barrel, where else? Good - no, great - Southern cooking. It's sad they don't have these in Santa Rosa, either. I think they make a point not to have locations in California, as a kind of statement. I understand, but it's such a loss to Californians. (I guess if you don't know what you're missing, like me with my peanut allergy...)
Breakfast at Cracker Barrel was great, as I can expect from the place, and now about 4 hours after we got out of there, I'm still good. I'll be good and hungry in 7 hours when Jen gets home. This morning, after I woke her up, I found a present to me, from her. She got me a Foreman's Grill, aka a George Foreman's Lean Mean Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine! A slanted grill with a fat-catching tray and grooved grilling surfaces, it squeezes fat out of meat while grilling it. I've never heard a bad thing about them. I'm not so good on the big grill (barbecuing) so hopefully I can master this, since I'm more of an indoor chef anyway. But Jen can't have red meat, at least I don't think she can, not with her Alli diet (on which she's lost 12 pounds by the way, mucho congrats) limiting her to 15g of fat. She has an extra chicken breast in there... better take that out. OK, Jen's chicken titty and my ground beef are thawing out on the oven surface - gotta remember to put those in the fridge when I leave to watch wrestling tonight.
Jen also got me cake mix and frosting. Strawberry frosting on strawberry cake, my favorite. Harris Teeter just got this mint-brownie mix I've been itchin' to try, but we couldn't find anywhere around here that had it, and didn't want to go all the way to HT for brownie mix (even though we've been close enough, at least to the new one). So I guess it's cool, we're going with a sure thing. Maybe we'll do the mint brownie mix for Halloween or something.
Back to the wart. Like I said, I went to the doctor yesterday. She didn't cut it, but she said it was showing great improvement. To my utter disbelief, she told me to stop using the salicylic acid pads and just keep it covered. To my further disbelief, the relief has continued, and I can walk on it much better now. Sometimes I walk normally, sometimes with a slight limp.
So I call my boss, who wanted to hear from me after the appointment. He tells me my position is booked through Monday night - in other words, I'm not needed until, possibly Tuesday night. But he's got a man covering after Monday night who just wants one day. So I guess I'll come back Wednesday. I would have said as much to my boss, but he really wanted to give me the recovery time, and thus not give him an answer until Monday. So I plan to call Monday and tell him I'm coming back Wednesday night. I got new shoes, too - went there after the Barrel - so I should be OK. He wants me standing up more, which contradicts doctor's orders, but I think I can hang. For a while, at least.
OK, so I just threw a lot of information at you. Jumped around a lot. So let me recap real quick:
Tuesday morning we get up, we go to Fuddrucker's and eat, we get coffee. Jen takes me to my appointment, where basically nothing happens. We go to Food Lion and get a 6 pack of beer and dog food (didn't mention that before). We go home, hang out until Jen's gotta go to work. Jen drops me off at Kristen and John's with my 6 pack. I drink 2 beers over there, watch My Name is Earl, TNA Wrestling, and play some Nintendo DS - mostly Bomberman (NES), I think. I pass out before midnight. Yay for me. Friday morning, I get the Foreman Grill from Jen, we go to Cracker Barrel, we get me a new pair of shoes for work. Jen goes to work, leaving me here with the computer and animals.
I guess that about sums it up. The plan tonight is to go over there again, hang out, have a beer, watch Smackdown, and then come home and cook dinner for Jen. Oh yeah, gotta go to Food Lion first for some hamburger buns. You can't have a good burger without a good bun. And cheese, gotta have cheese, but we may have that... ...
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