Category: Travel/Vacation

I know the actual threat of the most recent plane bombings was a serious one, and not a laughing matter. However, I do find a lot of the new restrictions absolutely ludicrous. I’m waiting for someone to come up with a parody of “Snakes on a Plane,” maybe “Water on a plane” (“OH NO!!!!! It’s… It’s… IT’S A WATER BOTTLE!!!” *cue blood-curdling scream*)

Seriously though, I can understand the ban, mostly. I’m glad I opted not to go to Chicago this weekend. Hopefully they’ll have better ways to screen liquids by the time I take my next flight, and will have eased that ban — but I’m not holding my breath.

Tomorrow, I’m going to drive to Tulsa with the friend who’d originally offered to fly us to Chicago. We’re going to do some shopping, go to the Oklahoma Aquarium, and maybe an animal sanctuary. It’ll be nice to get out of Dallas for a couple of days, and back out on the road again. This trip is part birthday gift to me, part her needing to get out of town.

The birthday was nice and mostly quiet; the way I like it. Emily sent me a GORGEOUS floral arrangement, full of massive white roses, white Asiatic lilies, and white snapdragons. My entire room smells like lilies. And when I say massive – I measured one of these roses to be about 4 inches in diameter. MASSIVE! They’re also beyond beautiful. My brother texted me birthday wishes in the morning, per usual. He never sends a card, and the only reason I got a gift from him was because it was installing my car stereo. That’s normal though.

Today is one of those days where I just can’t focus on much of anything. I’m ready to leave work now. Only one more hour to go, thankfully.

A few years ago, I decided that I wanted to do something special for my 34th birthday. Not because of the age, but because of the date. My 34th birthday will be on August 8, 2008: 08/08/08. It’s a fairly unique thing to be ale to celebrate on a day that repeats across the board like that (after all, only 12 days can claim that, and it only happens once every 100 years), and so I wanted to really mark the day.

I’ve been struggling with ideas as what to do for this “Big Event” though. Sure, that’s 2 years away, but I didn’t want to decide it all at the last minute. After all, I didn’t want to just do something “typical” like a dinner party or whatever. Since this is a special date, I wanted a special celebration.

Today, I think I finally decided what I want to do. I’m going on a cruise for my 34th birthday. Emily and I have been talking about going on one, since the other day when I won that 2-for-1 deal. She found a LA-to-Hawaii the other day that would be fun to do. So, yes. Two years gives me plenty of time to save up to go on a cruise; especially if I put most of my income tax refund next year into savings, instead of spending it on a new camera or whatever I was going to end up buying. And if I do decide on a cruise that ports out of LA, I can have a pre- (&/or post-) cruise party with my friends there as well. But, of course, all of my friends are invited to join me on whatever cruise this ends up being. The more friends I have with me, the better to celebrate the day, right?

Speaking of birthdays… I got a gift in the mail yesterday. Daria purchased a little something off my Amazon wish list: the New Kids videos on DVD. Hee!! That has been on my list since 2001, there’s always a place in my heart for NKOTB after all the teen years I spent in obsession over them. Ha. I spent part of last night watching the videos and reminiscing and laughing. I did make one surprising discovery though. In the video for “Step By Step”, Jordan is wearing a t-shirt with a kokopelli on it. I never noticed it when the video was originally out, mostly because at the time I had no idea what a kokopelli was. Six years ago, however, I had a kokopelli tattooed on my left calf, after several years of waiting to be sure I wanted that design. The kokopelli had become a personal symbol to me; representing the wandering minstrel, the gypsy soul I have within. It’s funny the little things you notice when you have a chance to reminisce.