catheroominations

I might have had too much wine at dinner. I might have had more wine than dinner. But I can still type, and spell words correctly. I think.

This may not have been the best idea, the drinking, because tomorrow Matte and I are going to Vintage Santa Clara. We have tickets that entitle us to drink more wine. And eat much food from local restaurants. This will all happen in the middle of the day, on a Sunday. In the heat.

I will be in excellent shape for work on Monday. Working from home might be a good idea. And I use the term working lightly.

Happy Birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday dear me-e, happy birthday to me.

Thank you to everyone who sent me a virtual gift for my birthday. I got some lovely, wonderful things, which I will show you right now.

First, my most favoritist gift I received was from my sister. Just a day before I received it I mentioned to Matte that I hoped someone would (virtually) give it to me. And Suzie did. She gave me this:

Jasper. My little man. If I could have anything make-believe, it would be to have him back. (sniff)

You guys have some amazing imaginations, and apparently wallets full of fake money to shower me with some lovely gifties. Those are the best kind of friends to have! It’s a good thing I am not Buddhist, because otherwise I would have had to turn down all of these possessions. Oh, and while we’re pretending, let’s pretend that I am a size 4 and have big(ger) boobs and perfect hair. OK. Now the party can start.
keep reading Catheroo’s Not-Quite-Yet-40th Birthday

I had lunch with my friend Beth today. This is a rare occasion because 1) most of the year she works as a school counselor and doesn’t get a chance to leave campus for lunch and 2) I don’t often get out for a lunch break either, in my very busy, vitally important position at work*.

Beth’s birthday is one week earlier than mine so we exchanged presents over lunch. I got her this deliciously fragrant pomegranate. We discovered these on an extreme shopping spree at Takashimaya in New York City a couple of years ago. Just recently Beth had lamented that her NYC pomegranate was losing it’s oomph, and a light went on in my head. DING! I will find that pomegranate and get her a new one! And I did. And it arrived and sat in my closet for weeks and weeks, adding a lovely aroma to my walk-in. I was sad to see it go, but she was so thrilled to get it, and I was just as happy to give it to her.

About a week ago, the girls (also known as fiends…I must tell that story one day) got together for brunch on what would have been our friend Julie’s 42nd birthday. Our “ritual” is to visit the cemetery and spread out a blanket and share a bottle of her favorite wine, V. Sattui Johannisberg Riesling. We drink it with tiny little plastic naked men hanging off the edge of our cups. And the cups this year had Ariel the Little Mermaid on them, swimming under the sea. In honor of Julie’s favorite Disney character, we also wore Ariel tiaras, as we sat sipping, and laughing…in the cemetery. Irreverent or not, it’s what we do, and it makes us happy. We think Julie likes it too.

But I digress.

While we were sitting on the blanket, probably talking about food or cake or birthdays or something, I mentioned seeing a new cake pan that looked awesome.

Seriously, how cool is this cake?

It is made by using this pan, reminiscent of Madonna’s bra:

Beth gave me that very cake pan today, for my birthday, because Beth hears things. And she remembers things. And then she buys those things. Now I can’t decide what to do with it first…make a ginormous blueberry muffin? A big chocolate cupcake? What to do? What to do?

*I am as vitally important as condoms are in a monastery.

First, to celebrate our first date two years ago today, Matte and I are going to see this:

Then, as a thank you from Shawn and Rachel for watching their house/dog/cats last weekend, they’re treating us to this:

How about you? What are you doing today?”

Earlier this week I acknowledged an anniversary. It was a date I wish I could have skipped, but as it does every year, January 7 arrived.

[insert squiggly Wayne's World flashback effect here]

I was at the rehearsal studios for American Musical Theatre San Jose, waiting for my first crew meeting to start. A woman approached me and introduced herself as “Val.” She was very petite. Tiny. I think she could maybe reach the 4′9″ on the colorful ruler on a convenience store door jamb. She made me feel welcome instantly and calmed my anxious anticipation about joining the wardrobe crew and becoming a full-fledged theatre geek. I loved how short she was! For the first time ever, I felt statuesque at 5′1″.

keep reading My little friend

One hour and 43 minutes. That’s how long Lynette and I talked tonight. We had a lot to catch up on.

To my loyal readers and new visitors,

You can read my long and rambling post below, or take a shortcut here and offer any help you can.

Lynette is my oldest friend. That is to say, I have known her longer than any other friend I have (she’s younger than I am, really). We met in the summer between 5th and 6th grade and we were practically inseparable throughout junior high and high school. Her mom drove us to toilet paper the house of a cute boy. We took French class together with Madame Schaag “Allez, ne discute pas tout le temps!”. We swindled Mr. Lees into letting us retake our flunked algebra tests. We worked together at Marshalls, flirting with every newly hired boy who came through the automated doors. The same weekend we graduated from high school, we jetted off to Waikiki for a week of tropical fun (the drinking age was just 18 then). Sun Country Wine Coolers, Mai Tais, and Blue Hawaiis sustained us on that trip. We never puked, and we weren’t hungover until 2 days after we got back to California. Ahh, those were the days.

See?

keep reading A favor