Rants and Ramblings: random commentary about culture, media, politics, technology and whatnot.

twenty six

My birthday this year has been kind of a weeklong celebration, with a little something every day.

On Thursday, I got a notification from the post office that I had a package (for whatever reason, the mail carrier wouldn’t leave it at my door this time).

On Friday, I received a book from my family in the mail, with the note “Happy reading!”

On Saturday, I got up early and went to the post office first thing in the morning to pick up that package from Thursday. The box contained a veritable smorgasboard of wrapped gifts from my family, including:

• A “tea shaker” from Starbucks, for making iced tea (basically, a really big plastic martini shaker into which I pour lots of ice and hot brewed tea)
• A framed illustration with the caption, “She who has the most shoes wins.”
• From my dad, a colorful purse/bag he picked up on a recent trip to Panama
• From my sister, the biggest rubber duckie I’ve ever seen (above)
• A little bit of birthday money

That afternoon, I also received cards bearing happy birthday wishes from both sets of grandparents.

On Sunday, I learned of Rob’s birthday gift for me by mistake, noticing a big folder marked “B&H Gift Card” that he’d accidentally left out at his apartment. The folder contained a catalog of the store’s various photography and electronics offerings. The actual gift card, to be used towards the purchase of a new digital camera, was in a “safe location” at Rob’s office.

Today, of course, marked The Big Day. Twenty-six. Now on the other side of my twenties. A little scary, though I’m certainly nowhere near that freaked-out-about-getting-old “don’t even mention the word birthday!” drama queen stage. Birthdays are still fun, and, besides, I’m not even thirty yet.

My coworkers surprised me in the afternoon with a Wolf Blitzer-themed birthday card and a nummy cake from Whole Foods, and in between offering slices of cake to folks who visited our pod, we chatted about travelling and digital cameras. (My current dilemma: the Canon PowerShot S2 IS vs. Gio’s new Olympus C-8080.)

After work, Rob took me out for dinner to Mexicali Cantina in Frederick, Md., my favorite place locally for chimichangas. Mmm … chimis.

In all, not bad, not bad.

And it’s not over yet. I’ve made reservations to go horseback riding in D.C.’s Rock Creek Park on Sunday. I haven’t done it in years — probably since I went riding with my Grandma Ilse in Colorado back when I was in eighth or ninth grade — and I’m really looking forward to it. I’m trying to ease into it; one of these days, I’d like to go riding at Shenandoah.