Yes, Day One. I'm as surprised as anyone by this development, but Malaya's got three days of stuff planned this year, and two presents. I'm not sure how that math works, but today was day one, and it began with a wake up backrub that turned into a full body rub, and then became a mall shopping expedition. Todai, our choice for dinner, is at the mall, but rather than heading straight for the food Malaya dragged me off into the depths of the tween-infested pits.
Ordinarily I dread such a journey with all the might my blackened heart can muster (to mangle a metaphor) but I was more curious today, since I didn't know where we were going. I was happy to see that our first stop was Wilson's Leather though, since it's hard to go wrong there. Malaya said I could have anything I wanted, so long as it was leather, or even fur. I don't want anything fur, but while I usually enjoy leather I didn't feel the need for any today. I've got a relatively new leather jacket that's the style I want it to be, at least until they make one in a style I like more, I have an old pair of leather pants that I haven't worn in years, I have a sturdy and nicely-battered leather bag that I've had since about 1988, and I have a leather wallet that doesn't need replacement. I also have a new leather belt that was $9 at TJ Maxx (vs. $30 at Wilsons for the exact same thing) and I'm not going to buy a leather hat or gloves or anything like that, at least not in June. Or not until I get my Lamborghini and can wear racing gloves while driving without becoming the laughingstock of every single other vehicle on the road.
I was given no advance warning about the leather-based present requirement, but thinking on my feet, literally, it occurred to me that my only dress shoes are uncomfortable, clunky things that I spent $22 on at a Payless Shoe Source some years ago. Plus they're only still black and acceptable for public exhibition through the grace of lots of black shoe polish, so with Malaya delighted by my suggestion, off we headed to Macy's. As it turns out they have quite a few leather dress shoes, so long as you like them black, or possibly dark brown, and shiny and traditional in design.
We browsed for a bit, saw none I liked that could still pass for formal, compromised, and eventually settled on ones that looked okay, and felt pretty good on my feet. They've actually got some padding in them, unlike my current cheap ones. Behold!
These are
Rockport Warringtons, and yes, they were expensive. I certainly wouldn't have spent the money on them, and would have settled for some near-look alikes that were $80 (or more likely have gone back to Payless and tried my luck again), but Malaya was buying, she insisted that I not even consider the price, and since I couldn't think of anything else I much wanted/needed for my birthday... this be them. I'll try to wear them a bit more often than I have my current dress shoes to get something approaching her money's worth, but it's not like I move beyond jeans and cargo pants very often, when I can even be bothered to not wear shorts.
I've got a wedding to attend in October, at the very least.
Also, as I said above, this was just day one of the birthday stuff. Malaya's got plans for us to do something tomorrow, and apparently I'll get another present then too, though I've got no idea what it is. Strangest of all, we're doing some more birthday stuff on Wednesday, and that stuff does not include a present; at least not one of a tangible, wrap-able nature.
The most unusual present of the day arrived in the mail Monday morning, and it was from my mom, with some collaboration from Malaya. It's a "shadowbox" they tell me, the craft project-impaired man. The concept is that
women people buy a box that's a few inches deep and covered by a glass front, and then they fill it up with scrapbook type stuff and other decorative elements. In this case mom put one together that could be entitled "Flux, as of June 2005." It's got pictures of me, Malaya, Dusty and Jinx, me doing Kali, and lists of my favorite authors, my favorite things/people, and more. You get the idea.
It's got quite a nice design as well, with silver and black the predominant theme, and there are even some little kali sticks inside, along with books, cool picture frames around tiny images that could represent characters from my ongoing fantasy novel. Take a look, and yes it's small so you can't read it, and yes I pixeled out Malaya's face and a few other bits of personal info that I don't want online.
It's certainly not anything I would have ever asked for or thought of, but I like it now that it's here and it's taken up a position of prominence on the shelf immediately above our TV. Here's to hoping the cats manage not to knock it down in a shattering disaster within the first week.
As for the birthday lunch/dinner... urf. I had one fried egg on toast for breakfast at around 1pm, we ate from like 6 til 7, it's 2am now, and I'm still full. We're eating a couple of small peaches now, but that's mostly just to chew on something sweet before bed, since our mouths are bored from doing nothing for the past half day. Nothing at Todai was great (Malaya might disagree when discussing their
saba), but everything was pretty good and as it's a buffet, there was a lot of it. My meal was free, a $23 dollar value, and that's a decent birthday present right there.
You'd think they would discontinue that birthday free meal thing, as many people use it, (When they seat you they ask if there are any birthdays, and I heard at least half a dozen from the maybe fifteen tables near us while we were eating.) but since most people there go in parties of 4 or more, and there's since never more than one birthday per group, I guess they make up for it in quantity. Free or not, Todai is an amazing value just for the sushi. Most restaurants you're paying $5 or so for two pieces, much more for expensive fish or in an expensive restaurant, and at Todai they've got 20 different types of sushi and it's all included. Just eat eight pieces and a few bites of dessert and you've broken even, and needless to say, but no one there just eats eight bites. Hell, most people eat $22.95 worth of just the giant crab legs, it seems like, much less the sushi.
More on the birthday stuff tomorrow, assuming I survive the festivities, and then the Kali class in the evening. Also, thanks to everyone who posted their birthday wishes. It's almost like you guys care, or something?
