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Friday, January 11, 2013

A Birthday Blog

I meant to write a Christmas blog, but life had other intentions, so I'm making this a birthday blog instead.  Regardless, it is a blog of celebration (and it has an alliteration, now, which automatically makes it better.)  No, not because of Christmas, or New Year's, or even my birthday, really.  It's a blog of celebration because I made it one whole year in Chicago as of last week.





And to think: this time last year, I was sitting by myself in an ice cold town house completely friendless within the city, home from an internship where I blended in with the wallpaper, and microwaving one of those Betty Crocker "Warm Delight" cakes.  Not to mention my housemates and I didn't care for each other all that much, so I was pretty much like



And just look at me now!  …okay, well, I'm not all that impressive if we're being honest.  But life has definitely made vast improvements.  I think.  Y'know, I'm not going to spend too much time thinking about it.  The important thing is that I have my own apartment, two new jobs, and friends.  Yay friends.  Not just the old ones, whom I love more and more every day, but also new friends in the city, who keep me from becoming a shut-in and/or crazy cat lady.  Thank you, Chicago friends.  I love you.

The new jobs?  Well, last year, I worked at a Noble Charter School teaching an after school Shakespeare program.  Thanks to that position, which my teacher-friend Chad got me, I got hired in November to be an on-call substitute teacher for that school system.  I actually had my first day subbing yesterday, watching over a couple of periods of a band class, which was somehow fitting and quite memorable.  The other job is really not entirely new; it's more like extra work at the YMCA.  I'm going to be helping out with the summer camp this year, which will get me a few extra hours and some valuable job experience.  I'm excited about it, and if you've ever given me a chance to go off on my spiel about how wonderful the Y is, you know that I'm glad to be doing more work there.

In other news, I got sick.  Again.  Twice.  First a nasty cold over Christmas, and then the flu when I got home.  Lovely.  Yeah, yeah, I know.  I bought a bottle of multi-vitamins today.

Anyway, I spent Christmas up in Wisconsin with my family, and in spite of being sick, I still managed to play in the snow, attend church on Christmas Eve, and eat altogether more than can possibly be good for me.  Thank you, family.  Ugh I miss the food just thinking about it.

As for New Year's, my brother Dan came down to Chicago with me and spent the next couple of days on my air mattress.  Although he can be a bit of a pain at times (we are siblings, let's be honest), it was really nice to have him here for a short visit, especially since the Air Force is sending him to Anchorage, AK at the end of March.  We spent New Year's Eve at friends Anna and Ben's home, where they threw a little party.  There were party games and noise makers and champagne, all the usual fare, and it was nice.

As for everything else, well, I've had a few…shall we say, "adventures" lately, not all of them especially fun.  But the big story I'll save for when it has a conclusion.  Yes, I know.  How will you survive the suspense?  But I'm nothing if not dramatic.  Can I help it if I enjoy building tension?

Meanwhile, my 23rd birthday is tomorrow, and I've just been berated for the second time in 24 hours for failing to mention the fact to the majority of my friends.  Okay, all of my friends.  But I made myself cupcakes!  They're…fine.  Well, actually they were a bit of a disappointment.  I used a cake mix and it was just so-so.  Also I think I overcooked the first batch by about a minute.  But on the other hand, for possibly the first time ever, I got the consistency of the icing perfect, and was able to frost the cupcakes without tearing them apart or having the icing drip off the edges because it was too runny.  If you don't bake, you don't realize what a remarkable accomplishment that is.  So I'll tell you.  That is a remarkable accomplishment.  Anyway, I bought a box of birthday candles and was going to sing happy birthday to myself, but I realized that I never bought any matches.  Whoops.  However, someone mentioned that I could light one using my stove, and I think I might do that yet.  We'll see.  Because that's how I plan to differentiate between my 23rd birthday and my 22nd birthday.  This year had candles.

Baking while wearing the absolutely smashing apron my Grandparents gave me this year.

Slightly disappointing but exceptionally well frosted birthday cupcakes.

Beautiful birthday card from my parents.
P.S. If you want to send me a present I accept emeralds and pearls, but I think diamonds look tacky on a woman under 40. (Name that film!)

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