Yet Another Birthday

Didn't I just have one of these a year ago? I cannot remember what I did last year. I am sure my daughter was involved, and the journals decided, after I spent half an hour trying to get to the right date, that they weren't going to give it up. I do remember that two years ago I almost got in a bar fight on my birthday. That one was quite memorable.

This year, my daughter was working. I figured no problem, since Gary has called me for my birthday every year for 20 years and we have gone out. Ooops. No Gary this year.

I decided I would ask my new neighbor, the other beagle lady, if she wanted to go with me to my daughter's restaurant and have dinner. Since it's in a mall, we could do some shopping, too. She said sure, it sounded like fun.

We went early enough to get a seat at the bar. Immediately, my child had the other bartender make me a tootsie roll martini. Those are immensely yummy. They came with a cherry - as usual, my daughter took the stem and stuck it in her mouth and did what I taught her when she was younger to keep her quiet for a few minutes - tied it into a knot with her tongue. (she's my daughter, Remo, don't go there!)

After that, my friend and I proceeded to try a few other drinks. I remember a melon martini of some kind, and it was incredibly good. There was also a blue velvet martini - my friend really liked those. I had a hot sake, then drank my friend's raspberry sake. She hadn't had sake before and didn't really like drinking dishwater (that is pretty much what it tastes like).

In the meantime, being the way I am, I was chatting with the couple on my left. They were not married, but have been dating about a year. They found it entertaining that it was my birthday and the bartender was my daughter. He had a smart mouth and my daughter kept right up with him, and we were all laughing. His girlfriend decided I need to meet their single friend Bob, and she gave me her card so we could arrange it.

After they left, a nice gay couple were behind my friend and I. They were adorable, of course. The one guy, I think his name was Jim, was whining about having to wait 2 1/2 hours for dinner. I told him that I don't wait. He decided at that point that I was his best friend. I called over the manager, said the guy was a buddy of mine, and they were seated in 5 minutes. I hope they tipped accordingly.

We had a good dinner. We had lettuce wraps, Mongolian beef, veggie fried rice, and sea bass. I think we had dessert. I know I had a birthday candle, but was not allowed to let it burn down and set the fortune cookie on fire. I was forced to blow it out. I made a wish, of course.

I made one mistake. Once I realized that we had 5 minutes to shop, I said a not very kind four-letter word. My daughter, who has never heard me swear, put her hands up to her mouth and opened her eyes very wide. She said she was damaged for life.

So, we decided to leave.

It was a very good birthday :)