I had a rather quiet birthday. We slept very late, despite being awoken by the phone (must remind my parents not to call before 9 a.m.!), ate, celebrated, etc. By the time we’d showered and dressed, and I’d called my parents back (having missed their second call), it was 3 p.m., and too late to go to Knotts Berry Farm (a local amusement park with lots of droppy rides. I love drops…).

We then went to the new Chinese we’d found (where I went with Grainne and Sarah), and discovered they had an early bird special, which was exactly what we wanted. We then discussed finally getting new cell phones and switching services, but we realised we needed to do more research, so we came home and research commenced (and, annoyingly, continues). We then went out to see “Scooby-Doo 2”, which just seemed appropriate somehow. It was a lot of fun; I loved the cartoon as a child. After that, we were hungry again, so we went to Mimi’s Café and I had almost exactly what I had when I went with Sarah, only I had shrimp in my linguine. It was soooo good, too.

And then we came home, curled up, and watched TV for hours, which was just lovely.

We had decided to go to Knotts today, but yesterday evening I realised that I had an appt to pick up my new license plates in the afternoon, plus another Styx concert was going on sale that I needed to get tickets for. So maybe we’ll go next week…

I got decent Styx tickets (it looks like the pit seats were reserved for folks with season passes, which sucks, but what can you do?) and we went to the DMV. On the way there, I was complaining that my stomach was upset, and I didn’t know why. When we left the DMV, I finally figured it out: I hate the DMV! Although, I have to say, this time it was an almost pleasant experience. I had made an online reservation, so I swept through the first line, and we’d barely sat down before they called my number. I got my new plates and the stickers, and even learned that I can finally get my ex off the registration by bringing in a variety of items and signing some things. (I’d previously been told that I had to mail the car title to Sacramento. Um. No.)

We had the car cleaned inside and out, which made me very happy—it actually felt more like my birthday today, in some ways, with the new plates and the clean car. We grabbed food, ran a few errands, and came home.

I was hit by the need to clean and organise (yes, it’s PME time, which I already knew), so I finally tackled the multiple piles on my desk. Got rid of a lot. (Why, I ask you, did I still have a bag of receipts from our July 2001 motorcycle trip through the Alps?) I don’t necessarily feel more organised, but I feel less cluttered. Mostly.

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I’ve decided that although I want to continue having writing being an every-day goal, it might help me to set aside one or two days a week to be Writing Days. No SCA, no other projects. Keep caught up on e-mail, but otherwise, just write. (And possibly read. I find that when I read, I want to write, and I’m very behind on my reading.)

I’m looking at tomorrow being a Writing Day, although I have some SCA stuff I do need to do. It shouldn’t take long—I’ll try to be good and set aside a block of time to do it, and then focus on the writing. Ken will be gone for part of the day (helping someone with bike repairs) so I’ll have the study to myself.