Whatta Weekend! And Happy Birthday, Mike!

It was a good one.  Lemme tell you.

Cleveland can be fun. 🙂

Friday night, I went downtown (Cleveland) for a friend’s bachelorette party.  We saw a comedy show at Hilarities, ate at Pickwick & Frolic, and then hit Flannery’s, the Mexican place (can’t remember the name) and The Corner Alley.  It was a lot of fun!  I had never really “done” East 4th Street before.

So I got to see two girls from college, made some new friends, and got to go out on the town.  The next morning, I drove to Pennsylvania where Mike and I took a 22 mile bike ride down the Allegheny River, rented some movies (3 Ninjas, baby!) and went out to dinner for Mike’s birthday.

 

Mike’s birthday is TODAY!  Just in case you were wondering.  (I always get a little sad about this because we

can never be together on our birthdays.  My wish for his birthday–and my own–and every other opportunity I have to make a wish is that we can be together every day from now on.)

And on Sunday, we did my favorite thing.  We did the domestic thing.  We washed cars, went to the grocery store, went shopping, cooked dinner, watched television.  It was perfect.  It makes me really think about the trend we started when we started leaving each other for jobs.   We’re meant to be.  Make a wish when you blow out your candles without me, Baby.

Happy Birthday, and I love you!

 

 

Welp, I’m 27.

Yesterday was my 27th birthday.  It is what it is, I suppose.

I hung out with friends on Friday night.  I went to my parents’ house on Saturday and drank wine with Mike and my brother.  We drove around Port Clinton for awhile, grabbed a surprise for my good friends Scott and Michelle down in North Carolina, and lay low.

On Sunday, my parents took us out to eat and then we were back in Brunswick.  On Monday, I got hibachi and sushi at Shinto with my coworkers. 🙂

The highlight:  Mike bought me a tent…which I promptly set up in my living room! I can officially go tent camping!

Thanks to everyone for making it a great birthday. 🙂

 

Grandpa’s 81!

Grandpa Gene is 81!  Whoa.  And if you’re not from Clyde or Fremont, Ohio, you don’t know this, but Grandpa’s birthday is almost a national holiday (ask him, go ahead).  For weeks, he readies himself for this big occasion.  It’s a celebration all around town, at the Drug Mart and the Speedway, at McDonald’s and the Circle K, the VFW and all the places where Grandpa makes his rounds each day.

One of the things I love most about my Grandpa is that he loves Loves LOVES lottery tickets (probably more than he loves his own birthday).  Scratchers.  All the time.  🙂  In fact, when he owned Gene’s Drive-Thru Carry-Out in Clyde (I think I have my post for tomorrow), the slogan on his t-shirts (and for the store in general) was “Play the Lotto with Slotto!”

Didn't believe me, didja?

Grant in his t-shirt.

So Grandpa had an awesome birthday.  And he got a lot of lottery tickets.

Grant, Grandma, Grandpa

Every time Grandpa opened a gift at his birthday party, Grant would say, “More lottery tickets?!”  He did get quite a few lottery tickets.  I can see how a kid would be disappointed with repeat presents.

The other thing I love about Grandpa is his love for all Cleveland teams.  See the Wahoo shirt?  That’s one of hundreds, I’m sure.  And Grandma (isn’t she frickin’ adorable?) is the same way.  She loves watching the Cleveland Indians.

And we all came to celebrate at my parents’ house in Fremont.  Even baby Jax!  Now where are we going to find a tiny Gene’s Drive-Thru shirt for him?

 

The Official Rules of 26

You heard right.  Now that I’m 26, I’m giving myself some rules. Ever since my birthday, I’ve suffered from a severe feeling of inadequacy–like I’m not doing something right, or that I’m going to start doing something wrong.  I need it to quit.  And this is my solution.

Ready?

26th Year Rules (presented as “To Erica, From Erica”)

•  NO getting drunk.  Wine is fine.  A glass of beer now and again, also fine.  But if you drink till you impair your driving, you broke the rule.

•  In the spirit of learning something from Lent, let’s keep the cussing to a minimum.  You’re an adult who might have kids someday soon.  You might want to start taming the potty mouth now.

•  Eat more sushi (leave me alone, you hippies).

•  Go home (parents’ home) more often, for no reason at all.

•  If it’s not raining, and not below freezing, ride your bike to work.

•  Learn to cook something other than casserole.

•  Learn downtown Cleveland, so you don’t freak out every time you go there.

•  Grocery shop more than once every two months.

•  Go out in the rain.

•  Have fresh flowers in the house (this is an adult thing, no?)

•  Go on at least two vacations.

•  Accept that you are not a bean pole.

•  Attend more events that require you to dress up.

•  Smile more.  (I never thought I’d have to tell myself this.)

•  Quit looking so far into the future.  You have no control over it.

•  Continue to preach against sunscreen and anti-bacterial.

•  Maintain an anxiety-free lifestyle.

•  Do more things that scare you.

•  Stop trying to jump the gun.

•  Shoot more guns.

•  Pick a hobby that belongs only to you.

•  Visit friends from college.

•  Quit fretting.

•  Pray more.

•  Find a Catholic church to go to.

•  Put others first.
26 rules for the new 26-year-old.

 

Happy Birthday to Me, RIP to my Life Plan

When I was 18, I had a life plan.  I was going to go to college at Ashland University, meet a man (I knew my high school relationship wouldn’t last), and get married the summer/fall after graduation when I was 22.  By 26, I would have one baby.  By 28, another.  And a farmhouse, an awesome job, and maybe the desire to write still.

Here’s what really happened:

I didn’t find anyone at college that I could have married (some will argue this–it will be discussed another time), and I majored in Creative Writing, which left little to no opportunity in the job market without a Master’s Degree.  My advisor, Joe, looked at me in December and said, “How do you feel about grad school?”

Having no real reason to stick around and suffer the consequences of my choice of major, I said, “Sure.”

“UNCW,” he said.  “Apply.”

And I did.  Because if you know anything about me, I did everything Joe told me to do (let’s not be freaks here).  I respected him as a man, a professor, a writer, and a friend.  So I applied to one graduate school (the best in the country for creative nonfiction – WOOT!) in Wilmington, North Carolina, and I happened to get in.

I’m sure I angered the HELL out of the professors, because I never responded, never accepted, never did anything.  I told myself (not them) that I wouldn’t go there unless I got some financial aid, and a teaching assistantship.  Two days later, I did, and I couldn’t refuse the offer.

So I went, and I spent three years in NC from the ages of 22-25.  I still did not find a man down there…until the end of my second year, when I was 23.  I saw him walking around my neighborhood.  His name was…is Mike.  Mike moved to PA and sent my 24th birthday present in the mail.  He gave me my 25th when I came home from grad school.

A week ago, my mother (whose birthday is 5 days before mine) looked at me and said, “I turned 26, and 5 days later, I had you.”

Today, I turn 26.  I am currently 4 years behind on my life plan.  There is no ring, there are no babies.  But I do have a great job, two degrees, and an incredible man who came to see me a day early, so that for the first time in 2 years, we could be together on my birthday.  I’ll complain every day about not being a little closer to that original life plan, but truth-be-told, I’m thankful that I didn’t meet someone at Ashland, and that Joe said, “Go to UNCW,” and that Mike happened to be walking past me one day.

Let’s see what this year brings.  🙂