Oh, wait--no, I just turned 27. Just kidding. Thanks to everyone for wishing a happy birthday.
Luckily, I got a great birthday gift from Craig, and folks back home sent some awesome care packages! Thanks to the family and to the dynamic duo, Jeremy and Katie. First off, my beautiful new bike! I got the prettiest bike in the world, an orange beach cruiser--I'm in love, and the celebrity around town has already gone to my head.
Jeremy and Katie sent us a bunch of crazy Halloween stuff: fake sideburns, peanuts, Halloween stickers, and of course--candy! We couldn't eat the candy because it had gelatin in it, but I liked the Domo mouth anyway! The earrings I'm wearing are also a birthday present from my flattie. Ain't she sweet?
Craig loves the sideburns; they look perfect with his knock-off Ray-Bans and his...(shudder)...mustache. Oh, yeah, here's an interesting bit: in the States, we shorten mustache to 'stache. In Britain, they call it a 'tache. In Australia, they call it a "mo." And recently, a new thing called Movember has started up. You might have heard of it: guys grow out mustaches to raise fund for men's health. I'm not sure how it works. I don't think Movember is just an Aussie thing, but don't hold me to that.
I figured I might as well do my part for Movember, and I'll throw in Monocle-tober for free!
This year, as Craig and I celebrated my birthday with dinner and a bottle of wine, I thought about the last few Nijaweens. I may have spent my first-ever overseas birthday but I sorely missed enjoying Nijaween with all of you back home. I told an Alfalfa co-worker about how sad and lonely I've been feeling lately; she gave me a zine she made about traveling, called "Homesick, Awaysick." I'll finish out this post with a quote from her--
"I feel like you make me. If I describe myself, I am the sum of my friends, and my lover, and my school, and the book I'm reading, and the plants I grown in our little yard. So who am I when all that's gone, when I'm travelling?...Sometimes I just feel like a fragile shell of all who I am and can be at home."
despite what my actions might lead you to believe, I love and miss you dearly. I'm sorry I let Nijaween get past me. My understanding of skype is that I need a landline? I guess I haven't written/called/acknowlegded your absence because I don't wanna. I wanna come over for Craig's sweet, sweet coffee and to see your latest creation and watch something horribly obnoxious on television. I'm glad I got so much of y'alls stuff when you left so I do kinda feel like you're around. I find myself telling stories about the two of you all the time. "My friends who moved to Australia" has become my version of 'Once Upon A Time..."
ReplyDeleteMy word verification is 'sundandly' As in "I home your birthday went sundandly!"
Oops, I wrote so much that my w.v. changed to 'chintso' As in I miss you both chintsto much!
Now it's modpriff, I know the'rw randomly created by a computer but wouldn't that be a cool job? Coming up with words like modpriff...
ReplyDeleteHey Allen! We've been thinking about you lately--it's good to hear from you. Don't worry about Nijaween; I knew you were there in spirit. At least I didn't pin a pillow to my back again, right?
ReplyDeleteYou don't need a landline for Skype, you need an internet connection. Go check out the website! We need to hear some inappropriate jokes, immediately!
I miss watching the Daily Show and Colbert Report with you so much! Allen, I can't describe how terrible our neighbors here are. One of them even drunkenly called Craig an Australian racial slur!!