Belated Birthday Blogging

Well, my birfday fell on a weekend this year, and when I went into work on Monday, my cubicle was all bedecked in streamers and balloons, and a small Spongebob cardboard stand-up. Of course, it was our own Mary Rose who did the honors!

I called her extension to thank her, and she said "By the way, stop back here on your break. I have juicy gossip!" So I'm all excited and going back to get the dish, and all the other CA's are there. We're shooting the shit when I hear this little Happy Birthday melody wafting from Mary Rose's cubicle. I check it out and there's a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting with the singing candle, and Chocolate Mocha Ice Cream! Yum! We all pig out, and to this day, the ice cream is still in the fridge at work. I have a little every so often when I'm craving chocolate, even though it's 9 billion degrees below zero around these parts.

Thanks, Mary Rose!

Ice Cream and Soldiers.

Well! Friday night Kelly took me to Applebee's for a little pre-birthday dinner and beer. We've befriended the cute little gay-boy bartender, Matt. While we were there I saw two soldiers and asked Matt about them. One was a friend of his, and they'd just gotten home from Iraq THAT DAY! So Kelly and I bought 'em a beer and told Matt to thank them for their service.

Later they came over to thank us, and we got talking to them about how it felt to be home and all that. We completely stayed away from the crap of the war, we just talked to them about generic things related to their service. Anyway, I don't know if you know, but Applebee's will give you a little free ice cream and sing you a silly birthday song. We're talking to the soldiers and I hear this crowd of rhythmic clapping, then a gang of waiters march up to me and sing the silly birthday song, which ironically, is sung to the tune of a military marching cadence called "Sound Off": "I don't know what I've been told/Someone here is getting old/Just how old we will not say/Happy Birthday anyway! Sound Off, Happy. Sound Off, Birthday. Happy Birthday...TO YOU!"

They brought me vanilla ice cream in a frosted mug with hot fudge all over it, and a candle. The soldiers wished me a Happy Birthday, then turned to speak with this little kid who came up with his mother. She said he's been trying to get his nerve up to talk to them for almost an hour. The little boy's father was in Iraq, and he was looking up at these soldiers with such angst in his eyes. While they were talking to the little boy, Kelly looked at their boots and said "That's Iraqi dirt on their boots."