Moving On

Well, now that the holiday giving season is over, it’s time to move on to the birthday giving season. Last year I had a Fabulous Party; this year, we’ll be indulging in no such festivities, though, wow, it was so fun I really want to do it again. And I like to think that hosting the party at the Alki Beach House paved the way for our move to West Seattle.

I am thinking of having a Solstice Party because the Solstice Park is so close to my house, we could have a swell BBQ and then bring our ukuleles down to the park and play sunny songs at sundown like a buncha freakin’ hippies. But that’s a ways off yet, and no one is going to buy me solstice prezzies, which is fine, really, just show up with the usual BBQ “something to grill something to share” stuff. That reminds me that maybe I should add that gas grill I’m coveting to the list below.

Hey, you want what you want, right? By no means do I expect to get any of this stuff, but you just got a whole mess of presents, I’m quite sure of it, and if you’re regifting, or even trying to get rid of “x”, we’re not too proud here at the NEV HQ to take your stuff, especially if it comes with a heartfelt “Happy Birthday!”

In ascending order of expense, from reasonable to shocking:

• Smart Wool Socks. Can you have too many? Hell, anything made by SmartWool makes a swell prezzie.
• SteriPen Water Purifying Kit. I’m off to exotic places. Why wreck the trip with a bad belly?
• A Bedside Lamp: Something that stands on the floor would be good. Low wattage, but enough for reading.With a smallish footprint, it has to stand next to the nightstand, you know?
• A Big Wooly Sweater. White. Pullover. My Portuguese fisherman’s sweater is falling apart after many years in service. Hint: I like my sweaters just a little too big.
• Queen Sized Sheets. We got a new bed. Finally. But now, none of our sheets fit. We just need the fitted sheets, not the whole fancy set. Nothing too fussy. You’ve been to my house, you know what kind of colors we like, right?
• A Pass for Bikram Yoga at the Junction. Maybe the 10 class one.
• A few more of those smashing KitchenAid pans. I have a saucier and a casserole – I could use some bigger saucepans, mine are small and worn out (who knew you could wear out a saucepan) and are not this fabulous make, in fact, you should get some for yourself while you’re at it, because they are excellent. Wow! Thank you!
• Electric Lawn Mower: Huh. We have a lawn now. What’s up with that? Ooo, look, they come cordless!
• Carpet for the Basement. That orange and yellow shag has got to go.
• A New Office. Our stuff from the old house just isn’t right in the new house and consequently, my office is a mess. There’s gotta be a better way. Sure, blame the furniture.
• Kanilea Concert Ukulele. With the pick up so I can play it with my amp. Just the four string, thanks. I’m still kind of kicking myself for not buying a new uke in Hawaii. Just a little bit. But they’re damned expensive and I won’t get paid for a good long time, so ukestravaganzes are out.
• Several hours of contract work for insulation and sheet rock. Yeah, this is totally a job we could do ourselves and probably will once we’ve settled in to a more domestic routine, in, say, 2010.
• Range for the Kitchen. I gave up my fancy gas stove when we moved, the one I have now is crap. Yeah, I suppose I could scale down to the 30″, it would save a pile of dough. But then I’ll want a little butcher block capped cart or shelf unit for the 10″ space left over. It probably has to be a custom built little number. The cart, not the range.
• A teeny tiny laptop because you know ours quit in Hawaii and I do love to write while I’m traveling. Wow, they cost a freakin’ fortune! What the hell!?

Did I mention that I don’t expect to get any of this stuff? It’s just that some people (Hi Mom!) are all, “Hey, what do you want for your birthday,” and my response is “Nothing, really, all the stuff I’d really like is big ticket and I’m not gonna ask for that.” See what I mean?

It’s the 4th, by the way. I love getting birthday cards in the mail, too. Or hey, just stop by any time that weekend and say hi. Seeing you is prezzie enough. And no, I’m not just saying that.

[tags]birthday presents[/tags]