Happy Birthday to Me!

[queerbychoice]

Today is my birthday! I turned 32. Still ten years to go before I become the answer to life, the universe, and everything like Susan is, but at least I'm back to being an even ten years behind her now.

We went to my parents' house, where my mother had made me a heart-shaped birthday cake that Susan took one look at and informed me that I'm spoiled. I said yes, I am, but I can't possibly be any more spoiled than Susan's dogs are. I am spoiled enough, though. These are the books I received for my birthday:

• Flight by Sherman Alexie (from my father)


• The Tent by Margaret Atwood (from my father)


• Dancing Girls by Margaret Atwood (from my mother)


• Wildflowers of the Sierra Nevada and Central Valley by Laird R. Blackwell (from Susan)


• Three Trapped Tigers by G. Cabrera Infante (from my mother)


• Tom Jones by Henry Fielding (from my mother)


• Standard Operating Procedure by Philip Gourevitch and Errol Morris (from Susan)


• Aloft by Chang-rae Lee (from my mother)


• Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham (from my brother)


• The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford (from Susan)


• Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford (from Susan)


• Sierra Nevada Tree Identifier by Jim Paruk (from Susan)


• The Friendly Young Ladies by Mary Renault (from my mother)


• Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See (from my father)


• One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch by Alexander Solzhenitsyn (from my mother)


• A Boy of Good Breeding by Miriam Toews (from Susan)


• A Sierra Nevada Flora by Norman F. Weeden (from Susan)

I also received the CD/DVD sets of Accelerate by R.E.M. and The Glass Spider Tour by David Bowie (both from my mother) and a pair of purple slippers (from Susan). And a card from my parents that says, "Daughter, didn't want to embarrass you by bragging about you to other people, so this year, not a word to anyone . . . Really - it's just between us . . . However, here's a modest little poster for you to take to work!" Then the card opens up to form an 18" x 18" poster that says, "Happy birthday to a wonderful daughter and a terrific human being!" The card caused Susan to declare me spoiled again, which really just means that she envies me (rightfully).

My cat did not give me anything at all, and still seems to feel she has the right to squeak at me demandingly. But this is probably fair revenge against me for the fact that Susan is currently foster-parenting a hamster from summer school and I failed to bring this hamster home to Stardust and offer it to her as a cat toy.

In less birthday-related news, Susan and I had a great camping trip from Thursday through Friday at Bowman Lake. There was a huge creek full of whitewater rapids flowing directly through our campsite, and we took Susan's inflatable raft out on the lake. I will post photographs soon.