Birthday Weekend

As I awoke on my birthday, I looked out the window and saw snow. I had expected this (the forecast had said the night before that there was a 90% chance of snow falling on Friday). I got ready for work. There wasn't much snow on the ground yet, so I didn't need to concern myself with shoveling the drive. I let the pup run around in the back for a while and then headed out to work. I drove slowly and cautiously. The roads weren't the greatest, but I easily made it to work. I walked in the offices and someone asked me if I had any problems getting up the hill. There are actually 2 different hills that one can take to our offices. I took the less steep one and didn't have any problems. A couple people couldn't make it all the way up the hill and either got stuck or had to park at the bottom of the hill (one lady got stuck near Bruegger's Bagels, so bought some bagels there and then got a ride to the offices).

It snowed for several hours. I put Christmas music on (through my computer) for all to enjoy. We then heard an alert that travel was not recommended for Olmsted County. Due to the inclement weather, for the first time in months, I was unable to take a walk outside during my breaks. The snow stopped falling at around 2pm.

My mom had planned to come out to Rochester to take me out for my birthday, but said that, due to the weather, she would have to postpone it until the next day (my dad couldn't come because he works evenings). My friend, Shanon, however, said that he could make it. I decided to leave work a little bit early so that I could get home before sunset. Once at home, I shoveled some of the driveway. There were quite a few others outside shoveling as well though most actually had snow blowers as opposed to doing it the old-fashioned way. Shanon arrived and helped me finish the drive.

Me and Shanon then headed to da Outback (we had called ahead for seating). As we entered the restaurant, Shanon said that he misplaced his cell phone. We looked in the car for it, but it was nowhere to be found. He said that it must have fallen out of his pocket either in our house or in the driveway when he was shoveling. We would look for it after supper.

I got the Outbacker burger while Shanon opted for the Cyclone (some type of pasta meal). While waiting for the food to arrive, I read an article in Newsweek magazine about "Borat". Shanon had agreed to go to it with me that evening. I had seen it twice before, once at a MySpace screening in September and then again in Inver Grove Heights just 5 days prior (I had missed the first few minutes of the movie when I went to it in Inver Grove. I had tickets for a later show, but felt that missing the first couple minutes was better than waiting 50 minutes for the next show to start, especially since I had seen those scenes previously anyhow). After eating and opening my presents (I got the Tori Amos piano box set,



some dress socks, the Chicks CD and a card), we headed back home to look for Shanon's precious cell phone.

Just before we got home, I heard Shanon say, "Please Lord, let me find my phone". We went inside. It wasn't in the house. I then took our home phone and called Shanon's cell number. He went outside by the driveway and said he could hear it. He found it. It was lying on a snow mound right next to the street. We then headed to Cinemagic to see "Borat".



As Borat says a couple times in the movie, "Happy Times!!". I had gotten tickets earlier in the day, so me and Shanon headed straight to the ticket taker and waited for "Borat" to start seating. About 10 minutes later, we got our seats and waited for the magic to begin. The theatre gradually started filling up. By showtime, there weren't too many empty seats left. Shanon didn't know too much about the movie. He had only seen a few funny highlights on HBO. He enjoyed it for the most part. However, when the fight between two naked men started, he averted his eyes a bit (he did this for some scenes during "Brokeback" as well). I can't say I blame him, though. I mean, who really wants to stare at a fat man's testes?

After the show, we headed home. I asked Shanon what he thought of the movie. He said that it was quite funny, but that a couple parts were sickening. A few minutes later, Shanon headed out. I watched Bill Maher and then went to bed. My birthday was over, but there was still more fun to be had on Saturday.