double bonus

When I got home from work, Charles the doorman made fun of me because I had yet another package. I talked to Aunt Becky earlier in the day and she indicated that she had sent me a birthday present, so when I saw the Crate and Barrel box, I thought it was from her. But no -- it turns out that when I suggested to my parents that they could get me a panini grill or a French press coffee maker, they decided to get me both! Yay! Thanks parents! I should have known it was from them, since Aunt B tends to go in more for gifts like the lovely Hello Kitty calculator that graces my desk (and which I actually used last week) -- but it's exciting to know that I still have another present in the mail. I also got a birthday card from my grandmother, but I saved it so that I have something to open tomorrow.

In other birthday-related news, my team surprised me today. Heather and Pete (the two managers who report to me and with whom I went out last weekend) brought a donkey-shaped pinata to today's team meeting. I may have astonished the team with my level of aggression because, when confronted with the issue of having no stick with which to beat the pinata and no string with which to hoist it up, I used a pen to stab it open. Then, when I got back to my desk, I discovered that they had absolutely destroyed it with streamers and ribbons, so I couldn't sit down or dock my computer. And, they got me a lovely birthday card with a horse magnet (you can see they're as weird as I am, which is why we're working well together), so I was quite happy.

I really am like a small child when it comes to my birthday. So far, I have yet to hit a birthday with which I am not delighted -- I may not be thrilled that I'm 27, which is one step closer to death, but I am at least happy about the day itself. I suppose I should say that September 11, 2001, was not delightful -- but I was delighted about my birthday up until the moment when I saw the news coverage.

Anyway, I'm taking tomorrow and Friday off, and I made a list of what I want to accomplish this weekend. It's really quite a bit, but I love being overly ambitious. Topping the list are a) finish the second draft of the novel, b) get a pedicure and maybe a facial, c) reorganize my closet so that the other half of it is usable, and d) do the ten loads of laundry that have piled up. Most of this laundry is either towels/bedding that I don't have an incentive to do often because I have so much backup, or wintery/dressy clothes that remained packed up because I haven't had a need for them yet. But fall is around the corner, and I need to wash the stuff that has been sitting in suitcases and get a massive amount of dry cleaning done so that I can look like a promising young professional rather than a slovenly hag.

I'm obviously not going to be productive the whole weekend, though. Even though I want to spend a lot of time on the book, I also want to see friends, and so I organized a small birthday dinner for tomorrow night, which should be fun. I'm also debating checking out the Ming exhibit at the Asian Museum of Art. But in general, the book is the main focus -- twenty-seven isn't bad if it's the start of a career in writing, as opposed to yet another small step in the long slog toward corporate retirement.