I would normally post a whole bunch of blogs in a row to catch up but for the sake of actually getting it done, I am going to post several topics in each blog (grouped by the appropriate category…)
So it was my birthday a month ago… almost to the day… I organized a bowling/dinner event and shared the day with two very close friends of mine who are fellow Aquarians and were born very close to when I was.
Everyone met at the bowling alley (lanes were rented by the hour) and the four lanes were filled with people bowling. Now I don’t know how I always end up in this situation and you think I would/should have learned by now but we pre-paid for the lanes at $35/hour (2 hours and 4 lanes) which was well over $200 for the day. That included shoe rental. Well somehow we ended up eating about half the cost because people who RSVP’d as a yes and even got their shoe rental didn’t “feel like” bowling. Then, they left to hit the casino (half way through the event) So as a result, I spent the first half of my birthday evening frustrated and feeling annoyed that I allowed myself to be put in that situation.
The evening ended up being better… even though we had issues with food service. We got reservations for 20 people at the Brewsters in the Foothills Industrial Park. I like Brewsters a lot and even though I had spent the entire week leading up to my birthday sick and absent from work, I was excited to go. I was the designated driver since my antibiotics prevented me from drinking but I think that worked out for the best!
Dinner was great. I was able to spend time with everyone that was there and made the rounds trying to talk to everyone. As much as I enjoyed it though, in light of the overall situation, I decided that next year, my birthday will be very different…
So as I mentioned, I spent the beginning part of February very sick. I am well over it now and feeling great but I still need to get my mind back into the swing of things at home. When I am sick, I tend to not feeling like doing anything and as a result, NOTHING gets done.. It sucks!
On a positive note, Neil urged me to start working on a project that I have been wanting to do.. another paper mosaic. I will post the pics of past projects later on.
Even though I haven’t worked on it in a week or so (I am also taking several classes through Mount Royal University – see future post about that) I am excited about getting it done.
I am also trying to work up my motivation to get my website built. It is terrible, I feel like a 6 year old child when it comes to this but I really just want it done.. no hassles, no fuss… I just want to wake up one morning and see this really pretty, useful and complete website. Is that too much to ask??
I’ve also become really interested in puzzles! While I was in England, Neil’s sister had a Gordian Knot. It was a really fun puzzle. I managed to take it apart without help but couldn’t get it back together without the help of YouTube. 
Now, I own a new Rubiks Cube (vintage style), a Rubik’s 360, Perplexus and 4 Cast puzzles (Nut Case, Laby, The Ring II and NEWS). I have also improved my collection of board games. Yes it seems like I have regressed in age but I am learning that I really enjoy them and really, life is too short to not do what you love to do. I admit though, I use the Internet when I get frustrated. YouTube is my friend! 
Anyway.. I got to thinking about how I occasionally see someone I recognize.. I started to think about the categories of the people I pass by… there are those I: - have never met
- have met but don’t remember/recognize
- recognize but can’t remember by name
- recognize & remember by name but don’t care to talk to and finally,
- those I would consider a friend or acquaintance I know well enough to stop in the middle of the stream of people to say hi.