We survived the "squall" yesterday pretty much unscathed. We lost power, and had a small branch come down, but that was it. I took a picture of one of the candles with both cameras: my regular one (above) and my phone's camera, here. Quite a difference, huh? I'm not sure how long the power was out, because we left about an hour into it for John & SIL C's birthday dinner.

For the weekend, I'd pretty much like a do-over. Saturday was really rough, and was basically a wash. Note to self: you really have to eat breakfast,and within an hour of waking, miniumum. Not doing so will make you cranky and moody and unpleasant to be around. And when you do finally eat (about 5 hours after you get up), you'll feel somewhat better, but still be anxious and have a headache.

I did manage to get some matchboxes covered and bundled up. pedal_pushers  suggested I combine the twine I planned to use with buttons, and I think she was exactly right. Another picture (overhead) in my photostream, here.

While I worked on these, I watched some of Buffy, season 6, starting with Once More with Feeling (the musical, if you're not a fan). I still have "Walk through the Fire" stuck in my head.

Totally random observation: when you watched these episodes, did it bother you that of all the people that lived in that house, only Buffy had to go get a job? Willow and Tara lived there, rent-free, and never appeared to pony up for groceries or anything. (Yes, I know -- it's TV, and doesn't have to make sense.) My folks helped out quite a lot when I was in college, but I still had to get a job, even when living at home, even if it was part-time. Tara had been cut off from her family, so they weren't sending her $. Maybe Willow's mom gave her $ for living expenses, so why not contribute that to the bills?


Back to reality. Apologies for the terrible quality, but none of us brought a real camera to dinner. (Bad blogger!)

We've always celebrated birthays in pairs, by going out to dinner as a family, with the birthday people taking turns picking the restaurant. My dad & brother were both born in January, and my mom & I in August. Christie (a June baby) came along, and for years got her own dinner, then I married John - another June baby - and now they share.

This year's dinner didn't really turn out as expected. John wanted to go to a restaurant he liked, and we were all for it, but we picked a location that was very different from the one he'd been to. It was loud and almost impossible to hear anyone at the table, which was one of those stupid circular booths that no one over 21 should have to sit at. Most of us were pleased with the food, though, and the cake was excellent.

Of course, we brought the cake in with us. SIL C, who has a small cake (cookies, cupcakes, etc.) business, made John's cake. (I flaked on doing anything for her (last year I got pie), but she was fine with that -- she's seen enough cakes this week.) It's a one-layer round Rice Crispy treat (John's favorite snack). She made the Superman shield as well. No candles, no singing, just the way John likes it. (None of us like singing when it's done by restaurant staff.)