It's my birthday and I'll ....go to work if I don't want to?

Folks, I thought I'd have today off. I mean, normally I would schedule my birthday off but what with lots of vacations and err ... a surgery... this year ..... not much vacation time left. So I grudgingly resigned to the fact that I would work on my birthday. Until yesterday.

Yesterday Portland got blanketed with snow and ice. And when I say "blanketed" ... I mean at least a 1/4 of an inch!! (hey y'all ... shut it!) And that just shuts this here city down. I think because the majority of us are all from Southern California .... ya know, Home of the 362 Days Of Dry Pavement On Which To Drive! But shhhhh, don't tell any Native Oregonians that I'm from SoCal because they tend to get a bit cranky about us being here. What with our driving skills. Or lack thereof. Best just to tell 'em I'm from Canada .... Eh.

So anyway, ice yesterday! And snow! And the city was shut down. Flights were cancelled. Our metro rail system shut down some lines. The busses were all chained up. Schools were listing closures. And all the weather folks were predicting that we would get even MORE ice while we slept. Yep, freezing rain predicted and thus we were supposed to wake up to much worse than we already had.

And since I already had this at my house ............

(hang on, little Dogwood ... hang on!!!)

... I figured there was NO way I'd be coming into work today. At least til the better part of the afternoon.

And so the cats and I stayed up and partied* last night til like 2 a.m. Again, thinking there would be much time to sleep today.

Uh yeah.

All that predicted freezing rain?? .... not one splatter in the Portland Metro area. When will I LEARN people ... when will I learn??

And so here I sit, at work, on my birthday. Which would have been okay had I not had that glimmer of hope yesterday, that little ole ray of sunshine, that I'd have the day to happily putz around the house.

Ah well. At least I have my Starbucks peppermint mocha (mmmmm) and this....

...... to see me through until I head out to meet friends for margaritas and grub at my favorite Mexican restaurant tonight!

And THEN ..... after the margaritas .... comes The Bono!!

That's right, some friends and I are some of the lucky few to have managed to purchase U2 tickets at face value! Whoo hooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So let's recap ..... chocolate cake, peppermint mocha, favorite Mexican restaurant, time with friends, Bono. Hmmmm. Sounds like a pretty good birthday to me! Even if I had to show up at work! :)

And so I leave you with this .... lyrics from one of my favorite Bon Jovi** songs... from me to you ... on this day ... in which I am Just Older.

Hey, man, it's been a while
Do you remember me?
When I hit the streets I was 17
A little wild, a little green
I've been up and down and in between
After all these years
Can you believe I'm still chasing that dream
But I ain't looking over my shoulder

Chorus:
I like the bed I'm sleeping in
It's just like me, it's broken in
It's not old -- just older
Like a favorite pair of torn blue jeans
This skin I'm in it's alright with me
It's not old -- just older

It's good to see your face
You ain't no worse for wear
Breathing that California air
When we took on the world
When we were young and brave
We got secrets that we'll take to the grave
And we're standing here shoulder to shoulder

Chorus:
I like the bed I'm sleeping in
It's just like me, it's broken in
It's not old -- just older
Like a favorite pair of torn blue jeans
This skin I'm in it's alright with me
It's not old -- just older

I'm not old enough to sing the blues
But I wore the holes in the soles of these shoes
You can roll the dice 'til they call your bluff
But you can't win until you're not afraid to lose

Solo

Well, I look in the mirror
I don't hate what I see
There's a few more lines staring back at me
The nights have grown a little colder
Hey man, I gotta run
Now you take care
If you see coach T. Tell him I cut my hair
It's been all these years
Can you believe I'm still chasing dreams
But I ain't looking over my shoulder

Chorus:
I like the bed I'm sleeping in
It's just like me, it's broken in
It's not old -- just older
Like a favorite pair of torn blue jeans
This skin I'm in it's alright with me
It' s not old -- just older

*everyone defines "partying" as knittin', watching movies and reading, right??

** haHA ... bet you thought I'd be quoting some U2 lyrics here, didn't ya?! But no, no, folks ...you're dealing with me ... and hence there is no logic to be seen here, folks. Just move along! ;)