I'm not above (or below) putting up a goofy photo of myself, whether it's my birthday or not. This was the last day of my birthday weekend, and that's me after reading the outlandish cards given to me by my strange and wondrous family. Eric took the picture; he gave me a rain check, because he wanted to see my new place and get a feel for what I might need before picking out a birthday present. David, naturally, just dove right in and got me a barbecue grill and charcoal for my new patio. And I didn't even have to unwrap it, because he was at the store getting it when I showed up at his house for dinner tonight. Mom gave me a ticket to see Fantasia 2000 at the IMAX theater in San Francisco, and John and Suzanne got me a ticket to see Gordon Lightfoot at the Luther Burbank Center here in Santa Rosa next week. I mean. Are these great presents or what? Thanks again, all of you.

And then we went out for a nice family dinner at a much higher class restaurant than I deserve, but I enjoyed every minute of it. I'm glad I weighed myself before dinner. At that time, I was down fifteen pounds since my diet started. A few days of packing and lifting and moving should get me down there again, even after the halibut drenched in butter and lemon, plus a brick-sized slab of tiramisu. I didn't plan to have any dessert, until the waiter brought out the dessert tray and slapped it down in the middle of the table. No way I can resist that, no matter how committed I am to my diet.

And now, or at least soon, I will stop talking about my birthday. I do believe it's possible I've worn out the subject.

But first, a few Meta Notes: Thanks for the good wishes from Saundra, Jason, Jane, Sasha, Nancy, and anyone else who might have taken note of my birthday, even if I haven't seen it yet. It's awesome how many people I've come to know, in one way or another, since I started my online journal. You won't read any carping about the journaling community on my pages!

And now, back to Topic A. I'm in possession of keys and a signed agreement, so I guess not moving is out of the question. I took the family by the new place for their inspection tour this evening, and everyone seemed to agree that I was going to be happier there than I've been here lately. More personal space, good. Quiet country setting, good. Big kitchen with lots of counter space, very good. Back yard, however overgrown at the moment, good. I'm now more excited than ever to move, but I have two weeks before the official day. In the meantime, I'll be dragging my crap over there, one load at a time, and getting a feel for how I want the place to look when I do live there.

When I was there earlier in the day signing the agreement, I was again taken with how enthusiastic the owners seemed to be to have me there, and how much they were enjoying putting it in shape for me to start moving in. And if they have a good feeling about me, as they said, I have a good feeling about them as well. I'm the kind of person who tends to give trust freely, until I'm proven wrong, so it wasn't hard to like these two guys. I think they genuinely want to do right by their tenants, and I assured them that they'd be satisfied. Since we're on a month-to-month basis, without a long-term lease, it's good for both parties to feel this way.

I've also met part of the family who will be my neighbors, in the other half of the duplex. Bert is a truck driver who's currently on disability leave. He's a congenial fellow who gave me no reason to think we wouldn't get along. I haven't met his wife yet, but they have two boys who waved and said hello when I was wandering around the property this afternoon. They're middle school age. The older one was washing the car today, and his younger brother was harassing him about it. As you can imagine, the kid with the hose in his hand had the last word in that little confrontation.