Yesterday I received an email with a link to our company newsletter. The email included a call for stories:
“You are welcome to send your comments, news, personal and business travel experiences, and newborn children to name@emailaddress.com“
Happy Birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday dear me-e, happy birthday to me.
Thank you to everyone who sent me a virtual gift for my birthday. I got some lovely, wonderful things, which I will show you right now.
First, my most favoritist gift I received was from my sister. Just a day before I received it I mentioned to Matte that I hoped someone would (virtually) give it to me. And Suzie did. She gave me this:
Jasper. My little man. If I could have anything make-believe, it would be to have him back. (sniff)
You guys have some amazing imaginations, and apparently wallets full of fake money to shower me with some lovely gifties. Those are the best kind of friends to have! It’s a good thing I am not Buddhist, because otherwise I would have had to turn down all of these possessions. Oh, and while we’re pretending, let’s pretend that I am a size 4 and have big(ger) boobs and perfect hair. OK. Now the party can start.
keep reading Catheroo’s Not-Quite-Yet-40th Birthday
Y’all have just two more days to shower me with virtual birthday gifts. The deadline is Friday the 24th and I’ll be opening them on Saturday the 25th, my actual birthday. If you want to come to the party, please email me a jpg or a description of the gift you would like to give me. You can sing me a song, or recite poetry and send me a YouTube link, if you’d like. My email address is catheroo (at) gmail (dot) com. If you usually lurk, please be sure to include your blog address. Everyone who comes to my virtual party gets a jaunty party hat, and some linky love. (Wow. I almost typed linky with a ‘k’ and that would have meant a whole different kinda party.)
By the way, I’m super easy to shop for. Especially when it’s a pretend gift, and it’s FREE!
…but tonight on my way home from work, I spotted a guy in a green Volvo pulling out of the gas station with the pump’s nozzle still attached and the hose dragging behind him. I started to follow him so I could tell him that he had unknowingly left Exxon with a souvenir (an expensive one at that, I’m guessing). Actually, I followed him to capture photographic evidence of his intelligence, but he sped off, perhaps trying to disengage the unwanted stowaway.
Seriously. Dude. I know gas prices are high, but even so, you should still be able to afford to pay attention.
By the way, my lovely readers (all three of you) you only have until Friday to send me virtual birthday presents (see item #5 here). Just a friendly reminder, you know. BECAUSE MY BIRTHDAY IS SATURDAY. Please send jpegs or descriptions of extravagant, thoughtful, cheesy, and fabulous gifts you would like to give me. You can send them to me (catheroo) at gmail dot com. Oh, and so far I received one virtual present that might just take the cake.
Ali over at AliThinks has interviewed me. Because Ali is someone I admire as a writer, blogger, and photographer, I figured she’d come up with some good questions for me. And she did. Here’s what she wanted to know:
1) You used to live in Lexington. What brought you here?
I think it was United Airlines. I kid, I kid. What brought me there was a boy man boy. He left San Jose State to finish school in Richmond, KY, where he could graduate sooner. I decided after I graduated in 1992, that it was the perfect time to live somewhere else, having been in California my entire life. I lived in Kentucky for just over two years, where I worked at the University of Kentucky in the Department of Surgery (as an editor, not as a surgeon), and at Michael’s on Nicholasville Road, and I wrapped Christmas gifts at Fayette Mall, and I sold Avon, not all at the same time, but I did have more than 2 jobs at once most of my life in KY. Kentucky is also where I adopted my sweet kitty Jasper, in 1994. I highly recommend Animal Helpers in Versailles (at least I think it was in Versailles) if you’re looking for a feline friend.
2) And why didn’t you staaaaay? (whine)
Well, had I known that you’d show up just over 10 years later, I might have stuck it out. But, I didn’t stay because…the guy and I broke up. *I* broke up (although two years later, his nephew asked, “Why did Uncle John break up with you?”). Things were not going where I wanted to go, and so I came back to California and GAVE UP KENTUCKY WILDCATS BASKETBALL TICKETS. The ex’s sisters begged me to stay and even offered to find me a nice surgeon to date, but I came home, again on United Airlines, but this time with Jasper doped up under the seat in front of me.
3) How did you meet Matte?
Matte and I met at a local Irish pub. I was on a night out with my friend Krissy, and we were planning to meet up with her friend Alyssa. Alyssa brought Matte, and I found out she was doing so, just a couple of hours before my company picnic (Krissy and I worked together, and our company picnic was that afternoon). So, I showed up at the pub, dirty from water balloon toss contests and volleyball, and in walks Matte. Who knew I’d meet my future husband when I looked like such a grub? But Mom always said it would happen when I least expected it! Appropriately, Krissy and Alyssa were the officiants at our wedding.
4) What’s your favorite food? And can you prepare it yourself?
My favorite food of all time is tiramisu. I’m not sure I know how to prepare it because I have never tried. I can dial a mean phone and order it from our favorite Italian restaurant, and if it is on the menu wherever I am, I will order it. I should try to make it some day, huh? Or at least call my pastry chef sister over and watch her whip one up for me.
5) Do you have any big plans for your upcoming birthday?
Actually, I just decided that I will be hosting a virtual birthday party this year! This was not my idea. I stole it from Shephard who stole it from was inspired by Finn. Because everybody loves a party, right? And with this one, the gifts will cost you nothing because they’re virtual. If you’d like to play along, all you need to do is send me an email with a photo of what you would like to give me (the sky’s the limit!), or send an email describing your gift. Or you could write me a poem, or draw me a picture and email that to me. Oooh, or sing me a song and put the video on YouTube! Use your imagination. My email address is catheroo (at) gmail d0t c0m by August 24. I will post all of the gifts on my blog on August 25 (my actual birthday), and link to the gift giver. See? You get something back! (But if you’d rather remain anonymous, your secret is safe with me.)
So there you have it. Thanks for interviewing me, Ali! It was fun to find out what you wanted to know about me.
If you would like to play, leave me a comment asking me to interview you. The specifics are:
1. Leave me a comment saying “Interview me.†Bribery involving cookies is a good idea too.
2. I will email you five questions, so be sure to leave your email address in the little box when you leave a comment. I get to pick the questions, but they won’t involve your jean size, or anything else you wouldn’t want to admit.
3. Update your blog with a post containing your answers to my questions.
4. Include this here explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.
And so on, and so on. FUN, yes?!?
