Inner Peace Is For Losers

Rick and I had a lovely birthday celebration yesterday. Yes, by happy coincidence, my husband and I were both born on August 24. Us, and Steve Guttenberg.

We went out to breakfast at Mabel's. This restaurant is a very popular breakfast spot, but we found that getting there early makes all the difference. We just about had the place to ourselves. (It tends to get crowded when churches let out.) It lived up to billing. The scrambled eggs were fluffy, the hash browns crisp, toast made from homemade bread was delicious.

Noonish we went shopping, daughter in tow. I deeply appreciated her patience. She did get a Mindless Self Indulgence t-shirt out of the deal, though, so it wasn't entirely a sacrifice on her part. (Artwork by the Invader Zim guy.)

Rick and I are headed to Dragon*Con this weekend, and I've found that late August is an excellent time to shop for warm-weather clothes. I got some great deals on some very nice stuff, and so did Rick. Discounts make me feel good, and deep discounts make me all tingly.

Then we headed downtown for lunch, had some excellent sandwiches and gourmet coffee at Morsels, where son Neil whips up lattes and mochas to die for. They do the best coffee in TC. Everybody says so. Neil also brought out some of the bakery treats the place is named for, as a birthday present.

Back at home, we had popcorn and a movie. "Be Kind Rewind" which was funny and surprisingly touching. It stars Jack Black (also born in August), Mos Def, and Danny Glover. Excellent performances. Melonie Diaz was cute and charming. After the movie, the kids got busy looking up "Sweded" on YouTube.

Try it. It's addictive.

Then there were presents.

I went downtown today and had a latte made by the best barrista in town.

My son.

Just happened to have my camera with me. The other customers in the store thought it odd that this funny lady was taking pictures of the kid behind the counter, but Misha explained that I'm the mom.

So here he is, doing his stuff.

Awesome day for a walk. Akiah concurred. She's somewhat less fussy than I am, though. Ten below is a fine day for a walk to her.

That may be a bit of an exaggeration.

Spring is here, rather suddenly. It went from cold to 70 in a day. Green stuff is starting to grow. Iris and grape hyacinth are sprouting in my little garden. It's a pretty nice time of year after a long winter. Not that winter is bad, as long as I don't have to drive in it.

I've been dealing with a fibro flare this week, but it's eased now. I finally have some energy and mood's improved. So I went to the gym this morning, then headed downtown. There's a new coffee/bakery place called Morsels. They make fancy coffees and teas, and they have these little bakery items they call morsels. Each is roughly two bites, so you can try one or try 'em all. My personal favorite is a buttery, almondy, topped with raspberry, bit of shortbread heaven. I like that they're small, because if I got a big one I'd eat the whole thing and feel bad about it. Next time I'll probably try the brownie one, or devil's food, or maybe carrot cake.

And my son works there. He makes a tasty latte.