OH-Ho! You thought I was being truant didn't you?

So now Ben is gone and I am on my own. It was GREAT having him here. You have no idea how hard it was to get him out here. He's been promising to come visit since 1998. Every six months or so, he'd give me a date for his alleged arrival, and then as the date approached and I didn't hear from him, I'd get worried - and sure enough, something would come up or he couldn't get a flight or... whatever. So FINALLY, he made it out here. And I think it was prefect timing too. He really seemed to like it. Ben is success #3. I have now made three friends want to move here. Two of them actually might do it. I'm going to work on friend #4 this weekend. That's right folks, I just called amishboy my friend. And yes, he's coming out here this weekend. I'm having a hard time believing it.

I took Ben to the Conservatory. It was SO lovely. I don't know why I don't spend more time there. I squandered my off-weeks! I could have been lounging about in the Conservatory all day long! It's so nice and warm and wonderful. And free.

We also went to Bainbridge. There's not much to do there when you don't have a car, but it sure is nice to get out of the city sometimes.

Elvis read our fortunes. There's a special Virgo awaiting me across the sea. We may not meet for some time, but when we do, it will change both our lives forever. Elvis said so. He sees love on my horizon too. I'm supposed to look for dolphins and tourquoise.

Last night, Ben and I cooked an Indian dinner extravaganza. Ok, it was really only two dishes, but they were good, and it's one more dish than I usually cook. Doing a two-course meal is very sophisticated for me. We also had fortified hot chocolate. I'm still chipping away at the liquor bottles I bought over the summer. I'm such the anti-lush. RDG came by too! She and Ben seemed to get along splendidly.

So, the birthday problem is still not solved. The Boy is going to be busy on my birthday proper, so I won't even get to see him. It's ok, though. And I told him I don't want to do anything for V-Day. I'm against Valentines on principle. I got suggestions from people I don't know - and didn't know were reading my journal. One of them actually shares my birthday! That is SO rare - I've only met one other person who shared my birthday. I'm definitely leaning towards celebrating it on Valentines Day simply because I've procrastinated too much. Now I'm going to have to figure out what to do on my birthday proper. Perhaps a small dinner with some friends or something. I get home so late now with the new commute, I feel a little guilty making people wait to have dinner at 7 or 8. Alas, the trials and tribulations of a commuter. I think that deep down, maybe I don't want to celebrate at all, which is why I'm dragging my feet when it comes to planning this out. But then, if I don't plan something, I'll be all bummed out that night (esp. since I won't even be able to fall back on some anti-plan with The Boy since he'll be at work). Arrr, matey. I hate birthdays.