It was with some twinging of guilt that I retired last evening around 8:45 p.m. when I saw my younger brother arriving home from wherever he had been drinking. He is unaware, but I have an 8:30 p.m. deadline for him ─ if he shows up after that, then I will not risk his state of inebriation to try and sit up watching television with him via the Android TV Box that I operate.
Besides, I wanted to try and get away early this morning to do some grocery shopping, and sitting up into the midnight hour was unlikely to prove beneficial.
As I anticipated, I was awake enough during the midnight hour to be checking the time, so I rose then to come here to my computer to do some work. I wanted to make a post in my private blog, and I wanted to continue setting up the brand new version of my website MyRetirementDream.com ─ I now have what I deem to be the three essential static pages online.
I still want to create a landing page, but that is going to have to wait until I have a few posts set up.
My brother had retired for the night, so I was clear to emerge from my bedroom and come to my computer.
By the time 4 a.m. arrived, I had flagged considerably, and I knew that I needed to acquire some rest if I wanted to be able to get away afoot to hike the 1¼ or more miles to the store I wished to shop at ─ I wanted to arrive there as reasonably soon after its 7 a.m. opening as I could manage.
Well, I thought that I had set my cellphone's alarm for 5:45 a.m. as I returned to bed. Sleep is never easy for me to bond with, unfortunately. What I derived was fitful. Then there came a point where with a start I realized that it was daylit outside ─ and the time was at least 7:15 a.m.
I hustled up and dressed, and tried to ready myself to go, but by the time I was set to do so, it was already just after 7:30 a.m. The morning was extremely bright, and crows everywhere were already squawking in the new day. As well, there was already a vague, distant roar of traffic.
I couldn't do it. I couldn't bear facing the world ─ it was too late a start. I hadn't even had a cup of black coffee yet.
Defeated, I returned into the house. I would be going nowhere this morning.
The morning was dry, but we were to have a rainy afternoon. Possibly if it was raining in the morning I might have been able to make the trip, but not with a relatively welcoming morning that I knew would draw forth lots of early-morning walkers. I wanted none of them.
I never returned to bed until at least 10:30 a.m., by which time my younger brother had emerged from his bedroom to go downstairs to read the newspaper and drink his morning coffees. He bade me a good morning as he passed by this small room where I keep my computer, immediately next to my bedroom, but he said naught concerning my birthday.
I was to nap reasonably well, and arose anew early into the noon hour. By then, two different people had E-mailed me their birthday wishes. Then just after 1 p.m., my eldest stepson rose for the day, and not too much later he quietly extended me a happy birthday as we both fixed our first caffeinated drinks of the day in the kitchen.
It was not until 1:34 p.m. that my brother finally wished me a happy birthday as I sat here working at my computer. What I did not know was that he was also leaving downstairs a 40-ounce bottle of golden rum, and a birthday card with two $5 'Set for Life' scratch lottery tickets. I only found those after he had left for the afternoon to resume his drinking somewhere ─ an overheard phone conversation suggested to me that he was perhaps going to pick up his girlfriend Bev.
My wife ─ who normally spends her weekends somewhere in Vancouver ─ texted me at 1:50 p.m.:
Happy Birthday, wish you all the best healthy happiness... 💓💓
Will be home around 6-7 will cook delicious dinner for tonight
So I have that to look forward to.
My youngest stepson was the final member of the household to wish me a happy birthday. I even got him to use my cellphone to take this 42-second video clip of me at 2:52 p.m.:
I thought that I would look better than I did. My intention was to post the clip into Facebook in response to a series of birthday wishes that I expected to find there; but after reviewing the clip, I don't have the courage. I don't look at all as well-muscled as I had expected that I would.
I'm actually a little ashamed of my appearance.
Anyway, right now it is 4:37 p.m., and I have a hunch that I won't be going to bed early this evening, and I will probably have a few drinks. Consequently, I think that I will now seek another nap in order to shore me up for whatever is ahead.
I don't expect to have time to say too much more following my nap, but at least I will make a reasonably proper conclusion before closing this post out and publishing it.
Oh, heck! I just got a text from my wife at 4:39 p.m. ─ she wants us to go to the home of a friend of hers. The woman's husband shares the same birth date, although he's maybe 20 years younger than I am, if not even more.
I haven't been to their home in a few years ─ I would need to gear up for it. I don't think I can handle just flying into something like that on a virtual 'spur of the moment'.
So I responded:
I'm not sure about that -- it's been several years now since I was there.
I don't think I'm up to just going without lots of warning time to get myself into the mood for anything like that.
Crap! Well, to be continued....
My wife is actually rather annoyed with her friend, for apparently co-workers of my wife were talking about the party ─ my wife works at a Thai restaurant, and her friend owns the joint.
It seems that the co-workers had all been invited. Yet my wife heard nothing until that phone call quite late this afternoon ─ almost as if she was an afterthought.
But she's going to show up ─ dutifully, I suppose. However, she won't go until maybe 8 p.m. ─ she is busy right now preparing that supper for us all.
Since it is now barely after 7 p.m., I'm going to finish up here for today.
Happy birthday.
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