Good Things Come To Those Who Wait

I turned 35 yesterday and I must say, I had a lovely birthday. I celebrated with many Lodge members on Saturday. We drank and laughed and had a great time splashing around in Possum Lake (our hot tub). It was so good to see everyone and share a meal together al fresco. On Sunday, we celebrated my birthday with family and last night, my parents threw a cook out in my honor. I am blessed with generous and thoughtful friends and that is the best gift I could have.

An interesting thing happened with regard to the presents I received. I believe my friends and family are concerned about our new Pact to give up paying for movies and a theme developed. The Big E got me the first season of Robot Chicken, which rocks to the max. Madame E got me the coolest CD: Jesus Christ Superstar sans vocals so I can sing along to my hearts desire on my long trek to and from work. My parents got me a $30 gift certificate to Cinemark. So, now, a week into the Pact, we have been the beneficiaries of a movie bounty.

In the spirit of the pact, I am planning to put all these lovely things to use economically. If Doc and I play our cards right, we can use the gift certificate to see 15 movies at the second run Cinemark theater 10 minutes from our house. This should get us a good way through our year of movie abstinence, provided we sneak in snacks. I hope to savor Robot Chicken over the next month or two. And if my spirits dip, I'll pop in the JCSS CD and sing my heart out, much to the dismay of my children.

But back to the hot tub. We had an inspired idea. You see, the hot tub has not only different colored lights under water, but it also has an on-board sound system (Spaudio). Once it got dark, we turned the lights on and hooked up the Ipod to play the sound track of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. We sat their in our sci-fi pool, listened to space music and looked up at the stars. It almost felt like we were on a space ship ourselves! It was grand.

So here's to a new year where we spend our money wisely, save what money we can, enjoy the company of good friends, and cherish what we have.