Happy 60th Birthday, Dad! Today is June 18.
Cramps are an effective morning alarm. I hadn’t intended to get up at 7:15 a.m., but my body had other ideas. I’d guess this is too much personal information sharing, but for the readers lucky enough to not experience the full barrage of female biology’s painful inconveniences, I am envious. Anyway, whether I liked it or not, I was up bright and early today.
I hadn’t expected to enjoy my early start to the day, but after taking a painkiller, I was grateful to have not slept in. I started my day by watching the most recent episode of The 100. I am not sure how the show’s final season will end, especially because so far the theme seems to be, “The war to end all wars.” This is purely my speculation, but my most recent musing is the show will end with the annihilation of the human race. Despite the uncertainty of the show’s conclusion, it was an excellent way to start my day.
Once I’d woken up a little more, I decided to watch the season finale of Roswell, New Mexico. I know some of the shows I watch are low brow. While I can have a refined pallet, I enjoy general humor, teen dramas and thrilling adventures in my entertainment as well as witty dialogue and clever plants and payoffs. I also respect the show’s progressive nature, which makes up well enough for its plot holes.
A little while after my dad left for his doctor’s allotment (which seemed a terrible way to spend one’s birthday), I made the Oreo pie crust for my dad’s birthday pie. My mom and I had picked up the ingredients for the pie yesterday, and the recipe she found wasn’t hard to follow. I hadn’t, however, realized until I began baking I’d need to make the pie crust by hand. In years past, I’d gotten a pre-made one from the store to save myself the time and trouble of creating one from scratch.
The instructions seemed simple, but as is my way I managed to make the pie crust in the most difficult way possible. I didn’t crush all the cookies in the food processor before adding the melted butter, so I had to transfer the cookie mess to two different bowls and re-pulse it in the food processor. All in all I ended up with cookie crumbs and butter covering my hands, the counter and the floor. The pie crust turned out well in the end, so I was happy to put in the time to make the “infernal pie crust,” as I described it to my mom.
In between the steps of making the pie (thawing the ice cream and putting it in the crust) I began watching a new series on Hulu: Love, Victor. I hadn’t thought the series would stream until Friday, but when I checked I saw an update that the show’s release date has moved so as to respect and honor Juneteenth. The show is set in the same universe as the 2018 film Love, Simon. I had liked the movie, so I was excited to see where the universe went next. I’m certain such a series wouldn’t have been accepted (perhaps even possible) before my lifetime. For all the terrible aspects of the world today — racism, bigotry, prejudice, discrimination, xenophobia — at least there are some places in society and media where acceptance and equality and not only permitted but also encouraged. Perhaps there is still hope for the future.
In the evening, my family and I ordered takeout barbecue from Como Smoke and Fire for my dad’s birthday dinner. We ate on our back porch then spent some time hanging out outside, enjoying the lovely summer weather. While my parents participated in a birthday Zoom for my dad with some of our family friends, my brother and I watched Veronica Mars. As for the “formal” celebration for my dad, we ate slices of the jamoca almond fudge pie then gave him his birthday gifts. He seemed happy with my present, a book about survival by Bear Grylls, so I was proud of my selection.
I’d like to wake up early again tomorrow, but I doubt that will happen unless I have cramps again. I’m going to try to exercise at least a little, and I still have several items to mark off my to do list, so I’ll be keeping at least somewhat busy tomorrow. I hope my dad had a happy birthday. Now all I’ve got to do is make sure he has a great Father’s Day.
“If you see beauty in something, don’t wait for others to agree.” ― Sherihan Gamal[TS_VCSC_Lightbox_Gallery content_images=”331373,331374,331375,331376,331378,331379″ content_images_size=”full” content_images_titledata=”caption” content_title=”A glimpse into Bailey Stover’s 93rd day of social distancing” data_grid_preloader=”-1″ lightbox_title=”caption” thumbnail_size=”full” lightbox_effect=”simpleSwitch”][/TS_VCSC_Lightbox_Gallery][penci_text_block block_title_align=”style-title-left”]How did you spend your 93rd day of social distancing? Let us know in the comments below.[/penci_text_block]
