Happy Birthday To Me

Yes, Ms J, t'was my birthday yesterday. I'm now 31. Err, 41. 45? Sigh ... Ok then, 48. And that's my final offer.

I had a lovely day yesterday. Meagan made me a homemade birthday card and taped it to the computer monitor. That was delightful to see first thing in the morning! She washed all the dishes after each meal - "It's the least I can do, Dad. Just don't expect it every day." She's come to spend the week with me.

One of the women with whom I sit on my afternoon train (her name is Tammy) offered to bring dinner here and cook for me on my birthday. Tammy's really cute, but of course, married. Her husband's name is Adam and Adam can build anything. He's just one of those lucky men who seems to excel at construction/renovation type projects. He is, by trade, an electrician. He offered to help with the deck.

"Me and Adam will help you build your deck, Dale, and I'll cook dinner for us. That will be your birthday present. OK?"

I was, and am, astounded at their generous offer. Of course, I accepted. And so they came, Adam and Tammy, and we worked together on the deck. The phone rang at least a dozen times while we worked and each time it was someone offering birthday wishes. It was nice, but intrusive. Friends are always good, though, aren't they?

Tammy worked right along with us men. She can swing a hammer or saw a board as well as I can, Ms J, probably better. And she cooked us some steak and shrimp on the barbecue. I'd never had shrimp done that way before. It was delicious! I've heard "shrimp on the barbie" is a popular summer treat Down Under. Those Aussies know what's good, don't they?

Meagan fetched the camera and snapped a few pictures.


Mugging for the camera

We worked again after dinner until it was too dark to see and my friends left around 10:00. I was so tired and so sore, Ms J, I felt as though I'd run a marathon.

"We'll be back tomorrow evening, Dale," they said. "We should be able to nearly finish it then."


And this is how it looks this morning.

Environment Canada is predicting temperatures in the low 30's today, and with the high humidity, it will feel more like 38C. I called Tammy at work this morning and suggested we wait until tomorrow to resume work on the deck.

"No problem," she said. "Adam has to work in that heat all day. I'm sure he'll be happy just to come home afterward. We'll see you on Wednesday."

Besides, Ms J, there's an audition I want to attend up in Caledon tonight. The play is called "Tribute". I hope I get the lead role.

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