While Rudi and I were up in Connecticut this weekend, I snapped a series of pictures of Gramma’s house, which she sold this week. (That’s a topic for a different post.) This one, while not showing much of the house, pretty much sums up the experience for me.

I know that the following poem is about a wheelbarrow and not a wagon, but I still thought it went with the mood of the photo and my mood in general these days:

The Red Wheelbarrow

so much depends
upon

a red wheel
barrow

glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens.

— William Carlos Williams

This is the second in my monthly 007: Snap a Dozen Days posts. You can find the January post here.

Rest assured that I didn’t fall into the Bay last week. I just slept poorly in California and am now making up for it by falling unconscious every time I sit down.

I hope to return to full speed tomorrow with our usual Three Beautiful Things post and then resume regular broadcasts over the weekend.

My brother, Josh, turns 30 (sorry, 10(x3), Mum) today.

Josh is creative and ambitious, the owner of his own business. He grasps ideas firmly in his hands and sculpts them from air until they become firm and tangible. I’m wholly jealous of his follow-through and tenacity.

He is a dog lover and the person of Sampson, a wrinkly year-old Sharpei, who roams the hills outside L.A. with him.

Josh is quick-witted and can turn a phrase like no one else I know. He gets away with saying things you’d tolerate from no one else, merely because he is good-willed about it or funny in an understated way.

We didn’t get along so well when we were kids, but now that we’ve grown older, we can actually spend time together and enjoy it, which is great. Of course, because of this, he did have to move across the country. I try not to take it personally.

Happy birthday, Josh. I hope you and Sampson get a nice ramble in today followed by some fun with friends. Know you’re in my thoughts today and always. I love you.

I’m looking forward to tomorrow, when I celebrate my 33rd birthday. Rudi and I both took the day off, but we won’t object if our respective workplaces call the day because of icy conditions and we get the day off just because.

What are we planning? Ice skating. We were originally contemplating one of the downtown rinks or maybe the C&O Canal, if it’s still cold enough. (Rudi reports that National Park Service employees were measuring the ice on Sunday and had it at 4″ thick then.) But at this rate, we’ll just be able to lace up our skates and head out to Connecticut Avenue.

If the Smithsonians are open, we might head to the Museum of the American Indian, where they’ll be holding a lecture on chocolate, as well as a free tasting. I mean, if someone is handing out free chocolate on my birthday, who am I to refuse it?

We always try to catch a movie on my birthday. This year I’m lobbying for Music and Lyrics, the new Drew Barrymore romantic comedy. Seems appropriate, no?

And there will be some pizza. And some cake. And hot chocolate — with whipped cream and sprinkles. And cake.

If we get stuck indoors for the day, I’m thinking we could always make chocolate chip cookies and knit. Well, okay, Rudi would have to play video games…

And snuggle and watch the snow/ice fall…

Doesn’t that sound like a nice birthday/Valentine’s Day plan?

Rudi and I threw my birthday party tonight. This was the first birthday party I’ve had since we moved down to D.C. four years ago and I definitely think we’ll have to do it again.

For once, we were actually sort of ready when the party start time came around, but our friends gave us a sufficient buffer so we could do things like frost the heart cakes and cupcakes (with lavender-colored buttercream icing) and turn on the party lights.

Rudi cranked the 80s party music early in the afternoon to keep us bopping until the Police kicked off the Grammys in high style.

We’d originally suggested board games when we invited folks over, but I don’t think anyone missed them when we opted not to pull them out in what was otherwise a low-key evening. It just means that we will have to have folks over again in a few weeks for a few rounds of Mille Bourne and Trivial Pursuit.

Rudi’s chili was tasty and the new cake recipe I tried out was quite successful. We had a full house squeezed around the coffee table and insufficient seating, although we seemed to make do.

I came away from the evening with chocolate, wine, a book, a kitschy-cool shell lamp, and the warm fuzzies from spending time with friends.

It was a good night.

I came home Wednesday night after a dinner meeting and a soda with friends to be whalloped by a stomach bug, but I went in to the office this afternoon to take care of a few details, so I must be feeling better finally. Hooray!

Being sick gives one a perspective on daytime tv that one doesn’t normally receive. Folks, it sucks. Let’s see — news, talk shows, judge shows, game shows, and soap operas. Thank goodness for PBS, where even if I hadn’t found BritComs, I would at least have found Sesame Street (even if I would have had to turn it off during “Elmo’s World”).

When I was a kid, being sick meant seeing all sorts of wonderful shows — Green Acres, I Love Lucy, Perry Mason. What ever happened to mindless, but harmless fluff?

I think tonight will be low-key and will involve easy things like introducing solid foods (cinnamon toast, here I come!), stockinette stitch, and vegging in front of the tv.