"Jolly Jeepers, Pick Up Sticks! Alex Just Turned Twenty-Six!"

I'm not sure at what age it becomes taboo for a woman to openly proclaim her age, but I turned 26 yesterday. I was talking with a friend at church who turned 26 a few months ago, and he exclaimed in a whisper, "isn't it awful? It's all downhill now!" First of all, dude, you're a man. It's not like you have a clock that's ticking away to the day when all of your eggs shrivel up and die. And secondly, 26 isn't old. It seems that we're in the age where "40 is the new 30," and as always, people in their twenties can still play teenagers on TV. At any rate, I feel that I'm settling into 26 nicely.

Here's a summation of my birthday festivities and such:

On the Sunday evening before my birthday, I had a few friends over for "cake and reverent mingling." The cake (which I made myself) was decent, although the frosting didn't turn out the way I envisioned it. It was more gooey than fluffy, but it was still delicious. "Reverent mingling" turned into a game where I let my guests ask any probing question they wanted to ask and I promised to answer truthfully. Questions ranged from "What is your dream vacation?" (Greece, basically everything that happened in "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants"), to "Do you remember your first kiss?" (No), to "Which guy* would you want holding your hand forever?" (Neil Patrick Harris).

My birthday was on a Monday, and Monday night I went to Max and Dylan's in Charlestown with Laura and Ashley. I ordered the Spinach and Artichoke Macaroni and Cheese and it was yummy. Then we went to Emack and Bolio's for ice cream, where I had something with "Funk" in the title that had chocolate and pretzels and caramel in it. Then we went to FHE where there was a lesson, prayer, activity, and a rainbow cake with purple icing (and nobody else thought that was funny).

As for my "25 things to do before I'm done being 25" list, I was able to knock off a few more things. I hugged all of my people, I stayed up past midnight, I watched "Hocus Pocus," bought some "fun" cereal, and ate cake. I'm still coughing up a storm of lungs, though, so there are still some things to work on.

Presents! My mom sent me dollars, which I'll frivolously spend on my electric bill or groceries or something; Laura got me an ice tray that makes ice cubes in the shape of skulls and crossbones! Sarah gave me chocolate which I'm going to try to not consume all at once (but they're Reese's pumpkins...so it'll be tough); from Kelly I got a scarf and a "hens and chicks" plant (which she says is very difficult to kill); and Doree gave me flowers in pretty fall colors.

All in all, it was a pretty great birthday.



*Whoever wrote this question has some odd handwriting, and so originally I read the question as "Which gay would you want holding your hand forever?" Answer: Neil Patrick Harris.