A-quarter-of-the-century-minus-one

Hmmm, Andy, there's no ring to it.. maybe it's growing on me.

I went to the aquarium on Friday with work folks. I could watch jellyfish all day. We walked over to watch the seals after lunch. They all looked so relaxed, happy and fat sun-bathing on the beach. There were a couple of baby seals. One looked very thin and sick. I felt sad and worried. Watching the seals sleeping on the beach made me feel sleepy. I took a long nap after I came home.

I pretty much bombed the test on Saturday. I felt confident about 50% of my answers. And that's a generous estimation. This is not some I'm-just-saying-this-to-be-prepared-for-the-worst-news-knowing-that-I -didn't-really-do-that-badly thing. I have never felt so defeated after a test.

After the test, Andrea, her mom, my mom and I went to a Lebanese restaurant. Andrea bought me beautiful small cala lilies with purple tips because she knows that I like small things. Cala lilies are my favorite. The food was amazing and my mom is surprisingly quite funny. I like listening to her speak English because her English is actually pretty decent. She just gets insecure, but once she gets going, I can see her confidence rising. My mom's a great storyteller. I like watching my mom interact with Terri, Andrea's mom.

It was a pretty anti-climactic birthday. I had plans of preparing and trying out new dishes and what-not for a get-together, but I canceled. Perhaps next year. I was a bit cranky the whole day because of the test and I still didn't physically feel well. I think the sickness has finally left my body. This makes everything look a little brighter. I appreciate being able to hear, not having to blow my nose constantly and not having a headache. It sounds silly, but I always feel a bit different after I get over a cold or flu like I experienced something big in my life. I feel that I become a different person when I'm sick: I whine more, I'm more prone to depression, I cry easily. It's nice to be over that.

This year, I look forward to:
- visiting the zoo whenever I want to see the hippos, zebras, pandas and koalas
- being challenged
- growing in love and kindness
- peace
- lessons to be learned
- joy.