My birthday x2

Yesterday was my birthday and so was today, as is my customary practice. What's the point of dealing with the problems of having been born in one hemisphere and living in the other if every once in awhile I don’t use that to my advantage?

Interestingly, I often run across people who assume I mean a Northern v. Southern Hemisphere thing, but I don’t: I mean Western v. Eastern. I was born in the USA’s Central timezone and now live in the first timezone the other side of the International Dateline. Put another way, I was born in one day, and I now live a day earlier. Yes, that often confuses me, too.

So, yesterday was my “first” birthday—the date of my birth. Nigel gave me a Kindle Paperwhite. He gave me my first Kindle for my birthday back in 2012, though it seems longer. I loved my original Kindle, but there was a problem: It was really only usable in bright light. That low-contrast screen had become a problem, and meant I could only use it in the daytime (and then, only in bright daylight) or with a lamp, neither of which were always convenient. So, I didn't use it very much.

The Paperwhite has a much higher-contrast screen—more like a real book, actually—and a built in light. This makes it much better for me. I have a lot of books waiting to be read (most of them were free), and now I may actually be able to do so.

Nigel recognised there were issues with my Kindle, and fixed them for me. Have I mentioned recently that I have the best husband in the world?

That evening we went for dinner at Sal’s Pizza in Takapuna (photo above). We got a half-pepperoni/half cheese pizza and some mozzarella sticks. Yummy as always. Pizza—specifically, American-style pizza—is one of my mostest favouritest foods, and I think part of the reason is the warm familiarity of it: I grew up eating it. Sal’s does “New York style pizza”, and it’s quite authentic. We’ve been there a couple times with American expat friends when they’re visiting from Wellington. Sal’s also stocks Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, which recently entered the New Zealand market.

A downside to yesterday was that I couldn’t enjoy a birthday wine—I was too full of pizza, and too thirsty for water once I got home. I had a very small glass to celebrate, but that was it.

Yesterday was also a very productive blogging day, mostly because I decided to just do stuff I enjoyed. Today I recorded a new AmeriNZ Podcast episode, but otherwise had a more normal day, though I still kept a leisurely pace and relaxed day.

And that’s the end of my 48-hour birthday extravaganza for this year. A normal weekend lies ahead, and a normal week after that (the full new schedule finally resumes on TV One on Monday, including the Midday news).

It was a good birthday this year. In fact, they pretty much always have been.

The obligatory birthday selfie.