Amanda Takes Off...

Saturday, Good Man says, "What do you want for your birthday?"

"Good cheese."

He stares at me.

"I'm serious. I have all the books I want right now, anything else would have to be special ordered, you don't know what kind of yarn I like, there are no CDs or DVDs I want right now, I don't want jewelry right now. I want good, nice, cheese. Cheese makes me happy." After a brief pause I add, "This is not a trick."

Sunday, Good Man says, "Why don't we meet early and go Costco and give you present of cheese and go back to house and celebrate? Because it's nothing without cheese, right?" Smart Man.

I got to talk to each of my family members on the phone, and all of them were amused. My dad pointed out that if the only thing I was not content with in my life was cheese, then I was having a good life. He's right. (There are things I'm not content with, but Good Man can't fix them.) My brother just giggled and told me it was cool I wanted cheese. My friend Mark has lived abroad, so he especially understood. He said he always craved frosted flakes and ice cold milk.

So Monday for my birthday, I got a Costco membership. We were in Costco and I was so excited. Good towels and mustard and and pasta sauce, dried cherries and dried blueberries, Honey Nut Cheerios and pasta and marshmallows and baked beans ("What's that?" "A key ingredient to a barbecue.") and...cheese...

Ahhh, yummy food.

The rest of the day was spent eating delicious food and watching Simpsons: The Movie and eating decadent slices of cake from the bakery near my house. I squealed when I say a Korean sign in the movie and forced him to sit through the credits to see the Korean illustrators because the Simpsons is inked in Korea. "Look! Look, the whole screen is Korean names!" I said. Sometimes I feel more Korean-pride than Good Man displays.

Very low key. Very nice. Wonderful day.