a saturday birthday

The year 2004 presented my first birthday while having a single, full-time job. As fate had it, the weather was a beautiful, temperate 74 degrees with nary a cloud in the sky. At least, that's what I remember from my lunch break since I was stuck in a windowless warehouse all day. I vowed from that day forth always to request a vacation day for my birthday.

It has rained every May 19th since. Including today, even though it was on a Saturday.

Normally I would just sleep in and kick back, but that didn't seem special enough for a weekend birthday. I started out at Jim's Coffeehouse in downtown Elyria, which is quickly becoming my place for coffee and a bagel on Saturday mornings. They recently expanded their weekday hours to 5:00 p.m., but I see the website hasn't been updated yet. A cup of coffee is only $1.50 and they offer free refills. They generally have two flavors of coffee (including my favorite, Blue Moon) plus a decaf. They get their beans from Cleveland-area roaster Phoenix Coffee. Good stuff.

Jim's Coffeehouse occupies a very cool space, on the lower level of the Flowers By Sharon store. In proper local coffeehouse style, work by area artists adorns the walls. Jim's has the unfortunate address of 2 Lake Avenue; I say unfortunate because it's on a stretch of road that, in a former life, connected with what is today known as Lake Avenue but has since been chopped off by a police station parking lot. Google Maps and GPS can probably get you there, but heaven help you if you're just looking at building addresses. Just know that it's on the corner of Broad Street and the road that's labeled there as Lake Avenue (not West Avenue). The entrance is along the side of the building.

I then stopped for a quick walk through Cascade Park in a vain attempt to find the new observational bridge. I never did find it, although I didn't walk all the way to the falls since it was starting to rain (see previous note regarding rain on May 19th). I also saw at least five families of ducks near the river.

Then I was off to Dave & Buster's, which opened just as I arrived. I probably shouldn't mention this, but an employee offered to sell me some of his free Power Combo™ cards, so I effectively got $50 worth of chips for $25. And if any Dave & Buster's authorities are reading this, I assure you I later purchased more chips at the kiosk, so don't feel as though you were cheated. What you should feel cheated about is my new favorite game I discovered, Spin 'n' Win, at which I won over 2,000 tickets today. This contributed to the approximately 4,000 tickets I earned today, bringing my total winnings over the past four years to over 21,000. I'm still not sure how to spend them. If I ever move out on my own, I may furnish my kitchen entirely with Dave & Buster's merchandise, including a blender, coffeemaker, and drinking glasses.

Speaking of the past four years, it has taken almost that long for me to get enough stamps on my bagel card at Panera, so I decided to get my free dozen bagels today. Then I hopped over to Kohl's to spend an old gift card there. I had lunch at the J.J. BBQ at Midway Mall, then headed home.

Later, I had dinner followed by cake and ice cream with the family. All in all, it was a day well-spent.