Springtime birthdays

Spring is finally in the air as a long winter that made Narnia look downright tropical takes a backseat to warmer days. May is also a popular month for birthdays, it seems, as we had a number of them last night at Great Adventures batting around a piñata for Cinco de Mayo.

I had quite a bit of fun with friends in Lincoln and Omaha over the weekend. On Friday, I went with Vivian to have gizzards for the first time at Popeye's on Dodge. I wasn't quite sure what to make of them, but they were quite good with honey (and very sticky). At JNO, we had a special jam circle for the graduating class of 2008, so I got a chance to take with a few of the lady seniors in our circle.

Saturday, Vivian and I took a look at a few more apartments. For some reason, the apartments just south of Omaha in the suburb of La Vista all seem to be much nicer and much less expensive that the older apartment in midtown Omaha. We both really like Applewood Pointe, though I was also quite taken by Thomasville. They had some great amenites, including an heated indoor pool and a huge gym, but little things like the large collection of Beer bottles strewn about the property (and some telling reviews online) led me to believe I was in the middle of college party central.

After our apartment hunting, Vivian and I dropped by the Spaghetti Works in the Old Market to say "happy birthday" to our friend Robin. A bunch of our mutual friends showed up, and we got to stuff ourselves with pasta, salad, and birthday cake while snapping random pictures of each other.

To work off our carbohydrate binge, we took a nice long walk around Heartland of America park after lunch. Spring was definitely in the air, and we passed by a couple birds who were on the nest. A large male swan (a "cob," I've since learned) was fiercely guarding his mate (a pen), who was sitting on her nest by a stairway in the park. He was hissing at us when we got near, so we had to tiptoe around him carefully. We stumbled upon a nest of Duck eggs on the other side of the pond was well. Trees all over downtown Omaha were in full blossom as well, turning these formerly overgrown twigs into giant allergy inducing wondered. They filled the air with the sweet smell of springtime.

Back in Lincoln, I got to celebrate a second birthday with my other group of friends from Bible Study. Sarah was celebrating her 24th down at Lee's Chicken in West Lincoln, so I got to eat even more fried chicken with them. (It was good, but I think I'm pretty much done with chicken and all fried foods in general at this point.) Robyn was busy taking pictures with me, and Sarah got to have cake and ice cream with a sparkler in the center to celebrate her turning another year.

On Sunday, I went out again with the bible study gang to Schlotzsky's for some more less-than-healthful sandwiches after church. I spent the rest of the day getting a head-start on packing up things in my apartment for the big move I'll be making before the end of the month. I worked with the windows open, and it felt great to let a little of that fragrant springtime air into my apartment.

(If anybody would like to help with my big move to Omaha, I'm planning on making my exodus on Saturday, May 24. We'll have pizza afterwards for anybody willing to lend a hand.)