Whirlyball birthday

On Saturday, January 5, I turned 31. It's a far cry from turning 30 which caused me to turn my world upside down - quit my job, move to California, fall in love, all that good stuff. Comparatively, 31 feels like a quiet year.

Tessa spent the night and we watched TV, cooked some food, and gave the dog a bath. We were up at midnight when it officially became my 31st.

Sailor gets a bath to be party-ready.

The next morning, Tessa and I started my birthday at the Korean spa to soak in the tubs and steam in the saunas and relax in all the cool rooms (including charcoal; salt; yellow clay; jade; and our favorite, the snow room). Then we picked up some take n' bake pizzas and went home to prepare for my Whirlyball party. I actually did this for my 26th birthday and it was such a hit that I organized it again. Like my 26th, my birthday once again fell on a Saturday, and I called it 31-going-on-13 (totally forgetting I'd called it 26-going-on-13 before).

Action shot

Whirlyball is absurdly expensive but it's probably cheaper than having people meet me at a bar and buy food and drinks, and definitely more fun. Here's a short video - it looks like we're going in slow motion but it doesn't feel quite this slow when you're playing (though some cars were definitely faster than others).

There were 13 of us so we all got a lot of court time. I played on winning and losing teams, and my own play started strong and gradually weakened until by the end I was just tooling around the court in reverse and ramming into people for the fun of it. Days later I'm still sporting several bruises.

After that we headed to my parents' house which is nearby. They were out of town but we didn't exactly throw a rager. The older we get the less we drink! All my siblings were there which was really fun, and Anne made the most delicious cheesecake I've ever had. That is not an exaggeration.

Archer siblings

Incredible mini cheesecakes! The lens
is smudged from something sugary,
apparently.

After pizza and dessert we played some games, and when the crowd thinned I introduced my new favorite party game which is like telephone and pictionary mashed together. I have never not been sore from laughter while playing this game.

Playing Racko on the floor

We played Whirlyball in the afternoon and my party was over at 10, which was perfect timing. Tessa cleaned the house, then we watched some TV and went to bed. I had leftover pizza for breakfast the next day, washed down by cheesecake. Last night I took my mom to the symphony for her Christmas and birthday presents and we had a really nice time carrying on this tradition. And tonight (Friday Jan 11) we'll celebrate my birthday and my mom's birthday (which is tomorrow) with family pictures at my brother's studio followed by a nice dinner out. I feel really lucky to have gotten so much quality family time in on this trip.

So far 31 feels pretty good.