YOB: #19. Have a Lord of the Rings Marathon

By Beth

In case previous articles haven't let you in on this very well kept secret, Lara and I are rabid, uh, I mean AVID Lord of the Rings fans. We have each watched the movies several times, and the commentaries and the special features. I will admit that Lara has watched the commentaries and special features more thoroughly than I. It is a situation I am slowly beginning to remedy. Having a LOTR marathon made the list because it was cheap, easy and didn't require too much in the way of special equipment.

We did decide early on that this had to take place at Lara's since we were less likely to be interrupted, even though I like my TV better. I plan on starting a petition to get Lara to buy a flat screen; when we go to Best Buy though, she is always more interested in the refrigerators than the TVs. We don't really see eye to eye on that one.

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YOB: #7. Go To An Ice Hockey Game

By Lara

I have wanted to see a hockey game in person for years. I love hockey. You have to respect a sport where it is totally legal to body slam your opponent into a Plexiglas wall at 50 mph. I am also a fan of cold temperatures and attractive men. So sue me.

I was excited that Beth was willing to go to a hockey game with me. I was thinking we could see a Flyers game since Beth lives just outside of Philadelphia. It turns out that Flyers tickets are expensive... and people buy them quickly. Therefore, we looked into some other options. Hershey Pennsylvania has a minor league hockey team called the Bears. Their tickets were less expensive. I'm glad that I got them early, though. We went to a sold out game.

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YOB: #9. Learn To Belly Dance

By Beth

If anyone who knows either Lara or me is reading this, they are probably having a good laugh already. Neither Lara nor I are known for our grace. We fall down, a lot; bump into things/people, a lot; and generally trip over our own two feet. So the idea of us trying to belly dance is simply laughable.

I don't remember how it got on the list. Perhaps we are gluttons for punishment? We knew ahead of time that the items on the list would be well documented, why would either one of us choose to subject ourselves to that? I guess, in the end, we simply thought it would make US laugh so it would be fun to try. Neither one of us expected to be any good. Apart from a picture I vaguely remember seeing of Lara in a tutu, I don't know that we really can say we had any dance experience going into this. My daughter dances, has since she was 4. She is 13 now and let's just say that she can do things with her body that I could never do!

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YOB: #16. Try To Meet Someone Famous (Part 2)

By Lara

I was rather skeptical about this item on the Year of the Birthday list when Beth suggested it. I knew from the beginning that she wanted the famous person to be Duff from Ace of Cakes. I also knew that I could not afford a cake from their store. I assuaged my skepticism by thinking we would seriously bend the definition of "famous" in order to meet the objective.

I was driving to work two mornings before Beth arrived for the much anticipated "See a Hockey Game" when I heard the local radio host interviewing Mary Alice from Ace of Cakes. They were having a bake sale at the Inner Harbor. It was open to the public. Duff would be there. PERFECT!

I started teasing Beth about a surprise. She absolutely loves Duff, and had no idea what we were going to do. I finally broke down and told her the night before. She was incredibly excited. Did I mention that she loves Duff?

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A Slight Glitch

By Lara

I had planned last week to write this week's article on "Meeting Someone Famous - Lara's Perspective." That was, after all, the next adventure in chronological order. However, the Year of the Birthday has hit a bit of a glitch.

Several weeks ago, I was diagnosed with a kidney stone or several. I was in a lot of pain and vomiting. My illness caused me to miss more work than I would have liked and several planned Year of the Birthday adventures. I was devastated. No one likes being sick or in pain, but I also hate it when I let people down.

Last Wednesday, the pain was so severe that I went to the emergency room. They gave me a CT scan and found a rather large kidney stone is stuck. Saturday I was back in the emergency room. This time, with a broken leg. (That also has something to do with this article being submitted late...)

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