Dennis the Constitutional Peasant

                              King Arthur: "Old woman!"

                              Dennis: "Man!"

                              King Arthur: "Oh, sorry. Old man!"

                              Dennis: "I'm 37!"

                              King Arthur: "What?"

                              Dennis: "I'm 37, I'm not old!"

You guessed it: today I am 37. And although Dennis would disagree, I feel a bit old. I used to love my birthdays. That's probably because Anthony and I used to celebrate them at Disneyland. For the past two years, though, we've had other things (Katie) going on. It's a 6 hour drive or 1 hour flight to L.A., and neither of us feel up to doing either with Katie. Not to mention the park itself - 12+ hours of walking in the sun, carrying or strolling or walking with Katie, trying to keep her from getting trampled? I don't think so!  So birthdays these days are decidedly more low-key than they used to be.

One memorable summer, my birthday happened to coincide with an unofficial celebration at Disneyland: Bats Day in the Fun Park. It's basically a big Goth convention. Although it's not officially sanctioned by Disney, there's not a whole lot they can do about it if hundreds of Goths decide to show up on the same day. They were everywhere, wearing capes, parasols, corsets, knee-high lace-up boots, outrageous hair, piercings, and black, black, black from head to toe! It was awesome. However, they didn't really think it through: August is one of Anaheim's hottest months. It was in the 90's. Makes me kind of faint just thinking about it.

Another memorable visit was my 33rd birthday. Through sheer luck, my uncle happens to work with a guy who knows someone who's a member at Club 33, Disneyland's exclusive and posh "secret" club. It's not really a secret, I guess, but not many people know it's there. The entrance is right next to the Blue Bayou restaurant, and for years we wondered about the mysterious door with the discreet doorbell next to it. There is a 10-year waiting list to become a member, not to mention something like a $100,000 yearly membership fee, so to be able to go as a guest was an incredible opportunity. The food wasn't bad, either! But the real treat was being up on the balconies in New Orleans Square, where we'd never been before. So cool!

So this year, I'm feeling pretty apathetic about the big day. Maybe it's also because I'm now officially in my "late 30's." My thirties have been pretty spectacular so far, so I'm not thrilled about them being nearly over. But hey, they say 40 is the new 30, so that's good news.

Hopefully we'll be rested and energetic enough to take Katie to Disneyland soon!

33 at Club 33!