Today is my birthday. There isn’t a whole lot to say about turning 29, it’s not really a landmark age, it’s just starting to sink in that I’m about thisclose to 30, which isn’t entirely happy. But hey, I’m still officially in my 20’s, at least for the next 364 days. (And I haven’t decided if I’m going to turn 30 next year, or if I’ll just turn 29 again.)

Yesterday, Dave went shopping for my birthday present(s) while I played video games at the house. (I am addicted to Paper Mario.) He called about 10 minutes before he got there, and told me to leave the house because he had to make preparations. So I went to the supermarket to kill half an hour. When I came back, I found that the coffee table in the living room had a balloon tied to each leg, a cake on the table (complete with number candles, which he reversed so it said I was 92 instead of 29), and assorted presents and goodies. Whee! That was so cool, I really wasn’t expecting a big presentation like that at all.

Gift-wise, the boy did good again: I got a Henry Rollins DVD (not the one that was filmed last year in Seattle, this is a different one), a video game, the soundtrack to “Garden State” (happy sigh), a cookbook (which I wanted, it wasn’t some “get in the kitchen and make me dinner” kind of gift), a coffee mug, a teddy bear… oh yeah, and a mountain bike! That was my big surprise gift. Dave hid it so I thought I was done with presents, and I was damn happy with what I had gotten. Then he told me that I should come see something cute that Greta was doing in the laundry room, and when he opened the door, this was waiting for me. How cool is that? I had been talking about getting a bike for a while, because I really enjoyed it when I borrowed Krissy’s roommate’s bike a few months ago. So what do you know, now I have a bike. Now if only it’ll stop raining long enough (and if the temperature would rise about 20 degrees) to allow me a chance to ride it…

The big news for the weekend, which I think I can safely blog about now since our families know: Dave and I are moving in together! Obviously, Test Week went really well, so we had a big talk on Thursday night and decided that this is what we both want. We’re really happy and excited about it. I have to talk to my apartment people tomorrow to find out how soon I can move, since I’ll be breaking my lease. I’m pretty sure this means that I can kiss my deposit good-bye, but it looks like I should save enough money by living with Dave that I’ll make up for it within the next two months. My parents, being the lifelong Southerners that they are, aren’t too thrilled about it. They both think that Dave is great, but they don’t like the idea of us living together before we’re married. I tried explaining that in my generation, living together is a pretty standard phase of courtship, but I don’t think they’re buying it. But they acknowledge the fact that we’re both adults, and they’re glad that I’m happy, so they’re keeping their disapproval to a minimum. Although my mom did say that I shouldn’t tell anyone in the family about it. (Hi, Cat!) Dave’s mom is thrilled for both of us, so at least we have support on that side.

So yeah, it’s been an exceptionally good birthday. I look forward to turning 29 again next year.