It's my Birthday...

and continuing with the tradition of the past 5 years, it has truly sucked. Nothing was as bad as last year when we were in Kansas to bury dad. Yeah, that one tops them as the absolute worst birthday ever. But today, well, was just no fun at all. Between my car breaking down (AGAIN!), a fall on my bike that has me downing some pretty good pain killers, deciding to shorten my trip to Moab (that totally sucks) and a whole bunch of other little things that are making this day not so pleasant.

Despite that there were some moments that made the day good. Mom calling me from Hawaii to sing me a happy birthday, my friend Kandel doing the same (with what she called her "not so good voice" - I thought it was great!), everyone at work being so supportive and doing little things to make my day special, and my friend Glenn who has saved me a bunch on money to fix my car.

And then there was this video that a friend sent me - it made me laugh out loud in the midst of everything and I thought I would share it with you. After watching this you'll understand why I want to work at REI - as I read on someone else's blog "is it bad that I think this is perfectly normal?"

Addiction of a Different Kind

I love REI... love, love, love it. There is no other place I would prefer to be than at REI. On bad days I will head on over to the downtown store and just wander through the store, dreaming of the day when I will be able to afford all the equipment I long to buy: the GPS with more bells and whistles than anyone could ever imagine; an internal frame backpack for backpacking; a tent, sleeping bag and all the other goodies for camping; a mountain bike; and the list goes on and on.

Today I was able to get my REI fix and spent an hour looking for the last items on my shopping list for camp. I have spent a pretty penny on all that I need for this trip, everything from trail runners, sandals, swimsuit and other misc stuff. Today was my search for cycling pants. You know the type, the 'so tight you can see everything' type of pants with padding in all the right places. I was told that if I want to be able to walk after my day of riding, then I should get these types of pants.

So today I set out to find these miracle pants and after spending way too much time trying on every pair they had, I found ones that will work. They are comfortable and, well, tight. But hey, I might as well look like everyone else when I'm out there!

The best part of today's shopping spree? All free! Another reason to love REI are those lovely dividends they send out every year. REI members get back 10% of everything you buy during the year. Let's just say that despite wanting to spend even more money in the future, I spent A LOT last year and it certainly did pay off. A pair of cycling pants and cycling gloves for the big price of $0.

Now this is an addiction I can live with.