The Power Of A Name

I had a wonderful birthday the other day. A sibling gave me a gift early this year and I saved it to open on my birthday. I sat down to breakfast and while I ate, I opened the gift. There were 3 wrapped packages in the bag. One was a vegetarian cookbook - very nice. The second was an orange candle holder with tea candles - also very nice and in my favorite color. Does she know me or what? The third gift was a lightweight clear plastic cyliner with a bright label. At first glance I saw packing material inside. Then I read the label - mealworms. Mealworms to feed the birds. That wasn't packing material, those are worms on my kitchen table. My tummy did a little flip flop. I wrapped that one back up and put it back in the bag and moved it off the table. Wow. I worked on my birthday. Tradition states the birthday person brings a treat to the office. Usually people are sick of chocolate, cookies and sweets after the holidays. I made a double batch of split pea soup. I brought it to work in a crockpot. My grocery store was out of green split peas so I bought yellow split peas. I think I like the yellow ones better. I was going to make a sign so people would know what kind of soup it was. My first sign read, "Yellow Pea Soup." That just didn't sound appealing so I threw that one out and wrote, "Yellow Split Pea Soup." Much better. All the soup was gone by noon. After work my offspring took me out to eat at the Good Earth restaurant. We had a great meal together. The waitress brought a piece of carrot cake higher than the length of my fork. A candle was burning in the top of the cake. I hesitated to bite such a big piece of cake. The kids asked, "What are you waiting for? Us to sing?" "Sure, " I replied, knowing they wouldn't. That must have sounded like a dare to them because they BOTH started singing "Happy Birthday" at full volume. I waved my arms to make them stop. I was very surprised they would draw such attention in a public place. One of the gifts I got was a snuggie. This is a perfect gift for me because I am always cold in my office. Cold air pours in from a vent in the ceiling. I wear a lap blanket 12 months a year. I also use a portable heater off and on. The heater helps but I get too hot and then too cold and then too hot, etc. Today I wore my snuggie and was perfectly comfortable without the heater. A coworker (a guy in his late 20's) came to visit me and was surprised to see the snuggie. He said he heard about them but would never wear them because of the name. I had to ask, "What is wrong with snuggie?" He said a snuggie is when you get your underwear pulled up out your waistband. I told him that was a wedgie and he said in his neighborhood, that was a snuggie, not a wedgie. Another coworker (a woman in her 20's) came by and said the same thing. She would never wear one because that means getting your underwear pulled too tight. I don't have a problem with the name. At one point a stranger came by my office looking for directions. I got up to help them find their way. "Excuse me," I said, "I have to remove my snuggie first." That was a little awkward but feeling cold all day long is awkward too. I'd rather be warm in my snuggie.