Lazy fun days

I think I have hit upon a life lesson. Planning doesn't make a good day; Good friends make a good day. Or the best day ever.
It's not that I didn't put any planning whatsoever into the day. It's just that I think the relationships I have been building with others made the greatest impact on the greatness of the day.

Several weeks ago, my roommate decided that it would be cool to go on a free boat tour of the Port of Houston. We agreed we would go in celebration of my birthday, so I made the invitation list.

Regrettably, I neglected to remember that I had friends outside of Facebook (who has those, right?), so those that were not my Facebook friends were not invited. My apologies.

We scheduled the tour for the evening, to allow for sufficiently deliciously cool temperatures, and to allow me to play Ultimate Frisbee in the morning. Other than that, I had no plans for my birthday. And truth be told, I can't even claim the boat tour as my idea. So all I organized was Ultimate Frisbee.

The day of my birth came. My roommate, after realizing that I do actually wake up when her alarm goes off, told me to STAY IN BED, and then brought a variety of breakfast tacos from Taco Cabana, including a mystery one which I thoughtfully put on her plate. Or rather, on her bed, since it was breakfast-in-bed day.

We went off to Ultimate Frisbee, which I really love since it seems to be the only sport I am good at. It was a blast, with several creative, possibly illegal plays, which involved a) handing the frisbee off while walking down the field, and b) guarding with our bodies the other team's bowling pin goal from being knocked over.

Melissa then treated me AGAIN and took me to Fadi's, which is a most delectable restaurant of the Mediterranean variety

I then spent the afternoon relaxing on my balcony, testing out my new hammock that my parents' sent me for the occasion.

It passed the test.




Then the moment of the boat came. I soon discovered that my friends had stowed some surprises in their pockets.

 We became pirates. One of the crew looked momentarily concerned, but we behaved decently.

One of my friends had an inside connection to the boat, so we got to explore a bit, getting better views of the shoreline, and a more distant view of the brown water.

As we filed back down narrow stairs, I got a completely unexpected surprise: my fellow travelers, of the Vietnamese Boy Scout variety, greeted me with pirate eyes and noisemakers, and sang happy birthday to me, as the captain announced that I was turning older in an official manner.

Those kids were amazing. Incredibly enthusiastic on their tuneless instruments. We wondered what the parents would think of us in providing these sources of entertainment which will end up being a source of headache for them.

My group of friends then decided that dinner was in order, so we went to a seafood place with Asian decor and Hispanic background music.

And I tried an octupus. Mostly its charm is in its size, not its flavor, and definitely not its texture.

Then they helped me christen my newly set-up balcony by dousing it and me in silly string. Also completely unexpected.

Welcome to the world, balcony. May it treat you well.

So yes, I have great friends.

Although maybe that original platitude at the beginning actually means that it's great when other people do the work.