Today is my last day of being thirty-five. Tomorrow I’ll be in my late thirties, beginning the steep downward slope to forty, as CW says.

(He says he can make jokes about how “we” are “almost forty” because he is — by only ten months — older than I am; I say I plan to enjoy each and every year between now and then and also that the thirties have turned out to be a wonderful decade, so what’s to say the forties won’t also be fabulous, and also shut up. But I digress.)

It’s a moosehead. No reason.

At any rate, I decided I would take myself shopping for a cute dress to wear out to dinner tomorrow. I found one I really liked that is just dying to be worn with my brown boots and a belt and it was (brace yourself) 70% off, and therefore only $20. Score! Far less than I’d imagined spending. Of course, having just saved myself so much money in my imagination, I had all that hypothetical money burning a hole in my metaphorical pocket (you follow me?) and I needed to spend it.

The store where I bought the dress happens to have a fantastic sale room and I found myself pawing through their stacks of discounted designer jeans and it was that magical confluence of events where jeans I liked were on clearance at a price I was willing to pay and my size was available. That NEVER happens, but it did happen today. I think it was the universe telling me I needed some comfortable, flattering, stretchy, mid-rise skinny jeans to outfit myself for the coming year.

Tomorrow is my actual birthday and another magical confluence of events has …conflued. Yeah, let’s go with “conflued.” I’m, ah, sure that’s right. I’ve graded all the final exams I’ve given thus far, am caught up on paperwork, and don’t have to give another final exam until Friday morning. This means I can stay home tomorrow. I am pretty damned excited to have the day to myself — no reading, prepping, grading, or meetings. CW will be working and then we’re going out in the evening, but I’ll have the quiet house all to myself during the day.

What to do?! I think I will sleep in a bit, make a big breakfast and have coffee with nog in it, watch a little Doctor Who (I need to re-watch some of last season before the Christmas special airs), read a little, and maybe paint my nails. I’ll snuggle with the dog and eat some peppermint candy. Perhaps I’ll go out to do a little holiday shopping. Perhaps not. Perhaps I’ll stay in my pajamas all day. It’s going to be GRAND.