How I Spent My Birthday

You can tell by the one-slice-of-cake picture that I spent my birthday on my own. Being in the vulnerable age group, I'm still sheltering in place.  You may wonder how many candles there would be if I pictured a whole cake.  I'm not saying except that I'm a year older than I was two days ago.

Here's how I spent the day:
5:30 Woke up, fed the cat, washed hands singing the birthday song, appropriately "Happy Birthday to Me."  Went back to sleep.

7:30.  Woke up again, read the news on my phone.  Oh no, a speech pathologist has violated social distancing.  See the Atlantic: "Secret Lives of Social Distancing." Would I do that?  Sounds very un-speechpatholgistish.

8:00.  Grabbed my breakfast off the door handle.  (All our meals are delivered to our apartments.  No dining room service.)  Found a new kind of orange muffin to enjoy with coffee and scrambled egg.  Threw out the apple juice.

8:20 Cleaned kitchen, remembering to wipe down the counters.

8:30 Retired to my bedroom to read the Houston Chronicle.  Lots of virus news. Did the Jumble.  First three words in about sixty seconds but struggled with the last one: KRBEMA.  Can you figure it out? If you did, how long did it take? Answer at the end of the page.

9:15 My actual birth moment.  Now I was really another year older.

9:20 Read email, wrote details of my day so far so I wouldn't forget them for this blog.

9:30 Unwrapped amazing birthday cake from Milk Bar in New York sent by my kids.  It was so well-wrapped, it took me 20 minutes to open it.  Got some frosting on my finger.  Delicious.

9:45.  Showered and dressed.

10:30 Left (sneaked out) for my birthday outing.  Went to the drive-in window at the bank to deposit my stimulus check.  Not sure why I got one, but I"m not giving it back.  Went to the cleaner to pick up a bedspread that has been there for three months.

11:15 On my way home. Oh no, the train!  How could I forget that a train usually comes by on Saturday mornings about this time? This one moved fast.  I have waited as much as 30 minutes.  Once a train stopped on the tracks and just sat.

11:50 At home again.  Talked to my children and to my cousins.

12:45 Ate a quick lunch

1:00 Downstairs for my Saturday canasta game.  Won today.  Of course I did--it was my birthday.

4:00 Picked up mymail.  Talked to another cousin on FaceTime.  Read some more news on my phone.  Wondered will the virus end before my next birthday?

5:30 Played Mah Jongg online.  Did not win. Watched final episodes of The Americans Season 5.  I am addicted tot this series.  Alas, only one more season to watch.  Will have to find a new series.

7:00 Dinner and delicious birthday cake for dessert.

7:30 Watched the news. More of the same so I fell asleep.  Woke up when Scandalous, the story of the National Enquirer was on.  Fell asleep when it was over.  The end of a wonderful birthday even though we're still locked down.

Answer to the Jumble: KRMEMA=Embark.