1. Nobody says "happy birthday" like sally struthers. Yeah, i know that's not really her, but you get the idea. Maybe.
2. My wife is taking me to a really great concert. There was going to be a bunch more to the package, but external forces have collaborated to make sure only the concert part happens. I'm cool with that; i actually have a problem dealing with plan-overload. Less is more, says I.
3. Those external forces can still kiss my ass. But I do my best every single day to focus on what i have, rather than what i do not.
4. You can count on Genny's taste, 'cuz it's brewed in just one place.
5. I'm 38 now. That's not yet "get off my lawn", but i've settled quite nicely into seeing how people need to "shit or get off the pot". It's about time i started gardening or something.
6. I missed Norah Jones on the TV tonight because I had to get on a work call at 11pm. By itself that isn't a terrible thing, but it is a good indicator that i haven't quite yet "made it" in some ways; that i still have a complete dependence upon others for my family's subsistence. That's my job, i guess. It's also an indicator of some kind that, had i not been on that work call, i would have instead just been watching TV by myself.
7. Kind of an early gift, today i got to sit in at my wife's karate club. Now, if you had come to me at age 16 and told me my future wife would be a black belt running her own karate clubs...well, you may as well have said "wonder woman". I know i take it for granted; but today i got to see it all in action--how happy the kids are, how well it runs, and, well, how damn good she is at it. I was thrilled and proud just to be there. Try to top
that with a card or a gift....i have everything i could ever want.
8. I've been overweight for a handful of years now and balding for a bunch more. So "getting older" doesn't faze this guy at all. Without fail, the best thing I have learned so far is learning what is
not worth worrying about.
9. Hobbits
give gifts on their birthdays, rather than receive them. That means instead of remembering dozens of birthdays, you only have to remember your own; and rather than getting a pile of gifts all at once, you get a gift at dozens of times each year. Sounds smarter to me.
10. My earliest birthday memory, i got a fisher-price houseboat. It was hidden in our bathtub. I think i was 3. I've had a lot of birthdays since then. Some have been better than others, to be sure; but i know for certain that with each one, i've moved a little further along and never backwards. I've learned, I've grown, I've persisted. And I like where i'm at, thank you very much.
