Thirty One
Another birthday, another year come and gone. It's amazing how much quicker time seems to go by the older you get. I find it difficult to believe that a year has gone by already since I hit my third decade. I can only attribute that to a rather busy and, at times, hectic life. Not to say that being busy isn't good. It is. The only downside is that it seems to make time go by quicker. Oh well.
The birthday yesterday was a good one. I made it my gift to myself to not be an über spaz at work and just shifted things into low gear for the day. That was pleasant. Sadly, John worked all day, so I didn't get to spend time with him that evening. Instead, I went to my parents and had dinner with the family. My mom, actually heeding my instructions, didn't make a fuss. She got assorted dishes from an Italian specialty shop. It was perfect. My niece made me a Christmas ornament and my sister and brother in law got me a shirt and AJ pancake mix and syrup. Ahh AJ. It's not a birthday without you. My mom and stepdad got me Williams Sonoma peppermint bark, a sweater, a scarf, and then the present that they chipped in on with John - a MacBook Pro. Yay! It's not the current gen, but the line that was replaced in October (Given budget constraints, the options was between either a current gen MacBook or a previous gen MBP. I opted for the MBP - bigger screen). So I can finally retire my almost 5 year old G4 Powerbook. I'm hoping to repurpose it as a media center - we'll see.
So that was the day. A good one indeed, which was the perfect way to end year 30 and begin year 31.
________________
And now, as history dictates - a quick recap of the year in bullets
• Trips - went to San Jose for a tradeshow in January and got to visit David. Always a plus. My first real trip to San Diego for another show in February. Truly a great city and got to meet up with Dan and finally got to meet Brian. A three day trip to Japan in June. Rode on a bullet train, sang Karaoke with Japanese co-workers, ate some weird snail thing, and went bar hopping in Tokyo. Brussels in September with side trips to Bruges and Amsterdam. Got John to Vermont in October so that he can finally understand why I like it there so much.
• Work - Got a raise and a promotion (good), learned that job will probably be relocated to CA at some point in the future (bad). Tried to find a new job, but realized that with the economy in the current state, there really isn't anything else out there, so here I stay.
• Summer '08 - Spent lots of time at Asbury beach and boardwalk, something that, growing up, I never could have anticipated. Went to a Counting Crows and Maroon 5 concert, took a 6 hour tubing trip on the Delaware River with a lightning storm as an added bonus. Learned that going to Hurricane Harbor at Six Flags, on the hottest day of the summer is just a BAAAD idea. Had another successful pirate parrrrty / Rob's b-day party which included a river / ocean cruise WITH pirate attack and fireworks display, and then the added benefit of having friends relocate couches from the curb in front of someone else's house to my backyard. Spent time with John's friends from Texas who vacationed with us and learned that Pina Coladas, made with Cruzan Banana Rum are extremely dangerous (yet tasty!)
• Friends - Accidentally sent crude drunken txt messages to an 8 year old girl (one should always make sure that you have your friend's correct phone number before drunk txt-ing) while at Keith's 30th bday bash, learned that one is never too old for keg stands and ice luge shots at Carey's 30th, dressed up a broom and gave nerd pickup lines to Shannon at Larry's 30th. Reconnected with tons of old friends via Facebook and learned that there's simply no hiding anymore. Went to Catherine's wedding and had a blast. Learned that my closest co-worker is having twins. Learned that Matt and Beth are having twins. Introduced 'Drunk Tom' to all my friends at Santa Saturday.
I'm sure I'm leaving out tons of things, but I'm sure this is good enough to remind me just what a great time year 30 was. Here's to hoping that 31 will be equally if not more enjoyable.
The birthday yesterday was a good one. I made it my gift to myself to not be an über spaz at work and just shifted things into low gear for the day. That was pleasant. Sadly, John worked all day, so I didn't get to spend time with him that evening. Instead, I went to my parents and had dinner with the family. My mom, actually heeding my instructions, didn't make a fuss. She got assorted dishes from an Italian specialty shop. It was perfect. My niece made me a Christmas ornament and my sister and brother in law got me a shirt and AJ pancake mix and syrup. Ahh AJ. It's not a birthday without you. My mom and stepdad got me Williams Sonoma peppermint bark, a sweater, a scarf, and then the present that they chipped in on with John - a MacBook Pro. Yay! It's not the current gen, but the line that was replaced in October (Given budget constraints, the options was between either a current gen MacBook or a previous gen MBP. I opted for the MBP - bigger screen). So I can finally retire my almost 5 year old G4 Powerbook. I'm hoping to repurpose it as a media center - we'll see.
So that was the day. A good one indeed, which was the perfect way to end year 30 and begin year 31.
________________
And now, as history dictates - a quick recap of the year in bullets
• Trips - went to San Jose for a tradeshow in January and got to visit David. Always a plus. My first real trip to San Diego for another show in February. Truly a great city and got to meet up with Dan and finally got to meet Brian. A three day trip to Japan in June. Rode on a bullet train, sang Karaoke with Japanese co-workers, ate some weird snail thing, and went bar hopping in Tokyo. Brussels in September with side trips to Bruges and Amsterdam. Got John to Vermont in October so that he can finally understand why I like it there so much.
• Work - Got a raise and a promotion (good), learned that job will probably be relocated to CA at some point in the future (bad). Tried to find a new job, but realized that with the economy in the current state, there really isn't anything else out there, so here I stay.
• Summer '08 - Spent lots of time at Asbury beach and boardwalk, something that, growing up, I never could have anticipated. Went to a Counting Crows and Maroon 5 concert, took a 6 hour tubing trip on the Delaware River with a lightning storm as an added bonus. Learned that going to Hurricane Harbor at Six Flags, on the hottest day of the summer is just a BAAAD idea. Had another successful pirate parrrrty / Rob's b-day party which included a river / ocean cruise WITH pirate attack and fireworks display, and then the added benefit of having friends relocate couches from the curb in front of someone else's house to my backyard. Spent time with John's friends from Texas who vacationed with us and learned that Pina Coladas, made with Cruzan Banana Rum are extremely dangerous (yet tasty!)
• Friends - Accidentally sent crude drunken txt messages to an 8 year old girl (one should always make sure that you have your friend's correct phone number before drunk txt-ing) while at Keith's 30th bday bash, learned that one is never too old for keg stands and ice luge shots at Carey's 30th, dressed up a broom and gave nerd pickup lines to Shannon at Larry's 30th. Reconnected with tons of old friends via Facebook and learned that there's simply no hiding anymore. Went to Catherine's wedding and had a blast. Learned that my closest co-worker is having twins. Learned that Matt and Beth are having twins. Introduced 'Drunk Tom' to all my friends at Santa Saturday.
I'm sure I'm leaving out tons of things, but I'm sure this is good enough to remind me just what a great time year 30 was. Here's to hoping that 31 will be equally if not more enjoyable.