H.B.T.Y.

Cool things that happened on my birthday:

1. I woke up still full from the sushi binge the night before. Even my coffee was finding it hard to find room;
2. My wife was awake a full hour before she remembered it was my birthday. I have to admit her Diet Coke was a little flat so she had an excuse;
3. My daughter traveled by train from Venice, Italy to Austria for the week. Hey! Whose birthday is this?
   
4. My office gave me a cake and a card at noon which meant I was able to eat my dessert before my lunch which is a very birthday thing to do;
5. I received many three word greetings via Facebook;
6. My brother celebrated my big day by getting a colonoscopy;
7. All but one of the birthday cards I received had chimps on them. I have no idea what that means or what people are trying to tell me but my kids suggested it has something to do with the ears;
8. Both of my sons sent me the same text message: “Happy Birthday, old man.” (Although I doubt there was punctuation or any capital letters in the actual text messages);
9. My youngest son hand wrote me a birthday card with a green marker that I was able to decipher without much help. And it was very sweet (if I can say that about a 17 year old);
10. My family gave me a new grill for my birthday and my oldest son put it together for me. And he let me watch;
11. My wife cooked my favorite meal for all of us tonight: Mexican steak and rice with green chiles and jack cheese. She had to learn how to cook that from my mom before I agreed to marry her;
12. My parents called and sang the traditional birthday song but this year it was peppy and the ending had a nice two-part harmony. If I feel old they must really feel old;
13. We ended the night with razzleberry pie a la mode. I anticipate being full when I wake up tomorrow morning;
14. And just like every year, as I looked at myself in the mirror while brushing my teeth, I promised I would start exercising again. Tomorrow.