Birthday

Friday was my birthday!

The festivities actually started on Thursday, with a phone call from Auntie Peg and Clay singing the birthday song. On Friday, I got emails/IMs/phone calls from Mom & Dad, Tracy, Kelly, Amy, Christopher, Cindy's Mom, Chris, Doug & Tritia & Scott (hope I didn't forget anyone).

Cindy of course made my birthday wonderful. I had asked for dinner at a place with a large selection, and seafood. She took me to Griff's in the Beverly Hilton, which fit the bill to a T. I even got the birthday song sung to me ... "Happy Birthday, NICE MAN...". My presents were three framed pics of us from our wedding (beautiful - they're in my office now), a shower mirror (really wanted this for a long time) and an Oxygenics showerhead that is WONDERFUL.

The holiday weekend was long and relaxing. We saw "Garden State" which I highly recommend if you just want to see a sweet story. We immediately went out and bought the soundtrack. Sunday we had my Bubble Birthday (at the Muratas), where I got to pick dinner (Short ribs, baked beans, corn, salad and rolls), the music (the aforementioned soundtrack), I got a delicious chocolate cake and ice cream, and I got more presents (a Circuit City gift card from Mom/Dad, which I used to get the 20th Century edition of Trivial Pursuit), a beautiful Niagra Falls pen set from Chris/Gordon, an Activision classic games Gameboy cartridge from Doug/Tritia, and a hilarious bawdy squeeze toy from Scott. Cindy surprised me with another gift - a set of pretty coasters, each with a gorgeous pic of her in it!

All in all, 39 was incredibly easy, especially with all the love that surrounded me. Thanks!!!

Recriminations

The thing you don't realize about these Blog things is that they are FOREVER! (ok, they're editable, but that's not really fair, is it?)

Yesterday I posted a comment to B-i-L Doug's Blog (I wish I knew how to link to the comment here - Doug?) and mentioned something about "putting up" with my wife. YIKES! That didn't go over well, let me tell you. I assumed that she is 100% comfortable and confident with my love for her and that she is completely cognizent of the fact that my life didn't really begin until I met her.

Well, I still believe that to be true, but in retrospect, that wasn't really the point. I think she was upset because the posting that went out to the universe (or at least the universe of those who read D's blog) simply saw my first and only (thus far) mention of my wife in a negative light. It was supposed to be funny - in fact, it was crass and uncaring.

I guess the point is - you can never be too sensitive when it comes to the ones you truly love. Callousness and disinterest can be saved for all them OTHER peoples - the ones that pass you on the street without saying "Howdy," or that give dirty looks or give you the middle finger salute when you change lanes in front of them. However, whether in print, or in person, or otherwise, your loved ones deserve every consideration.

I'm sorry honey. "Putting up" with you has been the best thing that ever happened to me.

And so it begins...

My first post.
...
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What to write, what to write...

Should my blog be riveting? Dramatic? Hilarious?

Let's back up - first things first - why blog?

Well, generally, because I think it's a great way to record daily thoughts that maybe I can look back at someday and relive what was going on at the time. Specifically, because my brother in law Doug just sent me his blog address, and I got a big kick out of it. Now I don't think mine will be as interesting and creative as his, I enjoyed it and thought, what the heck?

Let me say that 9/1 is a great day to start. Big events this month. My birthday (39) on 9/3, the 3rd anniversary of meeting my wife (9/10), the first anniversary of proposing to her (9/8) and my good buddy Philly-Phil's birthday (9/19), just to name a few. There are a few more important dates this month (my sister Kelly's anniversary, for example), but I don't know them off the top of my head.

My life in a nutshell:

My wife is Cindy. We've been married about 3 weeks. It's not much different from before we were married, but sometimes weird when I really think about it. She's beautiful, and wonderful, and the perfect complement to me. She's also ... difficult sometimes. In a good way. In an exciting, wonderful and amazing way. She's taught me more about life and people in 3 years than life and people taught me about themselves in 36. I love her. Completely.

We have 3 kitties - Abigail Lucy, Captain Amazing and Hypno-Paws. They are our favorite home accessory.

Cindy's family are among my favorite people. Her parents are so nice and loving to me. Her sister Chris and Chris's husband Gordon are completely sweet to me. Doug and Tritia are like saints. Scott is a rivetingly interesting guy. I see them at least once a week, and that's usually not enough. Also, her grandparents and great aunt/uncle are people I've grown to love in a very short time.

My family are all far away, but I crave seeing them more. My parents are so gushy about how they feel about me. My sister Tracy is wonderfully loving. Her son Harrison is one of the coolest kids I've ever known. I don't know my brother Bill very well, but lately he's been very cool. My sister Kelly is the definition of wonderful and her husband Jim and daughter Melissa are people I could be around every day. I'm mad at my sister Leah right now, because she talks bad about me behind my back. Maybe someday we can work that out. My sister Amy is genuinely sweet and loving and caring. She's going through a tough time right now and I think about her constantly. My little brother is Christopher. We've had ups and downs but I think he hung the moon. He gave the nicest toast at my wedding. He has a terrific family - Lori (wife), Brady and Megan.

I'm currently at work - supposed to be working, so this must be short. I'm an attorney. A Plaintiff's attorney - mostly employment law, also some personal injury, and consumer fraud (my favorite). It's fairly interesting, and pays the bills pretty well. My boss is the coolest boss I've ever had, known, or even heard of. His wife is terrifically nice to me as well. I need to bring a few cases into the firm. I will make a very large bonus some day if I do.

We need to buy a house. We've saved about 3/4ths of the down payment. We need to start looking.

My brother in law and sister in law in law Doug and Tritia gave me a gameboy (advanced sp) for my bachelor party. I want to play it. They gave us a cool Sony stereo receiver for our wedding which I need to set up. We got a lot of cool loot. We need to write thank yous. And get all the photos developed. And the video. And on and on. Lots to do.

I like collecting Heroclix figures. They are very cool. I usually switch hobbies/collections about once every 3 months so we'll see how long this one lasts.

Ok. So now you know the cast of characters. Signing off for now.