My 43rd Birthday

Here’s a re-cap of today, my 43rd birthday, in no particular order:

This was my first real Facebook birthday, or at least the first with lots of FB friends and it was kinda cool to hear from so many people.  I have to admit it made me feel a little Stuart Smalleyish… i.e. “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and dog-gone it, people like me.”  I also have to admit that since I am a crackberry addict, having my phone beeping all day long was a little distracting!  I wasn’t sure what FB birthday protocol was and whether I should be responding individually to each post, so instead I wrote, and you have to read, this diatribe!

 I drove our bookstore van home last night to haul some scout popcorn, so this morning I had to drive the kids to school in the van.  Madeline got the passenger seat, Jonathan spent the ride either sitting on the wheel well in the back or pretending to be surfing.  Probably not the safest thing to do and luckily we didn’t get a ticket but it all turned out fine.

 I worked all day from around 8:00 – around 6:30, preparing for homecoming weekend this coming Saturday and Sunday.  Hope we have a busy weekend, hope the weather is nice and hope the WMU football team can get a win.

 I found out today that I share a birthday with Gene Autry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Madeline Kahn, Andrew Dice Clay, Bryant Gumbel and a slew of other famous people, some of whom I knew but many others that I have never heard of.  That seems like pretty good and talented company to me – well “Dice” is questionable…

 Apparently I also share a birthday with Patti Conklin who many of you Vicksburgians might know.

I was called “stud muffin”… thanks Kim Piehl.

 I was told I look 22… thanks Kristi!

 I ate McKenzie’s birthday cake that was SO GOOD I felt like throwing up afterward… in a good way! 2 pieces during work hours and just finished the third.

 In reality I am at an age now where people make age jokes when you have a birthday.  Actually I think I’ve been there for awhile.  I was jokingly asked by someone if I felt more mature today, and I said “no I will never be mature.”

 Two people made jokes today about me being 29, not really correlating the “age” with today’s date.  I thought that was kind of weird.

 I felt a little creaky today, probably still remnants of last Monday’s basketball games, but then again I feel creaky most days anymore.

Since my fantasy football team sucks I made my first trade and lo and behold… I still think my team sucks.

I had a flash drive with my scout files on it die today… plugged it in and nothin’, no recognition, no light on, just plain dead.  I’d recommend if you are saving stuff onto USB flash drives that you back them up onto something else.  They are not nearly as faulty as the old disks, but they can fail, and they hold a lot more of your valuable stuff than disks used to.

I got a nice e-mail from my Dad today, he’s not always one to remember birthdays, maybe someone on FB clued him in.  It said this:

“Hard to believe that 43 years ago little Stevie Warner was born.  It was Mom’s choice to have one more child which would be a girl.  OH WELL we decided to keep you even though you had the wrong plumbing.  A very HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!”

 I thought that was cute, and thankfully the plumbing still works ok, most of the time!!

 I missed my Mom today and wondered what she would think having three sons in their 40’s.  She would have been 68 this year.

 My wife posted a “sensitive” birthday wish on my FB wall and then this:

 “Now, the less than gushy wish…Happy Birthday, Dude (insert butt slap here)…you rock! Hope you get some good presents and your wife cooks you a great dinner…and oh yeah, maybe she’ll even get you a beer!”

Yeah, she’s pretty cool and I hope we get to spend many, many more birthdays together… and yes, my Vikes QB Brett Favre would like the ass-slapping part!

When I got home there wasn’t actually much for dinner, so Kim went scavenging into the freezer and found some great stuff that we had bought from a school fund raiser; a chicken dish and a corn casserole dish.  It was really good! So, next time your kid comes home with a fund raiser from school… buy a few things, whether its food, candles, cookie dough… you never know when it might save your ass!

People always ask if you feel older when you have a birthday.  I actually did feel a little older today, maybe for the first time in my life.  I just spent a half hour on the phone with my oldest brother who is 48.  I said, I really feel middle aged now, and it’s just not right.  He agreed.  Maybe this is the year that I finally have to admit I am an adult.  Really I’m not sure what to think about being 43.  So I looked up what other people thought about birthdays.

Here’s a couple of good quotes:

We turn not older with years, but newer every day.– Emily Dickinson

It takes a long time to become young.– Pablo Picasso

May you live all the days of your life.– Jonathan Swift

When I was younger, I could remember anything, whether it happened or not.– Mark Twain

You are only young once, but you can be immature for a lifetime.– John P. Grier

We are always the same age inside.– Gertrude Stein

Inside every older person is a younger person – wondering what the hell happened. – Cora Harvey Armstrong

So I think the general jist is; you’re only as old as you think you are, or live every day like you’re a kid, or we just get wiser with age. 

Thanks to all of you for sending me birthday wishes.  Even to Darrell, you old bastard you!!