April 24, 2009

I knew this day would come when I would reach the age of 40….well, I was hoping I’d reach it.  When it comes to this milestone in life, I think of the comedian, George Carlin and his stand up routine on the subject of aging:

“Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we’re kids? If you’re less than 10 years old, you’re so excited about aging that you think in fractions.

“How old are you?” “I’m four and a half!” You’re never thirty-six and a half. You’re four and a half, going on five! That’s the key.

You get into your teens, now they can’t hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead.

“How old are you?” “I’m gonna be 16!” You could be 13, but hey, you’re gonna be 16! And then the greatest day of your life . . . you become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony . . YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!!

But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There’s no fun now, you’re Just a sour-dumpling. What’s wrong? What’s changed?

You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you’re PUSHING 40. Whoa! Put on the brakes, it’s all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50 and your dreams are gone.

But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn’t think you would!

So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.

You’ve built up so much speed that you HIT 70!”

The Big Day

This year, my birthday fell on a Friday! That morning, I went to work the office with my head held high. I was determined not to be one of those people afraid to be 40.  I’m going to be like Molly Shannon’s character from Saturday Night Live who was proud of her age….”I’m 40 years old and I’m lovin’ it…lovin’ it….lovin’ it!”

Cake #1

At one point that morning, I was called into the studio by one of the students. They tried to surprise me with a cake, but the 40 candles they lit on the cake burned quicker than they had anticipated, but I got there just in time to blow out the layer of burning wax.  LOL It was a great way to start the day, and I have to thank Shyam (Viz student and friend) for being the instigator of this little gathering.

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Cake #2

A couple of hours later, I was summoned to the main department office.  There I was surprised with a second cake.  Two cakes in one day….this rocks!

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Dinner With Friends

When the workday was over, it was time to spend the remainder of my birthday with friends. That evening, a group of us headed to Carino’s for dinner (Glenn, Dan, Brian, Chris, Kyle, Scott, Ruben, me).

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Simple Fun

Since I’m more like 40 going on 14, why not have some kid-like fun. After dinner we headed to a local entertainment complex on highway 6 called Grand Station. While we were there Martin, Robbie, and Esteban joined the group. We had fun acting like a gang of kids.

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