October 2, 2011

Last year, to celebrate Elsa’s birthday, we all jumped out of an airplane. This year, we did something a little more grounded. Sunday afternoon, Ruben and I drove to Houston to meet Elsa, Travis, Vann and Liz to celebrate Elsa’s birthday at a place called Pinot’s Palette. This establishment is an informal painting-studio for beginners. Drinking wine (BYOB) is strongly encouraged. We were told wine helps one paint better…and who were we to argue with our instructor. We had a fun time and plenty of laughs.

April 24, 2011

Shortly before Easter, Ruben headed to South Texas to be with his family and I headed to Central Texas to be with mine.  Saturday, I spent most of the day with my parents and my nephews. That evening, Clay showed me his first truck. It’s a “fixer-upper” but the perfect hobby for a teenage boy. Early Easter morning, I accompanied my parents to church to attend their sunrise service.  Afterward the church hosted their traditional pancake breakfast.  For as long as I can remember, my Dad has helped cook the pancakes for this event. That afternoon, the entire family gathered at my parents’ home to eat, visit, and hunt eggs.  It’s a tradition that everyone (adults included) take part in the hunt.  While the kids are challenged to find eggs of a specific color, the “big” kids have to find an egg with their name on it.  Those who hide the eggs try to make the hunt as challenging (and entertaining) as possible. BTW: this year, Easter fell on my birthday. It’s the only time it has (or ever will) during my lifetime.

August 14, 2010

When it comes to having a social life, it’s either “feast or famine.” Following Chris and Matt’s wedding reception, Glenn and I headed to two other events. The first was a birthday party/housewarming for Josiah. We had some great food (Josiah cooked) and enjoyed the company of Josiah’s friends, especially his mother (she’s cool). Following Josiah’s event, we made our way to John and Paul’s house to celebrate their birthdays. Despite showing up so late, there was still plenty of “party” to enjoy.

July 18, 2010

Sunday, Ruben and I accompanied Glenn to Mike’s Birthday party. It was a simple, relaxing, celebration spent sharing laughs and good food with good friends.

April 24, 2010

Last year I turned the big 4-oh, so turning 41 didn’t seem like a big deal. This year I decided not to do anything special for my birthday. The fact that the AC went out on my house and fixing it wasn’t cheap helped me decide not to throw a party. Instead, I spent my birthday doing simple things that I enjoy. I spent the morning with Ruben and the dogs outside and then spent the afternoon running around town with Glenn and doing a little geocaching along the way. Sunday afternoon, my parents came into town and we had a little mini-party with Ruben, Glenn, Liz and Vaan.

I don’t feel 41.

August 30, 2009

By the end of August, Ruben was another year older. We celebrated his birthday with a couple of casual dinners with friends including Mike, Tom, Glenn, and Liz. I bought Ruben an iPhone for his birthday. I love mine and couldn’t resist this opportunity to get him one.

July 31, 2009

Ruben and I joined a group of friends at Padraic and Mark’s home to celebrate Mark’s birthday.  That night, we also celebrated David’s birthday (He’s James’ BF). We had a great time that evening relaxing with friends and enjoying lots of laughs. Oh, Mark, who happens to be from Australia, introduced me to Vegemite. It’s……ahh….different. Every time I hear the word, Vegemite, I think of the 80s band, Men At Work.

Wednesday night, Ruben and I joined a group of friends at Jess and Kevin’s home for a surprise birthday party.  Chris, a fellow 1969 baby hit the big 4-Oh.  His hubby, Brian, did a wondeful job of getting everyone together, and I’m surprised we were able to keep this secret celebration from Chris for so long.  He had no idea until he walked into the trap.

BTW: Chris is a big Disney fan..

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRIS

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Thanks again for letting me share part of my world with you.

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Picking up the Crawfish

April 25, 2009

Saturday morning, Esteban, Glenn, Ruben and I headed to a local supplier to pickup the crawfish for my annual birthday boil.

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Wine and Roses Fest

Eating at the Rose and Wine Fest

We'll have a Barrel of Fun

Our Tour Guide

Wine and Roses

The next thing we did was head to Messina Hof Winery & Resort to attend their Wine and Roses Festival.  We ate some overpriced food, sampled the wine, and enjoyed a tour of the winery.

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stereo image of Ruben at the Wine and Roses Fest

stereo image of the vineyard

stereo images of Esteban at the Wine and Roses Fest

stereo image of grape stompers at the Wine and Roses Fest

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While we were at the fest, I took some stereo photos

Cooking the Corn and Taters

Cooking Crawfish

Seeing Double

Seeing Double

When Ruben and Glenn met the breeder in Corsicana, they left with two dogs.  Ruben brought Tucker home and Glenn got Milo.  I knew Glenn wouldn’t be able to resist getting a doggie of his own.  Anyway, Milo and Tucker played in the backyard while I cooked the crawfish and Glenn cooked burgers for those who weren’t in the mood for crawfish or just wanted something more than just mudbugs.

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Tom and Me

Awesome Gift!

The Rails of Texas

Crew photo autographed by Fred W. Haise, Jr.

Gifts!!!

A birthday wouldn’t’ be complete without gifts!  GRIN.  In addition to some really cool iTunes gift cards I got a couple of unique gifts to hang on the wall.  Ruben gave me an autographed print of a stylized Texas map chronicling the history of the railways that connected every part of the Lone Star State, including the railway line (MKT) my great-great-grandfather worked on.

The other cool print was a personally autographed photo of the Apollo XIII crew.  Brian recently met Astronaut, Fred Haise and asked him to sign this photograph for me.  BTW:  When the crew of Apollo XIII were in the middle of their heroic journey back to earth, I was celebrating my first birthday.

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Ready to Eat

Come and Get It

Ahhh, my QT

Mike and me peeling the rest of the crawfish

Crawfish

Everyone enjoyed the mudbugs.  I tried to make “just enough” this year, but once again I cooked too much.  Mike was kind enough to help me peel the remaining crawfish.

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Cake #3

Cake #3

Before the evening ended, we had chocolate!

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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!”

First Cake of the Day

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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Making a Wish

Shyam, the Party Planner

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MMmmm More Cake!

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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Whatever!

Another Wish

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Chris and Brian

Ruben and Me

Rev. Dan and Glenn

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.

Esteban -Score Master

Blacklight Bowling

Glowing Balls

Martin and Esteban

Glenn loads his game card

Blacklight Putt Putt

Blacklight Putt Putt

Dance Dance Trip Trip

Ruben and Esteban Jammin'

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