Tag: Dursin

Back(b)log: Happy Birthday to Me

My friend Brom called me up saying he wanted to get together with our buddy Dursin and go out to dinner sometime. We made plans to meet up the day before my birthday. I showed up just before they did, and I did a double take to see Frank and Dream getting out of the car with them. I admit it, I was surprised. They had planned a birthday get together for me, and I hadn’t expected it at all.

We had a fun dinner, and afterwards, Brom mentioned that Junction 18 was playing a show at Drifters. Junction 18 is the younger band that used to practice across the street from Brom’s band when we were in high school. I’d never heard of the place, but it was right around the corner from my house, so we headed on over. It was interesting to be one day away from 29 in a room full of high school kids. There’s some strange sort of angst nostalgia feeling I can’t quite describe. Drifters was a nice clean place, the sort of place I would have liked at that age. Anyway, the guys from Junction 18 rocked, and they even dedicated a song (Battle Ax) to me for my birthday.

I’m not sure what the next year of my life will bring, but my friends made sure it started out with a bang. Thanks guys!

I Had a Great Birthday!

This year had to be one of my all time greatest birthdays. It started simply enough. I woke up in a hotel room next to my wife, with my daughter sleeping nearby in the hotel crib. We rose early, ate free breakfast and hit the hotel pool. I love to swim. I can not remeber a time in my life when I could not swim, and I really don’t get to do it very often. It still makes me feel like I’m four years old without a care in the world. Playing in the pool with my daughter is even more fun that just swimming around. She smiles, says silly things, and tries not to get too wet.

After that we went back to our room, showered and got ready to head on out for the day’s activities. Then my cell phone rang. It was my friend, Brom. I have to be honest, my first thought was "What’s wrong with his website.".

I answered it anyway. "Hello."

"Hey man, how’s it going?"

"Ok…"

"Can you hold on a minute, actually."

"Yeah."

The next thing I knew I heard singing. It wasn’t just Brom (who is quite an excellent singer when he wants to be), but also my good friend Dursin. They sang the traditional birthday song, and it was quite amazing. It’s great to have two such wonderful friends in the world. I’ve known Dursin since we were 5 and Brom since we were 10 or 11. Thank you both so much.

After that, the family and I headed off to the Third Annual National Buffalo Wing Festival. We ate a lot of chicken, and had an all around great time. If you like Buffalo Chicken, and you can get there, I recommend it.

Then we went to the Walden Galleria Mall, wandered around amongst masses of shoppers (it was "Tax Free" week) and Rachel had her first McDonalds cheeseburger. She asked for a cheeseburger out of the blue, so I bought a couple. We each had one, and we ate them together. Rachel then terrorized people by pushing her own stroller around. I good time was had by us.

Returning to the room after a long day I had "Happy Birthday" emails from my Mom, my Dad, and my Kung-Fu Instructors (which was a surprise). What could be better? Rachel was too excited to go to bed for quite a while, but that’s ok.

There wasn’t a moment of the day that I wasn’t having a good time (even when the two year old melted down). Thanks to everyone who made it so special.