another year older...

i was born on september 17, 1976, at 5:22 pm in pascagoula, mississippi. at precisely 6:22 pm today in pittsburgh, pennsylvania, i was on the phone with my father, for whom it was 5:22 in pascagoula, mississippi. he and i have very different memories of that exact moment twenty-nine years ago. for him, it was the birth of his first child. for me, it was, well, come on--i was an infant and i really don't remember a damn thing.

so now i'm officially 29. twenty-nine years old. twenty-nine years young. i guess i've amassed a fair share of experiences and lessons-learned by this point. but i'm under no misconceptions about how much more i have to learn.

went to the phipps this morning with krista and paul to see the butterflies. then endured a heartbreaking afternoon of notre dame football. i really wish we had won, and i really wish that michigan state hadn't been a bunch of assholes after their overtime win, planting their stupid flag in the middle of the field at notre dame stadium. come on, guys, a little sportsmanship, please?! but better to have lost 44-41 in OT than to have lost by complete blowout. of course, it was michigan state... but, you win some, you lose some. so it goes.

my birthday evening was filled with good friends and whiskey sours. i was both honored and impressed with the turnout. many many many thanks to krista, paul, grant, andrew, michael, steph, joshua, chris, greg, oliver, tom, sandy, regina, elizabeth, katy, michael, and george for being a part of my birthday. and thanks to the folks who called with b'day wishes: dad, daniel, caitlin, linda, amy, steve, jeremy, tony, and stean.

the best part of my whole birthday, however, happened whilst krista and i had stepped away from the table to use the loo (no, it's NOT true that girls have to go to the bathroom together). the bar in bloomfield where we were had a bathroom on the second floor, but the bar area on the second floor wasn't open to the public (it may have been private party space or something, i dunno). so, after krista and i had left the bathroom and before we headed back downstairs to join our friends, we both became aware of the george michael (or perhaps wham? either way, some 80s craptastica) song that was playing and so we burst into spontaneous dance -- not like lame drunk girl dancing; this was silly idiot girls having a good time being silly idiots. and then some guy came up the stairs (krista and i were the only ones on the second floor) and we regained our composure. so, yeah. always the little things.

good birthday for me. i feel pretty lucky to be where i am and to have the people i have in my life. here's to many happy returns!

oh! and i've quit smoking for my birthday. for real this time. this is probably like the fourth or fifth time i've quit, but i'm determined to make this one count. and andrew and grant are quitting, too, which will help a lot. as long as those two don't wuss out on me. because i'm not wussing out. no way. not this time. i'm NOT going to have been a smoker for the entirety of my twenties, so help me, flying spaghetti monster!