One month - Today - I am just thankful

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and I am thankful to be able to share a story about a wonderful day I got to spend with my family, a day I am very thankful for - exactly one month ago today in fact.

I thought a lot about whether I wanted to talk about this one month, what I might say, what I might reflect on. I have been 40 years old for one month today. Would I say or do anything at all?

Well, I've never been good at keeping my mouth shut and I do like to share, so:

To begin, I have the most amazing friends. Upwards of 30 or more showed up at my mini-shindig, celebration at Buffalo Wild Wings the Friday before my birthday, and that many more shared their good wishes with me during the week(s) that followed. It was an incredibly euphoric high that I'm not sure I've yet gotten over. Thank you to again to everybody.

Of course I also have a wonderful family, and we shared a great day on my birthday. Let me tell you about it.

We decided to go to Easton to hang out, do a little window shopping, walk around and use the gift certificate we had for The Cheesecake Factory for my birthday dinner. I don't generally do the "mall scene" anymore as I prefer the reasonable prices of Wal*Mart and The Thrift Store for my shopping needs.

Being a total geek, the first store we headed for at Easton was a no-brainer if ever there was one. The Apple Store called to me, and I spent a 1/2 hour or so wandering around the store checking out the latest and greatest in Macintosh technology.

Despite the fact that the only Mac I still own is about 10 years old, I am still a huge fan. Netter of course knows this, so she spent some time convincing me to buy the iPod she saw me look at more than once - Okay I plugged it in and listened to almost two full songs before leaving to "think about it."

I also stopped into Aeropostale, you know just to look around.

Kailey shopped for jeans.





I bought a sweatshirt with Delaney's approval.




I embarrassed both girls by going into Pink to see what all the fuss was about. Yeah, I get it.

No, not my child.

Then we went to a store called Whetseal, or Wet Seal aka Who the heck thought it was a good idea to sell these kinds of clothes to teenage girls?

Do people really wear these shoes?
Oh, and I propose a new law - teenage girls should wear flats, long skirts, and let's not forget good old fashioned "Granny Panties."

Doesn't a thong create a wedgie by definition? Aren't wedgies supposed to be bad? Who can explain to me why teenage girls have this infatuation with having wedgies?

Whew!

We stopped into a few other stores, grabbed a coffee at Cup O' Joe's, snapped some pictures of this train for my friend Steve then visited Barnes and Noble, the biggest book store I've ever seen.

We finally made it to Cheesecake Factory absolutely exhausted and famished.






We ate as much as we could, and took home more than one doggie bag.

We finished up with a ride home rockin' out to my fav album. It was a great day!

What a lucky guy I am!

Most of you know I did finally buy the iPod, a red Nano. After so many years of listening to talk radio I was amazed at the emotion I felt as each song played in my ears. So many vivid memories, another part of myself I had lost. Who knew?!?

It certainly has been a year of discovery. That's for sure.

Where to next?

I have to admit I don't know. The uncertain economy has all of us a little on edge, some more than others. I know I am looking at our Christmas budget, and 2009 numbers and probably inciting a little bit of panic at my house.

Sorry ladies, it's just how Daddy gets sometimes.

Still, as I've written before there is so much I still feel I'm gonna, or at least wanna do, so many places I wanna go, so many things I know my family would like, things I would like for my family. (No, I'm not just talking about stuff or things.)

I hope that my family knows this, but I have to admit to the reader that I put it in print today so that all of my ladies are sure to know I am aware.

Sometimes, as I'm sure many do, I just feel strapped in by the financial day to day.

Here's hoping that while today, tomorrow, and every day we all take the time to be thankful for that which we have, we might continue to be able to move forward, and enjoy what the future may hold.

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