You're welcome (for me being born)

Papa Schmidt's B-Day card from the Super 8 Motel

You should probably ask me again in two years, but as for right now...I enjoy getting older. It's like your own personal New Year's Day. If I weren't so afraid of getting blown up by fireworks, I'd go around throwing firecrackers at passer-bys from my balcony. I think that most people also enjoy getting older, even if they don't admit it. They might not like the physical aspects (wrinkles, the odd and curiously long gray hair growing out of the side of your face, slower hangover recovery times) ... but I wouldn't trade who I am now to be the jerk/idiot/asshole/naive/idiot that I was 10 years ago. And really, I wasn't even that big of a jerk/asshole back in the day (at least to anyone that didn't have it coming). I was and am pretty dumb, but (the way I see it) every day I'm a little bit smarter than the day before. So, that's a good thing right? And after a year, I'm a whole year smarter (or "wiser", if you will) than the year before. It's kind of like how in 3rd grade I totally didn't understand the concept of long division...but in the 4th grade it was cake. Ok, now I have to do "air math" -- but hey, I'm a visual learner...and that's something that I've embraced.

So, here's to another year of me. May it be a good one. And although I can't even plan my life past June this year (which, by the way, is why I haven't sent out a birthday party invitation) -- I know I have a lot of things going for me. I'm (at least for now) still employed, I have THE BEST group of friends that anyone could ever have, I live in a great part of town in a nice apartment with THE BEST roommate ever and I'm in a relationship that has everything that I ever wanted in a relationship.

Yea me! Indeed.