With birthdays like this, I can't wait to turn 40!

What a way to turn the page on three decades! You guys are awesome and I don't think there's any way I can adequately demonstrate my gratitude for making me feel so loved.

But just to help you remember what an amazing family you are, here are my notes assembled from various photos and blurred memories:

Pre-11/7

• Receive a lot of sugary candy from Debbie via her Mom


• Receive from Aimee and Tom wicked book on traveling and an I Luv Baghandlers baggage tag to call attention to the fact that he might have breakables in his bag.
  

11/7

• Celebrate dinner with Theresa at Orem's Diner. Order the lobster penne with a Bassl; Theresa orders chocolate chip pancakes and grilled cheese.
  

11/8

• Pre-party at the house with Tony, Emyluz, Maneesh, and Ruairi on caviar, fois, and an assortment of exotic sausages washed down with craaaaazy good Scotch (Highland Park, 30 year of course). Receive really really good wine from the Epicureans; recieve book of puns from the Irishman.


• Drink like 4 liters of hefeweizen out of a glass boot at Lederhosen in Manhattan w/ the buddies. Virg gives me a carabiner wine/beer bottle opener -- I will never be unable to open my alcohol after a climb! Unable to finish veal schnitzel due to lack of stomach space and lack of sobriety.
  


• Chit-chat at this wicked bar (East Houston?) where we can get table service (and drinks!) without paying $700.
  


• Crash back Le Park Meridian. Wake up to Pablo's alarm at 7:35 am which isn't waking him up. Shut it off. Wake up to Pablo's second alarm for 7:40 am which vibrates non-stop in his hand. Notice that Lukasz is slumped over in a seat.
  

11/9

• Get up at 1 pm to face the bright lights of the outside and head home. Celebrate further at Outback Steak house with the Chengs. (Meal #3, count it!)
  


• Watch Ben toss the Steeler's into the Colt's hands. Boo.
  

11/14

• Fly to the Burgh!! Picked up Lynn and Dustin. Receive first gifts. Calejessence - the Scent of an Ironman T-Shirt!!!! Old school knit Steeler's beanie -- sweet. Penguins knit beanie -- hint #1 flies over my head. Falling Water cookbook -- we discover the breakfast of champions: like 20 Jimmy Dean sausages in a puff pastry bowl. All celebrated with Mom's chocolate chip brownie cake, which Lynn of course cut.
  

11/15

• Miss breakfast at Eaton Park due to slow morning routine, but pile into the car to visit Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Waters masterpiece in the Pittsburgh backcountry. Convince ourselves that car ports are for people with enough money to pay someone else to scrape the ice off the windshield. Lynn prevents Ed and Dustin from falling off the cantilevers.
  


• South Side for food. Dustin sniffs out only The Perfect parking space. Thwarted at Fat Head, only to find an even better hole in the wall at La Fontina's. I fall in love with deep fried zucchini boards. I order only Left Hand brewery beer until they no longer have any different brews. Dustin mentions that the Pens are playing Buffalo -- hint #2 wooshes past my head.
  


• Drive over to the Stadium to watch the game "at a bar near the rink." Hint #3 fails yet again to penetrate my lemming aura as Lynn and Theresa say they need to use the bathroom "at the rink".
  


• Dustin hands me my ticket to Pittsburgh-Buffalo and gives me my Penguin hat. My first hockey game -- awesome! Pens win the game for my birthday and score on a power play which wins the entire crowd free Big Macs with our ticket stubs.




11/16



• Dress warmly. Check eachother for accidental wearing of non-Steeler's colors. Dustin lends Ed #43 - Troy Polamalu.
  
• Load the truck. Strap the chair to the top. Throw the food in the back. Roll over to the grocery to get the fried chicken. Fill the cooler with ice, making sure that the IC Lights are all at the bottom.
  


• Car #5 to enter the parking lot at 9:00 am. Setup table. Unfold The Chair. Raid the chicken and Meat Cakes Bitches! In short, lay siege to Heinz Stadium along with all the other fans before storming the stands at 3:00 pm. Right before that, drink lots and lots of Jack Daniel's. Oops.
  


• Watch Steeler's kick Charger beach bum by a whopping 1 point (well, technically 7). Warm self by using centripetal force of Terrible Towel. Drink hot cocoa and soup and beer (basically, anything put in front of me).
  

11/17

• Make Lynn drive us to the airport at 4:45, but not before Dustin reminds her to give us the peanut butter balls.
  


• Rest