Thanks

To all of you who sent me birthday wishes, thanks much.

I didn't do much with my birthday - which is pretty much exactly how I like it.

Here's a summary:

As I mentioned Friday, I've got a cold - though by yesterday it was mostly just at the annoyingly runny nose stage. It would appear that I dodged the symptoms of a major attack, maybe all that crap the Navy pumped me full of is still working to some extent. My wife, however, was not so lucky - she's been miserable since Friday and yesterday she woke up with an ear infection. So we spent most of the first part of my birthday at the doctor's office and the pharmacy. She's feeling much better today though, so that's good.

Later in the day, my son and I took Jumper the dog for a long walk - despite being cold as hell it was a beautiful day, and we enjoyed it. I wish I had the kind of insulation Jumper has, ten below zero and she was panting like it was 80 degrees out - she's your basic issue sled dog, she sleeps on her back in the snow at ten below with her feet in the air. Her feet are sensitive though, and she wears dog boots in the winter to keep her pads from getting frostbit. The boots are a neoprene and ballistic nylon design and have studs on the bottom to give her a grip on the ice - and she's like a damned tractor. I bought a new leash a couple of weeks ago, at REI - it's a shock absorbing design and huge improvement for me. Jumper is leash trained and usually walks at heel, but sometimes she gets excited and yanks on the leash - and that has serious consequences for my damaged shoulder. She's left me in major pain a couple of times as a result. The new leash prevents that, it's basically a big elastic cord inside a nylon sheath with a big, adjustable, hand loop that fits easily over my glove. The damned leash was $30, but worth every penny as far I'm concerned - I don't like being crippled.

Later, I managed to burn dinner - yeah, yeah, shutup. I put a roast in the pressure cooker and went out to the shop. I, um, got distracted by shiny bits of foil and sparkly woodworking tools and spent a lot more time out there than I had planned on. Beer might have been involved. When I came back in, I smelled the the roast burning right away - the broth had boiled off, obviously.

I hollered for my wife, "Good Grief, Woman, can't you smell that?!"
Becky answered from the living room, "No. I hab a cold in by dose, Stupid. I can't smell abything. 'member?"
Oh yeah. Right. That.
"Whab?"
"Nothing, get your coat, I'm taking you out to dinner. You deserve it."
"I thought you hab a roast on?"
"Blow your nose and get a coat on or you're getting cheese sandwiches for dinner."
"OK."

So we enjoyed a nice dinner at the Valley Hotel in Palmer.

Then we came home and had cake. Chocolate and raspberry, my very favorite. I'll tell you, you haven't had "Happy Birthday" sung to you, until you've heard my 12-year old son and my very horse and plugged up wife croaking it out. Hey, it's the thought that counts and they made me smile - it's sure nice to be loved.

All in all, it was a pretty good day for my 47th birthday.