Buckeye Birthdays

I have never seen so many birthday parties in my entire life as I have seen since we moved to Ohio. There must be something about birthdays or at least about the people we know down here. We just celebrated another one tonight. I think we have been to at least 3 or 4 so far this Summer.

When I was a kid, I can remember like two birthday parties that I had. One was a pretty bad memory in some ways... in fact, birthdays were never really a big deal in our household. I always seem to remember the weird gifts I got from my parents. One they will never live down was the year they got me a clock radio... what a growing boy always hopes for on his special day, something to make him wake up in the morning! I can't even really remember my brother having birthday parties.

No offense to all my friends with kids - and trust me, Cheryl enjoys them - but these kid birthday parties are even harder for me. Maybe deep down I am jealous. Plus, with no children of my own, I miss the point I think. I also never know how old infants are. I just think they are eternally two years old until they can carry on a conversation with me that makes sense. I don't dislike kids at all, I just have no understanding of the kid world.

Maybe I need to start having dog birthday parties. In fact Bailey just turned 3 years old today... or is he 21 years old? If so, I need to give him his first beer. Ellie, our first dog, loved beer. Maybe it will take the edge off during our next thunderstorm... we can only hope.